Horseshoe Shop, 9-11 Massereene, Antrim, BT41 4DB

The Horseshoe Shop at 9-11 Massereene is a single-storey three-bay building designed as a blacksmith's forge by architect William Fennell in 1887 for the Viscount of Massereene and Ferrard. It has since been converted to a shop but retains the striking architectural form that distinguishes it as a rare example of its type.

The building's most distinctive feature is its horseshoe-shaped entrance arch, which dominates the west-facing main elevation. This arch has a chamfered reveal and an incised outer moulding containing small block stones at intervals. Two raised stone shields flank the doorway—the left inscribed 'M' and '18', the right inscribed 'F' and '87', each bearing a coronet—commemorating both the patron and the 1887 date of construction.

The walls are of snecked rubble stone painted black, with stone dressings to openings painted white. A projecting moulded plinth runs along the base. The pitched roof is covered in what appears to be synthetic slates in regular courses with dark ridge tiles, modern PVC guttering on a timber fascia board, and a PVC downpipe angled toward the flat roof of an adjoining open-fronted shelter.

The windows are modern rectangular timber fixed lights with horizontally sheeted tongued and grooved panels below, recessed behind modern steel roller shutters and surrounded by raised blocks. Evidence of earlier alterations is visible: the plinth has been removed at each window opening, and these openings appear to have previously been doorways. The windows themselves originally consisted of coupled lights. Concrete and composition steps lead to the window openings. The central horseshoe-arched doorway now contains a modern rectangular timber glazed and panelled door set in a plain timber frame, with wired glass sidelights and fanlight above, and a concrete step at the threshold.

The north elevation presents a plain gable of similar stonework to the entrance front but without the plinth. Moulded timber bargeboards edge the gable. A later single-storey corrugated iron roof shelter projects from this gable. The south elevation abuts an adjoining building with a higher gable. The rear elevation mirrors the front roof covering but with lower courses of new synthetic slates. A later lean-to rear extension obscures the entire original rear wall of the front block. This extension has a corrugated iron roof, walls of concrete blockwork (partly painted white), and modern PVC rainwater goods. A rectangular timber sheeted door and small rectangular timber windows open from the rear extension.

The building stands on the street frontage within Antrim's built-up area, facing directly onto the pavement with adjoining buildings of no special architectural merit on either side. The rear faces a concrete yard surrounded by corrugated iron and concrete blockwork sheds. The building is of industrial archaeological interest and lies within a conservation area. While numerous original features have been lost to conversion and alteration, the essential form and the distinctive horseshoe-shaped entrance arch—the building's defining feature—remain intact. The listing extends to the original front block only.