Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB26/30/028

Address :
St George's Market 12-20 East Bridge Street Belfast BT1 3NQ

Townland:
Town Parks

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Survey 2:
B+

Date of Listing:
16/02/1989 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Market

Former Use
Market

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
130/13 SE

IG Ref:
J3435 7395

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Owner Category

Local Govt

Exterior Description And Setting

A double-height single-storey red brick covered market building in Romanesque style, built c.1890 to designs by J.C Bretland. The market is freestanding on a square plan, loated east of Belfast city centre, and bounded by four streets; it comprises main entrance elevation to Oxford Street at east, identical market elevations to May Street (north) and East Bridge Street (south), and rear service entrances to Verner Street at west. A gabled profile comprising a series of Roman triumphal arches to north and south elevations forms a series of parallel pitched roofs, each having a full-width glazed lantern to ridge, with the exception of that to east which is glazed to central section only. Rainwater goods are cast iron. Walling is red brick laid in English garden wall bond over a two-stage brick plinth with Giffnock sandstone dressings. Series of round-headed door openings generally with modern glazed or panelled timber doors screened by decorative cast-iron gates and fixed matching tympanum; camber-headed window openings to north and south elevations; 6/6 timber sashes with slender glazing bars, central panes wider. All openings have moulded sandstone dressings with keyblock, lugged feet to window openings over continuous sill course. Modern shop fronts to east elevation. East elevation comprises central triumphal arch entrance bay, three openings wide, flanked by modern shop units contained within seven flanking bays to each side. Frieze is carved with 'St George's Market' and pediment has Belfast coat of arms carved in deep relief; triumphal arch is terminated with ball finials. Shop units have replica traditionally-styled timber shopfronts and a variety of modern signage; each bay is articulated by full height brick lesenes and crowned by a brick panel. Identical north and south elevations each consist of three triumphal arches alternate with similarly detailed window bays with variation on the same detailing. Each arch is three entrance openings wide (double-width central opening); window bays have central window flanked by blind round-headed arches detailed as door openings. Pediments are each detailed with carving having Irish and Latin mottos. The west elevation is plainly detailed by comparison, symmetrically arranged about central round-headed double-height service entrance crowned with a raised parapet. Seven bays to either side, the central of these each modifed with a modern vehicular opening built into replacement brick arched recess. Original bays are divided by lesene strips, each having a blind round-headed arch over a plinth, moulded brick head, sandstone keyblock, and impost moulding. Setting: Street fronted to all sides, the building occupies a highly developed urban environment to east of Belfast city centre. To north are the Law Courts, to east is a busy road junction and modern mixed use development including the Waterfront Hall and Hilton Hotel. To west are a number of late nineteenth and early twentieth century buildings of quality in addition to modern infill development, and to south is modern social housing known as the 'Markets' area. Roof: Glazed Walling: Brick and sandstone dressings Windows: Timber sash RWG: Cast iron

Architects

Bretland, J.C.

