Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB22/04/013

Address :
The County Antrim War Memorial Knockagh Road Carrickfergus Co. Antrim

Townland:
Knockagh

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Survey 2:
B2

Date of Listing:
22/06/1993 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Memorial

Former Use
Memorial

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
Yes

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
98-14

IG Ref:
J3672 8687

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Owner Category

Exterior Description And Setting

A monumental war memorial, erected c. 1935 and prominently located on an elevated site on the eastern perimeter of Knockagh Hill, overlooking Belfast Lough. The monument is approximately 50ft high, and constructed of reconstituted stone blocks. It comprises a rusticated rectangular pedestal with chamfered plinth and simple cast concrete cornice supporting an obelisk on a blocking course, all set on a platform consisting of three shallow concrete steps contained within a grassed enclosure. The south face of the pedestal contains a rendered panel inscribed: “To the Glory of God / and in proud / and affectionate remembrance / of the men / of County Antrim / who fell in the Great War / this memorial / is erected by their / grateful county. / ‘Nobly you fought your knightly virtue proved / your memory hallowed in the land you loved’. The obelisk has an applied painted metal wreath enclosing the dates 1914-1918 and 1939-1945. There is an additional polished granite plaque dated 2006 located to the chamfer of the pedestal plinth, at south. The site terminates a long public access road, and is accessed from a tarmac parking area by a cast-iron gate set in squared rubble stone boundary wall with soldier coping. Expansive views over Carrickfergus and Newtownabbey districts, to Belfast at south, and out to sea. Roof: N/A Walling: Reconstituted stone

Architects

Seaver, Henry

Historical Information

According to a plaque on the site, plans to erect a County war memorial were first put in place in 1918 by the High Sheriff of the County, Henry Dupre Malkin Barton. An Ulster History Circle history of the memorial describes how a committee was formed, with plans to raise £25,000 to erect an obelisk composed of locally sourced basalt, with bronze panels listing the names of all those from county Antrim who had died during the war. After some initial difficulties Henry Seaver, FRIAI of the Belfast Harbour Board was appointed architect and R.B Roe as surveyor. Due to funding shortages the monument was not completed until some years later, in 1936. Brett (1996, p297), suggests that the site was chosen after consideration of various alternatives including the top of Slemish mountain and the Giant’s Causeway. Brett further states that the monument was conceived as a scaled down version of the Wellington Testimonial in Phoenix Park, Dublin, erected in 1817. The outcome was a simple laurel wreath in bronze, 10ft.above the plinth and an inscription composed by Henry Barton which reads “to the everlasting memory of the natives of County Antrim who gave their lives in the Great War 1914-18”. The foundations were laid on Saturday the 7th October, 1922; an event which was attended by many well known guests and conducted by Lady Antrim. During the 1980s the memorial was vandalised, and was subsequently restored in 1985 at the shared expense of Antrim, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Carrickfergus, Coleraine, Larne, Newtownabbey Borough Councils; Belfast and Lisburn City Councils, and Moyle District Council, representing the county-wide interest in the monument and those it commemorates. Messers. Kirk, McClure and Morton of Belfast were chosen to carry out the renovation. References Secondary Sources: 1. Brett, C.E.B. Buildings of County Antrim; UAHS, Belfast, 1996. 2. Carrickfergus Borough Council Plaque, located on site. 3. Doreen Corcoran. County Antrim War Memorial. [Internet Source] Available from .

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation H-. Alterations detracting from building J. Setting

Historic Interest

V. Authorship X. Local Interest Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance

Evaluation

The County Antrim War Memorial is a prominently sited obelisk memorial erected in 1935 to the memory of those who died in the First World War. The memorial was designed in plain unsentimental obelisk form by architect Henry Seaver, and stands a landmark of considerable historical significance not only in the immediate area but throughout County Antrim.

General Comments

Date of Survey

29 September 2008