Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB06/12/002

Address :
Town Hall Upper Cross Street Larne Co Antrim BT40 1SZ

Townland:
Town Parks

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Survey 2:
B+

Date of Listing:
25/06/1979 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Town hall

Former Use
Town hall

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
70/8 SW

IG Ref:
D3996 0260

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Owner Category

Local Govt

Exterior Description And Setting

A gabled one and two-storey High Victorian Gothic townhall with a tall four-storey clock tower, built of polychrome stonework. Main entrance faces west, as do two secondary entrances. West elevation comprises a centrally placed clock tower of four storeys with a two-storey block set back to the right hand side, and a tall single-storey hall to the left, built in the same plane as the tower, the hall terminating in a three-storey caretaker’s house projecting forward at the left hand extremity. Walls of buff sandstone rough faced and snecked, with red sandstone string courses. Main entrance in base of tower is Gothic arched with projecting drip moulding terminating in floriated label stops; roll mouldings to edges of arches; a very badly weathered inscription to the intrados of two arches, floriated capitals, also much eroded by weather, all in sandstone with dark grey marble used for circular colonnettes, the one to the right complete, but the one to the left missing a slice of its length. Double doors with decoratively chamfered panels and chamfered glazed panes of wired translucent glass, mounted with four large original hinges in wrought iron ornamentally treated with typical High Victorian stiff-leaf designs set in arched wooden frame with Gothic arched fanlight over, plain glazed; all woodwork painted maroon; ironwork painted black; granite front step and doorstep. To right hand extremity of ground storey of tower, the wall extends to the side to form a two-stage buttress. First floor of tower has a single narrow Gothic lancet containing a timber fixed light divided by four horizontal glazing bars; above that, a small circular cusped opening, not glazed, appears to contain wooden louvres; top stage of tower has a tall Gothic arched recess containing a pair of cusped Gothic openings around a central grey colonnette with floriated capital; openings filled with wooden louvres; and surmounted by a circular moulded and cusped opening containing a clock face filled with white glass with Roman numerals in ironwork. Corners of belfry stage of tower have tall recessed colonnettes with moulded bases and floriated capitals, all in sandstone. Top of belfry stage has a Gothic arched corbel course with an ornamental cornice over, decorated with nail-head mouldings. Cast iron gutter; tall pyramidal roof of Bangor blue slates banded in regular courses alternating with fish-scale courses; apex of tower roof surmounted by foliated wrought iron finial and ridge cresting; tower roof originally had gabled lucarnes but now removed. North and south faces of belfry stage of tower identical in treatment to west; second floor of tower to south side has small circular opening similar to west side, but north side is blank. Flush with front wall of tower, a tall single-storey hall extends to left hand side: roof banded as tower roof, but regular courses are later replacements, different colour and smoother texture to fish-scale courses. Ornamental ridge tiles; six cusped gabled lucarnes in maroon painted timber with lead coverings spaced regularly across roof at mid slope. Moulded cast iron gutter; circular section cast iron downpipe in centre; moulded eaves course in red sandstone. Six tall Gothic arched traceried windows regularly spaced; each window comprises a pair of cusped lancets with central grey marble colonnette, with sandstone plate tracery above; cusped circular tracery light with iron hoop glazing bar; small circular piercing to spandrels in typical High Victorian manner; carved foliated capitals to colonnettes, some badly eroded. Central colonnettes stand proud of coupled windows of lancets; windows rectangular timber fixed lights glazed with translucent glass, with bottom hung and horizontally pivoted transom lights; fixed top lights containing clear glass directly glazed to cusped heads; wooden frames of lancets look like later replacements not to an original pattern. Red sandstone relieving arch over each of the six large windows, with two bands of red sandstone string courses running between windows at intermediate levels, and a similar string course running well below level of splayed cills; lower string course punctuated by cusped circular ventilation holes level with mid point of each window; string course angled at each vent hole and returning back into recess. Plinth along base of long hall steps up to left as pavement rises. Caretaker’s house to left of hall has gabled front. Ground floor contains round arched window to left with Gothic arched doorway to right; wall to right hand extremity extends as a single-stage buttress rising to mid-storey height. Window timber sliding sash, vertically hung, 2 over 2, with horns; splayed sandstone cill. Door rectangular ledged timber of herringbone pattern, painted maroon, with two large ornamented original hinges of similar High Victorian styling but different shape from previous door, and original wrought iron handle in quatrefoil mount; rectangular brass letterbox. Door hung in timber frame with shouldered head with glazed sandstone tympanum over, containing a cinquefoil fanlight in clear glass; red sandstone Gothic arch over tympanum; concrete doorstep. First floor contains two Gothic lancets; timber sashes as previous except pointed arch to top rather than semi-circular arch. Cills continuous with projecting moulded string course in buff sandstone. Second floor has a single Gothic lancet, centrally placed, and rising into gable, sashed as on first floor but with splayed sandstone cill. Above lancet, a circular recessed vent. Broad sandstone coping to gable with shaped kneeler to right hand slope; gablet mouldings to apex; rectangular section chimney to left hand extremity of gable, with battered cap surmounted by three original terracotta chimneys running to the rear. Two-storey block to right of clock tower consists of two separately roofed elements, with two bays to right having higher eaves line and higher ridge line, but continuous string courses; roofs slated as previous to large hall. Portion next to tower, at ground story, has a pair of coupled Gothic lancets with timber sashes and splayed cills as to second floor of caretaker’s house, except that lower sashes covered with hardboard; Gothic arched doorway to the right of that. Doorway similar style to main entrance but simplified, without inner order of arch, without inscriptions, without projecting drip moulding and label stops, and with a single door only. To each side at base, a Gothic arched recess originally containing bootscrapers but now empty; three granite steps. Above apex of relieving arch, a moulded circular surround to a hexafoil opening blocked with a sheet of board. Above, in first floor, a pair of coupled lancets as previous except that cills are formed by projecting