Historical Information

The first edition of the Ordnance Survey maps for the Town of Belfast indicate that a square market area named ‘St. George’s Market’ operated in Belfast as early as 1832-33 and was located close to May’s Dock to the north of the current market site. Lewis’ Topographical Dictionary records that James I originally granted markets and fairs to Belfast in 1605, 1608 and 1611, which were later included in the grant of a Friday market in 1621. For the next two centuries there were almost daily markets (although the Friday market was the most prominent day of trading) and for many years Smithfield Market operated as the principal marketplace in Belfast. The reclamation of land and the development of Belfast’s port by c. 1830 resulted in the growth of a new market district to the south-east of the town centre where the ports of the Lagan, roads from the rural area of South Belfast, and bridges spanning the river from Ballymacarrett converged. The new marketplace which grew up at this trading axis, where the influx of rural farmers and merchants entered Belfast, had developed by c. 1830-40 when the first edition Ordnance Survey map records that St. George’s Market and ‘May’s Market’ (on the North side of May Street) had been constructed (Lewis’ Topographical Dictionary; Heatley p. 46). Over the next century the Market’s area of Belfast expanded with the erection of late Georgian and later Victorian dwellings to the south of May Street; between 1832-33 and the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1858, a Flax and Fruit Market and Cattle Market were constructed on the south side of May Street whilst a Horse Market and Potato and Vegetable Market was added to the area on the north side which still included May’s Market and the first St. George’s Market (which was recorded as the Pork Market in 1858). With Belfast’s elevation to City status in 1888 Belfast Corporation desired to construct an additional market structure and in 1889 signed a contract with the Fitzpatrick Bros. of Great Victoria Street to construct a covered market building to designs by Josiah Corbett Bretland on the site of the former Flax and Fruit Market. Bretland (1846-1921), who was employed by the Corporation as its Borough Surveyor between 1884 and 1903, was also responsible for the construction of the Albert Bridge in 1889 and after completion of St. George’s Market also the nearby Fish Market on Oxford Street (Dictionary of Irish Architects). The Irish Builder records that St. George’s Market was constructed between 1890 and 1896 at a cost of £12,500; the contracts signed between the Corporation and the builders indicate that St. Georges Market was built in three sections, two of which were constructed by the Fitzpatrick Bros. 1890-94, and the final section by H & J Martin between 1894 and 1896 (PRONI; Irish Builder, Vol. 31, 15 Apr 1889, p. 111; Vol. 33, 1 Nov 1891, p. 249). The Annual Revisions record that when it was originally constructed St. Georges Market was valued at £156; between 1882 and 1905 the valuer noted that the new market accommodated dozens of trader’s stalls which consisted of butter and egg stalls (at that time individually valued at £1), fleshers stalls (£7), flower stalls (£1), and a number of shops which were each valued at £6. By 1910 the value of St. George’s Market had been increased to £440 whilst the trading stalls were valued at a total of £350; these values remained unaltered by the end of the Annual Revisions in 1930. The 1931 Ordnance Survey map depicted the market as a square shaped building surrounded by the earlier open markets (which included Bretland’s Fish Market). In 1935 the first general revaluation of property in Northern Ireland valued the market at £1,020, not including the many stalls and shops which were valued between a low of £7 and a high of £244. A second revaluation took place between 1956 and 1972 by which time the approximate value of the markets, shops and its stalls had risen to around £2,760. Patton records that in the 1830s the original St. George’s Market and May Market were owned by Sir Stephen May; St. George’s Market sold butter, eggs, poultry, cheese, vegetables and linen each Friday and on Wednesday traded in cattle and sheep (Patton, p. 229). Larmour states that the new market erected in 1890-96 was built in portions and possesses a glazed roof which was erected on cast-iron columns erected by Ritchie, Hart & Co. of Belfast (Larmour, p. 54). In its later history St. George’s Market was also used as a venue for entertainment and sporting events such as Boxing championships, however during the Second World War the building was put to a more tragic use; Bardon states that during the Belfast Blitz of 15 April 1941, St. George’s Market emerged undamaged from the attack that devastated much of the Market’s area, however the building did not completely escape the devastation as hundreds of the dead from the area were brought to St. George’s and laid out in the market space for identification by loved ones (Bardon, p. 240). Both St. George’s Market and the nearby Fish Market continued to operate until c. 1990 when the Fish Market was closed and later demolished to make way for the development of the Waterfront area. St. George’s Market continued to hold a weekly market despite the decline of the surrounding area and was listed in 1989; in 1993 Patton indicated that the market stalls were ‘under threat of eviction [however] the market traders here still hold vigorous and cheerful markets every Tuesday and Friday’ (Patton, p. 260). The redevelopment of the Belfast waterfront area in the 1990s coincided with a £4.5 million refurbishment of St. George’s Market in 1997; the market was reopened in 1999 and since that time has continued to hold a weekly market whilst also serving as a popular tourist attraction and in recent years operating as a venue for concerts and entertainment events (Belfast Telegraph - 23 Feb 2011). The originally hand wound clock situated in the market was originally believed to have been constructed in 1821, predating the market by over 70 years. It was stored in the basement of the City Hall for many years and was restored during the refurbishment of the Market in 1997. References Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/1/61/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1832-33 2. PRONI OS/6/1/61/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1858 3. PRONI OS/6/1/61/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1901-02 4. PRONI OS/6/1/61/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1931 5. PRONI OS/6/1/61/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1938 6. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/A/12 – Annual Revisions 1882-1897 7. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/A/25 – Annual Revisions 1882-1905 8. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/A/40– Annual Revisions 1906-1915 9. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/A/43 – Annual Revisions 1916-1930 10. PRONI VAL/3/B/3/1 – First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1935 11. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/9 – Second General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1956-72 12. PRONI LA/7/29/CB/8 - Contract with Fitzpatrick Brothers for the erection of St. George’s Market (1889) 13. PRONI LA/7/29/CB/10 - Contract with Fitzpatrick Brothers for the erection of the second section of St. George’s Market (1891) 14. PRONI LA/7/29/CB/15 - Contract with H. & J. Martin Ltd. for the erection of the third section of St. George’s Market (1894-95) 15. Lewis’ Topographical Dictionary (1837) 16. Irish Builder, Vol. 31, 15 Apr 1889; Vol. 33, 1 Nov 1891. 17. First Survey record – HB26/30/028 (1989) 18. Belfast Telegraph (2011) Secondary Sources 1. Bardon, J., ‘Belfast: An illustrated history’ Belfast: The Blackstaff Press, 1982. 2. Heatley, F., ‘Belfast: Paintings and stories from the city’ Donaghadee: Cottage Publications, 1998. 3. Larmour, P., ‘Belfast: An illustrated architectural guide’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1987. 4. Patton, M., ‘Central Belfast: An historical gazetteer’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1993 Online Resources 1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form F. Structural System I. Quality and survival of Interior J. Setting

Historic Interest

V. Authorship Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance R. Age S. Authenticity T. Historic Importance X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A freestanding double height red brick covered market in classical style, dated c1890 and built to designs by J.C. Bretland. Prominently sited to the east side of Belfast city centre, and bounded by four streets. The market is square on plan. Conceived as a series of well proportioned Roman triumphal arches detailed in red brick and Giffnock sandstone, the exterior makes a vibrant architectural statement, enlivened by well-crafted stone ornament and carvings including the Belfast coat-of-arms. The internal layout is largely unchanged and some elements of a typical late Victorian interior survive. St George's Market is the last remaining covered Victorian market in Belfast, still serving its original purpose and forming the architectural, historical and social focus of this part of Belfast city popularly known as 'The Markets'.

General Comments

Date of Survey

10 May 2011