Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB26/29/017

Address :
Whitehall Tobacco Works Linfield Road Belfast County Antrim

Townland:
Malone Lower Town Parks

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Survey 2:
B+

Date of Listing:
22/08/1986 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Office

Former Use
Factory

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
Yes

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
130/13SE

IG Ref:
J3335 7369

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Owner Category

Commercial

Exterior Description And Setting

Attached multi-bay two-storey (with attic storey) former factory building, built c.1900, to designs by Watt and Tulloch, located to the north side of Linfield Road, at the junction with Sandy Row. The building is L-shaped on plan with square four-stage towers on south-east, south-west and north-east corners; abutted to north and west by three-storey extension, added 2010. Roofs are pitched natural slate with flat lead roofed dormers over deep overhanging eaves supported on moulded dentils with decorative carved console brackets; terracotta ridge tiles; red brick and sandstone banded chimneys with clay pots; pagoda-like concave slated roofs to towers each surmounted by large globular finial. Walls are English garden wall bonded red brick over blue brick plinth with sandstone string courses and sandstone quoins alternating with red brick. Windows are square-headed timber framed casements with elongated sandstone voussoirs, projecting capstones and moulded sandstone sills; unless otherwise stated. Principal gable faces south and is symmetrical about central entrance consisting of square-headed timber panelled double leaf entrance door in smooth rendered reveal. Entrance abutted to south by single-storey sandstone portico consisting of square plinth and base supporting circular columns surmounted by plain architrave, frieze and cornice to flat roof; three leaded dormers to attic. Entrance flanked at left and right each by two windows; six windows at first floor, walling has horizontal sandstone banding; surmounted by mosaic frieze which reads ‘MURRAY SONS & CO LTD’ to cornice. Elevation flanked to left and right by four-stage tower; two windows at stage one; single window at stage two; decorative projecting quoins and sandstone string to stage three; recessed stage containing small window flanked by continuous projecting brick quoins surmounted by sandstone cornice to stage four; three deeply recessed fixed lights surmounted by sandstone banding and separated by sandstone columns, flanked by continuous projecting ashlar sandstone quoins. West elevation is abutted at left by modern extension. Exposed section at right comprises four-stage tower; stage one is blank; upper stages as tower south elevation. North elevation is abutted at right by modern extension. Exposed section at right consists of tower north elevation; stage one is blank; stage two contains three timber framed 1/1 sliding sash windows; stage three contains central circular window with sandstone keystones flanked by continuous projecting brick quoins; stage four consists of ashlar sandstone crenulated parapet with flat roof behind. East elevation contains six windows at each floor surmounted by mosaic frieze which reads ‘WHITEHALL TOBACCO WORKS’ to cornice; single leaded dormer to attic. Flanked at left by four-stage tower, detailed as tower south elevation, and at right by four stage tower containing, at stage one, timber double-leaf entrance door surmounted by single window; stage two contains two timber framed 1/1 sliding sash windows; stages three and four detailed as tower north elevation. Set on sloping site with large carpark to west; bounded to east and south by new red brick and blue brick plinth wall with sandstone copings surmounted by cast metal railings; landscaped area to east of site. Access from Linfield Road at south through double-leaf vehicular gates and double-leaf pedestrian gates at entrance; approach via newly constructed ramp to entrance steps to portico; further vehicular access to carpark to west. Access (to extension) from Sandy Row at east via steps and ramp at public footpath to two pairs of double-leaf gates leading to new forecourt over existing basement. Roof Natural slate Walling English garden bonded red brick with sandstone dressings Windows Square-headed timber framed casements RWG Replacement cast-aluminium moulded gutters and square downpipes

