Home | Heritage at Risk in Northern Ireland

Heritage at Risk(v1.0)

17/09/2019 00:00:00

HB Ref No:
HB26/16/006

Address
Lock- keeper's House Drumbeg 249 Upper Malone Road Belfast BT17 9LA

Townland:
Old Forge

Status:
Safe

Listing Grade:
B

HARNI Number:
HARNI 26/16/003

Conservation Area:
No

Condition:
Very Poor

Industrial Archeology:
Yes

Occupancy:
Vacant

Vernacular:

Degree of Risk:
High

Thatched:

Availability:
Unknown

Monument:
Yes

Current Building Use:

Derelict:

Description

*Note this building has now been restored* One of the oldest buildings in the Belfast area, this cottage was built for the Lagan Navigation in about 1760, to designs by Thomas Omer. Thomas built some half dozen lock-keepers’ cottages along the line of the canal from Lisburn to Belfast for which he was the engineer, all following a distinctive square plan with arched recesses on each elevation. This cottage is built of rubble stonework with red sandstone dressings, string courses and gables, and a Gibbsian doorcase in cream sandstone. Other lockhouses by Omer survive at Ballyskeagh and – much altered – at Tullynacross near Lambeg. This one is set in idyllic surroundings beside the weir it controlled, and from time to time kingfishers are seen nearby. Restored by Hearth in 1982-3, the building now sees itself on the Heritage at Risk register having fallen into a state of disrepair once again. In 2023 works to restore the building were complete and the structure is now a private dwelling. Refs: Hearthni.org.uk