Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB26/30/007 C

Address :
10 Joy Street Belfast County Antrim BT2 8LE

Townland:
Town Parks

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Survey 2:
B2

Date of Listing:
06/05/1987 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
House

Former Use
House

Conservation Area:
Yes

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
130/13 SE

IG Ref:
J3408 7393

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Owner Category

Housing Association

Exterior Description And Setting

Mid-terrace three-storey rendered house, originally built c.1840. Rectangular on plan facing west lining the east side of Joy Street forming part of a terrace of four similar houses. No. 10 was demolished and rebuilt when it became unsafe during renovation works to the terrace by Hearth housing association in 1989. The renovation was in keeping with original materials and details. It has pitched natural slate roof with roll-moulded black clay ridge tiles and two rendered profiled chimneystacks with octagonal clay pots. Cast-iron guttering to moulded eaves cornice and cast-iron downpipe. Painted ruled and lined rendered walling with moulded plinth course. Square-headed window openings with architrave surrounds, painted masonry sills and replacement 6/6 timber sash windows. Front elevation is two windows wide with continuous sill course to ground and first floors. Round-headed door opening with moulded architrave surround and scrolled console brackets having panelled render pilasters and replacement timber doorcase with replacement flat-panelled timber door and fanlight. North side elevation abutted by adjoining building No.6 (HB26/30/007B). Rear elevation abutted by gable-ended single-storey return. Asymmetrically-placed square-headed window openings to the rear elevation with 6/6 timber sash windows. South side elevation abutted by adjoining house No.12. Setting: Forming part of a terrace of four similar houses lining the east side of Joy Street. Roof Natural slate RWG Cast-iron Walling Ruled and lined render Windows Replacement timber sash