Architects

Watt and Tulloch

Historical Information

Murray, Sons & Co constructed the present building in 1901 as part of adaptations to a former spinning and weaving mill. The building, to designs by Watt and Tulloch, was originally intended as an administration block to serve Murray’s tobacco factory, known as Whitehall Tobacco Works. (Annual Revisions; Larmour) A small linen mill is shown on the site on the first edition OS map of 1832-3 situated within a loop of the meandering Blackstaff River on the edge of the burgeoning town. The surrounding area began to develop as industrialisation spread westwards and Linfield Road was laid out by 1850. (Brett) The mill had expanded to a large complex by the late 1850s, the premises of the Blackstaff Spinning and Weaving Company Ltd, managing directors J K Boyd and W Boyd. (Street Directories) The second half of the nineteenth century saw the area fill with working class housing to service the factories and the 1901-2 edition of the OS map shows a fully developed urban landscape of industrial premises and terraces. The new premises built by Murray’s are first shown on the fourth edition of 1901-2. It appears that the company initially made use of some of the existing range of buildings on the 2.25 acre site, although several phases of reconstruction and expansion took place through the 1920s and 30s. (Irish Builder; www.dia.ie) The striking administration building was one of the first structures added to the site and is now the only remnant of the former factory, all other buildings having been cleared. The original brick boundary walls and a set of wrought-iron gates also survive. (Alastair Coey Architects) The building first enters valuation records in 1903 as ‘offices, tobacco factory and yard’ occupied by Murray Sons & Co Ltd and leased from the Executors of J K Boyd and the Misses Quigley. The valuation is £560 and the premises replaces Blackstaff Spinning and Weaving Mill, valued at £260. (Annual Revisions) The building displays some of the unusual oriental features that are said to have been added to Robert Watt’s repertoire by his London partner Frederick Tulloch. This is a particularly distinctive example of the work of Watt and Tulloch who were responsible for a number of commercial premises in the Belfast area. (Williams; www.dia.ie) George and John Murray opened a grocery shop in Belfast in 1810 and thus could lay claim to being the oldest tobacco firm in Belfast, Gallaher’s tobacco factory not relocating in Belfast from Londonderry until 1863. Tobacco and snuff quickly became the Murray’s chief trade but it was not until 1862 and the introduction of ‘Murray’s Mellow Smoking Mixture’, a product still manufactured up to the 1990s, that the company began to achieve outstanding success. Murray’s Mellow Smoking Mixture was the first branded and packaged tobacco product to emerge from Ireland and was frequently advertised in the pages of the Belfast Newsletter as ‘indispensable to those who know and enjoy a genuine article’. By the 1870s the company had wholesale premises in Glasgow and Dublin and a ‘manufactory’ in Arthur Street. The firm’s success led to the move to Linfield Street to a site where further expansion was possible. A second pipe tobacco product was developed in the 1920s, ‘Erinmore’ which became the Murray’s flagship brand, its recipe a closely-guarded trade secret. Speaking in the 1990’s, managing director Brian Mallen explained the importance of Belfast’s maritime location to their trade, with tobacco arriving from Brazil, Africa, China and the US and a number of other countries. The finished products were shipped to Rotterdam and from thence to forty-five countries around the world. The company employed a workforce of several hundred at its peak. (http:\\homepage.mac.com) Murray and Sons were bought by international tobacco company Carreras in 1953 but the plant, products and company name continued as before. In 1972 Carreras was bought by Rothman’s who consolidated all their pipe tobacco brands, including Dunhill, into Murray’s. The Whitehall works was refurbished in 1998 when most of the windows were replaced and the roof re-slated with Welsh slates. However Murray’s did not survive a restructuring that followed the acquisition of Rothman’s by BAT (British American Tobacco) and in 2005 Whitehall Tobacco Works was closed and pipe tobacco manufacturing moved to Orlik in Denmark. (Alastair Coey Architects; http:\\homepage.mac.com) The former administration building has recently been restored as office space by Alastair Coey Architects. A 1937 extension to the front facade has been removed and brick and stone has been restored to the ground floor elevation together with a portico that was shown in the original building control plans for the building. A modern extension has been added to the rear. (Alastair Coey Architects) References: Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/1/61/1 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1832-3 2. PRONI OS/6/1/61/3 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1858 3. PRONI OS/6/1/61/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1901-2 4. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/D/1-22 – Annual Revisions (1862-1930) 5. Belfast Newsletter, 9th February, 1872 6. Irish Builder, Vol 43, 16th January 1901, p.599 7. Belfast Street Directory (1877) Secondary Sources 1. Alastair Coey Architects, “Conservation Statement - Murray’s Tobacco Factory” June 2006 2. Brett, C.E.B., Gillespie, R. and Maguire W.A. “Georgian Belfast, 1750-1850, Maps Buildings and Trades” Dublin and Belfast: Royal Irish Academy and Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society, 2004 3. http:\\homepage.mac.com – Ottawa Pipe Club 4. Larmour, P “Belfast, An Illustrated Architectural Guide” Belfast: Friar’s Bush Press, 1987 5. Williams, J “Architecture in Ireland 1837-1921” Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 1994 6. www.dia.ie – Dictionary of Irish Architects online

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

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

Historic Interest

R. Age S. Authenticity T. Historic Importance Z. Rarity V. Authorship X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A symmetrical multi-bay two-storey (with attic) former factory building built c.1900, to designs by Watt and Tulloch, located to the north side of Linfield Road, at the junction with Sandy Row. The brick façade is enlivened with high quality sandstone banding, Arts and Crafts style mosaic panelling beneath deep overhanging eaves and the distinctive pagoda-like roofs to corner towers. The site has been redeveloped to include an adjacent modern office building, and many of the original factory buildings and sheds are now removed. Sympathetically converted into an administration building and extended, the former Tobacco Factory remains a prominent landmark on Sandy Row. Internally, whilst the layout of the building has been adapted to new use, much of the original detailing has been restored and the attic converted to office space with exposed queen post trusses. This building is a significant building in the area and is a reminder of the past industrial importance of the site.

General Comments

Date of Survey

06 July 2011