moulded string course running across whole two-storey block. Above lancets, in stone gablet rising above eaves line, a cusped circular opening with moulded edges, filled with vertical tongued and grooved boarding. Sandstone coping to gablet with shoulders at different levels. Moulded cast iron guttering each side of gablet, carried on moulded eaves course; circular section cast iron downpipe breaking through projecting string course. To left of downpipe at first floor, a narrow rectangular opening filled with perforated grille, looks like sheet metal. Two bays to right hand end of two-storey block have two pairs of coupled Gothic lancets to ground floor, each lancet timber sliding sash, vertically hung, 1 over 1, with horns, with cusped head to upper sash; projecting drip moulding continuous over each lancet but badly weathered and parts missing; splayed sandstone cills in two stages. First floor has two tall Gothic arched recessed window panels in line with ground floor windows; detailed as windows to large hall to left of tower, except for projecting drip mouldings in place of red sandstone relieving arches, cills formed by projecting moulded string course, and rectangular timber frames of lancets have three panes each lancet with cusped top lights directly glazed to stonework. First floor window arches rise into paired stone gables each containing a cusped circular vent opening; sandstone gable copings with shaped kneelers; stone block finial to apex of each gable. To each side of double gable, a short moulded cast iron gutter with circular cast iron downpipes; cast iron downpipe in centre between gables. Main roof over this two-bay portion runs between projecting end gables with cusped gablet moulding to base at each side. Right hand extremity of ground floor has angled corner flanked by recessed grey marble colonnettes above which stone corbels carry the corner of the upper section of wall. North elevation: end wall of caretaker’s house, plain buff sandstone with one red sandstone string course full width and returned ends of other string courses. Roof slated in bands as previous but all original Bangor blue slates. Moulded cast iron gutter on chamfer-edged red sandstone eaves course; circular cast iron downpipe to left hand side. Chimney to each extremity, one to right with short weathered buttress rising from eaves level, sandstone string course, and miniature gablets to battered cap; one to left with projecting string course, plain battered cap, and three original pots as to other one. Ground floor has two windows behind line of timber screen which closes side entry from street; one large rectangular timber sliding sash, 2 over 2, and one small narrow timber rectangular window partly covered by later corrugated iron shelter in entry; relieving arch of segmental profile over both windows. Extending to left at ground level, set back slightly, red brick wall of projecting rear block of caretaker’s house; lean-to roof of what looks like asbestos slates; wall contains rectangular doorway. East elevation comprises, from right to left, three-storey gabled rear wall of caretaker’s house in basalt rubble with red brick to centre marking position of gable chimney, red brick dressings to three windows, and buff sandstone to extreme right hand edge where end of sandstone facing of north elevation stops. One large window to each floor, rectangular timber sliding sash, vertically hung, 2 over 2, with horns; projecting stone cills; smaller rectangular window at intermediate level, probably at half-landing of a stairway, contains timber bottom hung three-pane window. Projecting forward from gable and extending across part of hall block to left, a lean-to two-storey red brick block, five windows wide to first floor, four windows to ground floor; windows rectangular timber sliding sash, vertically hung, 2 over 2, with horns; projecting sandstone cills; shallow pitch roof of Bangor blue slates in regular courses, with one modern rooflight inserted. To left of red brick projecting block, rear wall of main hall: basalt rubble with red brick eaves course, red brick courses near base, and red brick section raking up to prominent red brick chimney; roof of Bangor blue slates in regular courses; decorative ridge tiles. To left of main block of hall, a small area of basalt walling of single-storey height to lean-to profile, containing later rectangular timber window, fixed light with top-hung vent; wall continued up above raking line with later blank brickwork to second floor; lean-to profile again. In behind brick extension, east face of clock tower belfry storey, identical in treatment to previous faces except for cast iron circular gutter to right hand side. To left of brick extension, original red brick of rear wall of first floor corridor and side and rear of stairwell; round-headed timber sliding sash windows, vertically hung, 2 over 2, with horns. To left of stairwell, sandstone north gable of two-storey block at south end of building containing Gothic arched plate-traceried ventilation opening for roof space, designed in typical High Victorian style with circular, trefoil and quatrefoil perforations. To extreme left, adjoining two and three-storey buildings of No. 2 Main Street abut: white limestone rubble walls with red brick dressings; slated roofs. South elevation: gabled, two-storey, one-bay; walling as to entrance front. Ground floor has a pair of coupled Gothic lancets, as previous to extreme right hand bays of entrance front, except for central marble colonnette and projecting common cill. To left of window, a polished black marble plaque inscribed ‘Erected in memory of H.T. Browne 1887-1973, poet, playwright, author, by Larne & District Folklore Society, 1981’. To left hand extremity, wall angled off at corner flanked by recessed marble colonnettes, with corbels above carrying oversailing corner of wall at higher level which has a recessed corner colonnette. To right hand extremity, steel covering to electrical cables which extend up to projecting string course and thence across south wall returning at left hand corner to continue along length of entrance elevation. First floor has centrally placed Gothic arched window of same size as previous to first floor of extreme right hand bays of entrance elevation, but stone tracery removed and replaced by a later smooth cement rendered panel containing a plain glazed oculus above a rectangular timber fixed light divided into four panes. Above, high in gable, a quatrefoil opening in a circular surround with red sandstone string course each side. Stone block finial to apex of sandstone gable coping. Setting: the building stands on a corner site in the centre of the town immediately overlooking the street on two sides. It is abutted at the south-east by an adjoining three-storey shop with later smooth cement rendered upper storeys. To the north end it is separated by an entry from the basalt rubble retaining wall of a carpark which has a tall corner pier at the entrance to the entry of similar sandstone to the townhall and with a battered cap, clearly an integral part of the original design. The entry is partly closed off by modern wooden boarding and partly paved in concrete. Boundary to the east is formed by basalt rubble retaining wall of adjacent properties.