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

No. 10 Joy Street is one of a terrace of four three-storey Georgian houses which first appear on the second edition of the Ordnance Survey map in 1858, although it is certain that the terrace was constructed earlier than this during the late Georgian period; the first edition Ordnance Survey map shows that construction of neighbouring buildings in the area (such as nos 36-46 Hamilton Street HB26/30/009A-F) had commenced by 1832-33. Joy Street had certainly been constructed by 1843 when the Belfast Street Directories first recorded the terrace, although at that time Joy Street was numbered differently. The 1852 Belfast Street Directory records that No. 10 Joy Street was occupied by Mrs. Mary Orr who operated a lodging house on the premises; the house was also inhabited by her daughters (or sisters) the ‘Misses Orr,’ who were employed as milliners and dressmakers, and an unknown relative, Henderson Orr, who was a writing clerk. In 1859 Griffith’s Valuation recorded that the house had passed to a Mr. Samuel Brown who vacated the site in that same year; the house was then occupied by Mrs. Jane Gamble. Gamble let the property from Robert Beggs, who also owned the rest of the terrace, at an annual rent of £25; the valuer described the house as a three-storey B+ class (‘not new but in sound repair’) dwelling which measured 5 ½ by 8 yds and was valued at £17. The Annual Revisions indicate that Mrs. Gamble resided at No. 10 Joy Street until c. 1900; however the Belfast Street Directories record that the house was occupied by Robert S. Allen, a printer and book binder, in 1877, and J. O’Callaghan, who was employed as a salesman, in 1880. Between 1901 and 1906 the house was let by Agnes McCord who operated a Registry Office from the premises (1901 Census). However in 1906 the entire terrace passed from Robert Beggs to a Ms. Anne Kelly and was subsequently revalued; No. 10 Joy Street was reduced in value to £16 and in that same year Agnes McCord vacated the property when a Rose Ann Thompson came into possession. The 1911 Census records that Thompson, a 48 year old Roman Catholic widow, operated a Domestic Servant’s Agency from No. 10 Joy Street and also accommodated lodgers, like many of the houses in the area. The Census Building Return described the house as a 1st class dwelling which possessed 10 rooms. The house changed hands a number of times between 1915 and the end of the Annual Revisions, however it does not appear to have been utilised as a servant’s agency after Thompson vacated the site c. 1915; between the end of the Annual Revisions in 1930 and the First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland in 1935 the value of the house increased to £21, however there was no change in this value by the second revaluation which took place 1956-72. Between 1930 and 1980 No. 10 Joy Street was occupied by a number of inhabitants, mostly employed as labourers and small traders; during these years the property appears to have been utilised solely as a private dwelling and was not used to accommodate lodgers (Belfast Street Directories). Jim O’Hagan records that Joy Street gained its name from a former paper mill in the area which was owned by Henry Joy, a relative of Henry Joy McCracken, the United Irishman; the mill formerly stood at the junction of Ormeau Avenue and Cromac Street and due to the construction of the mill’s dam, acres of land to the south-east of Belfast’s town centre was reclaimed at the turn of the 19th century (O’Hagan, p. 13). Joy Street and the surrounding Markets area was laid out during the late Georgian period, gradually developing southwards from May Street on the reclaimed land. The grandiose redbrick terraces that were erected c. 1830-40 were originally occupied by well respected merchants; however, due in part to the mass influx of working class labourers into Belfast in the wake of the Great Famine, by the 1850s the merchant classes abandoned the area, favouring instead the new suburbs in Malone to the south of Belfast. With the flight of the merchant classes the buildings on Joy Street and Hamilton Street were inhabited by working and lower middle class occupants whilst a number of the large houses were converted into lodging and boarding houses. Further, the establishment of the Queen’s College in 1849 resulted in a large number of student residents choosing the markets area where they sought cheap lodgings until c. 1850-70 when the student population gradually moved to lodgings in the immediate vicinity of the university. With this second exodus the lodging houses in Joy Street and Hamilton Street became predominantly the destinations of business lodgers and musical performers that frequented the nearby Music Halls. The occupational history of No. 10 Joy Street shows that the building was one of the many buildings in the area that was for a time utilised as a lodging house although in later years the house was solely utilised as a private dwelling (Brett and McKinstry, pp 2-6). The terrace was badly damaged in the mid-1970s when a bomb exploded destroying the end terrace dwelling and badly damaging No. 10 Joy Street. The Northern Ireland Housing Executive later sold the terrace to the Hearth Housing Association who restored nos 4 and 6, and erected two flats on the site of the destroyed No. 12 in 1989-90; Hearth originally intended to restore No. 10 but it was too fragile after the bomb blast and was subsequently demolished and completely rebuilt (Brett and McKinstry, p. 12; Larmour, p. 8). No. 10 Joy Street was listed in 1987 (despite its poor condition) and continues to be owned by Hearth Housing Association. 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 – Fourth 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/2/B/7/1B – Griffith’s Valuation 1859 7. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/A/1 - Annual Revisions 1863-1881 8. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/A/24 - Annual Revisions 1882-1896 9. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/A/35 - Annual Revisions 1897-1905 10. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/P/2 - Annual Revisions 1906-1915 11. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/P/5 - Annual Revisions 1915-1930 12. PRONI VAL/3/B/3/21 – First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1935 13. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/50 – Second General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1956-1972 14. Belfast Street Directories (1843; 1852; 1861; 1877; 1880; 1901; 1910; 1918; 1950; 1960; 1970; 1980) 15. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911) Secondary Sources 1. Brett, C. E. B; McKinstry, TR. J., ‘Survey and recommendations for the Joy Street and Hamilton Street District of Belfast’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1971. 2. Larmour, P., ‘Belfast: An illustrated architectural guide’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1987. 3. O’Hagan, J., ‘The streets where we lived’ Belfast: Unknown Publisher, 2006. 4. Patton, M., ‘Central Belfast: An historical gazetteer’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1993

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

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

Historic Interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Mid-terrace three-storey rendered house, originally built c.1840, but demolished and rebuilt during renovation works in 1989. Although this is a new build replica it retains the original proportions and detailing and has group value with the neighbouring houses in this fine late Georgian terrace.

General Comments

FILE PA'd 16/04/15

Date of Survey

22 April 2011