Architects

Tate, Alexander Close, Samuel P

Historical Information

Designed in 1868 and opened on 25th August 1870; architect, Alexander Tate, although the design may owe much to his assistant and clerk of works, Samuel P. Close. The contractors were Messrs. Stewart & Co. of Belfast. Built at a cost of between £5,000 and £6,000 provided by the will of Charles McGarel of Magheramourne. Invested in trustees “for the use of the people for ever”. As well as the large hall used for entertainments, and rooms for the Town Commissioners, it originally also contained a reading room and library, while a large room on the second floor in the 1880s contained “the nucleus of a museum”. References - Primary 1. Belfast News-Letter, 10 December 1868 (tenders invited). 2. Larne Reporter, 27 August 1870 (report of opening). 3. Belfast News-Letter, 27 August 1870 (report of opening). 4. Irish Builder, 15 September 1870, pp 218 and 221 (report of opening). Secondary 1. G.H. Bassett, The Book of Antrim (Dublin, 1888), p 371. 2. D. Corcoran, A Tour of East Antrim (Friar’s Bush Press, Belfast, 1990), p 6 [illustration of building in original state, with lucarnes to tower roof].

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form E. Spatial Organisation H-. Alterations detracting from building I. Quality and survival of Interior

Historic Interest

V. Authorship W. Northern Ireland/International Interest Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance

Evaluation

An impressive High Victorian building in Gothic Revival style of Early French character, whose planning is well adapted to its sloping site and whose details exhibit a mixture of richness and simplicity that is characteristic of the style and period. Designed to accommodate a number of different functions it is composed of a variety of distinctive elements which are given coherence by the consistent use of polychrome stonework on the street-front elevations. Despite the loss of detail to one large window the main exterior elevations retain their original appearance, while the main public spaces of the interior are generally unchanged and retain an interesting range of features. The setting of the building in the older part of the town, surrounded by narrow streets on different levels accentuates the medieval feeling created by the original choice of style and contributes to the success of the building as a municipal centre piece in a romantic-revivalist idiom. Its design is attributable to a local architect of note, and the continued use of the building according to some of its original functions gives it added local interest and a degree of social importance, while the scarcity of public buildings in Northern Ireland in secular Gothic style raises its architectural importance to a national level.

General Comments

Date of Survey

22 February 1998