8 Coastguard Cottages, Helen's Bay, Bangor, Co Down, BT19 1JY

Number 8 Coastguard Cottages is a two-storey mid-terrace former coastguard cottage, one of a row of nine, built in 1856 on the south shores of Belfast Lough to the west of Helen's Bay. It was built to designs attributed to Benjamin Ferrey under the direction of Lord Dufferin of Clandeboye Estate, and constructed under the supervision of his agent, Mortimer Thomson. Unusually for the period, its construction was not entrusted to the Board of Public Works — Lord Dufferin took an active personal interest in the design and appearance of buildings on his estate and preferred to retain greater control over the process than the Board would have allowed.

The cottage is square on plan with a single-storey return to the rear. Its pitched roof is covered in natural slate, with raised stone gables and two brick chimneystacks topped with decorative terracotta pots. The walling is Flemish-bonded red brick, enlivened with decorative yellow and black tiles set in 'V' and 'X' patterns, and a tiled course at ground floor level. Cast-iron half-round rainwater goods with drive-in brackets and hoppers sit on overhanging sandstone eaves supported by red brick corbels.

The principal elevation faces north and is one bay wide. The entrance features a timber boarded door to the right, set beneath a pointed arch with a leaded transom light and a rendered lintel. A shared niche to the left is framed by a pointed timber arch. The windows are timber replacements that open on a hinge. The east elevation abuts the adjoining cottage to the east, and the west elevation abuts the adjoining cottage to the west. The south (rear) elevation has two window openings at first floor level. At ground floor level to the west, a single-storey extension has been added, with window openings on its exposed section; to the left of this is a set of French doors. The rear yard is enclosed by a painted masonry wall with a timber half-door.

The composition is asymmetrical, and the architectural detailing is of good quality. Some alterations have taken place to the façade in recent years, most notably the timber window replacements, but the cottage retains much of its original character. The arched heads over doors and windows are finished in timber boarding — a solution Lord Dufferin himself proposed in a letter of March 1868, suggesting that "a sanded board to imitate brick" would fill the spaces originally intended for decorative tiles, at lower cost.

The history of the station's construction is unusually well documented through surviving correspondence between Lord Dufferin and his agent. Before leaving for London in January 1856, Lord Dufferin instructed Thomson to have the station finished by 1 May, specifying that jet black bricks or, failing those, coloured tiles recessed into the brickwork should be used to carry out his intended decorative scheme, and that bricks in the main building should be carefully selected for uniformity of colour. By April, Thomson reported that tiles had arrived and work was progressing, though getting three or four houses ready by 1 May would require considerable effort. By late July the coastguards had been in occupation of three houses since June, with the rest expected to be complete by early August. Two additional houses, originally intended to be let as bathing lodges, were subsequently taken by the Admiralty when the coastguard force was doubled. The question of the decorative tile and brick detailing remained partially unresolved for some years.

The Coastguard of Ireland had been established in 1822, primarily to prevent smuggling — in particular the smuggling of unprocessed tobacco, which was heavily taxed but widely used. By 1824 there were stations along the entire coastline of Ireland. Coastguard crews were generally unpopular with local people and were often seen in Ireland as representatives of the Crown, attracting additional political hostility. For this reason, crews were discouraged from mixing too closely with local communities, and purpose-built station dwellings were constructed to house them on site. In 1856 the coastguard was transferred to the Admiralty and its role was extended to include coastal defence and service as a naval reserve, in addition to revenue protection. The Board of Public Works then took on responsibility for station buildings, with most designs attributed to E. Trevor Owens, brother-in-law of Charles Lanyon. Unlike stations built under Board of Public Works direction, the Helen's Bay cottages do not incorporate defensive features such as gun loops.

Thomas McKnight, editor of the Northern Whig, observed in his account of the Irish land question that Lord Dufferin had spent comparatively more on his estate than perhaps any other Irish landlord of the time, and that "the houses he built for the coastguards and for the workpeople engaged round Clandeboye are in a style far superior to similar buildings on the estates of much larger landlords."

The station was known as Clandeboye Coastguard Station until at least 1890, after which its name changed to Helen's Bay Coastguard Station. The Ordnance Survey map of 1858 shows the buildings captioned as 'Coast Guard Station', with a flag staff and boat house also marked. Griffith's Valuation of 1856 to 1864 records a Coast Guard Station and land occupied by the Board of Admiralty and leased from Lord Dufferin, with buildings valued at £34 10s.

Lord Dufferin maintained a long involvement with the station, and its crew regarded themselves as being under his patronage. Surviving letters include requests from Station Officer Richard Keane asking Lord Dufferin to use his influence to assist his son, daughter, and a colleague in finding work in Belfast. A letter of September 1879 from crewman Thomas Nester appealed to Lord Dufferin — reminding him that they had sailed together to Constantinople aboard HMS Melpomene under Captain Hewitt — asking him to use his influence to prevent Nester being transferred away from the station after six years' service, which would have forced him to move his children, who were learning trades in Belfast. In 1898 the Dufferin Estate Office was still involved in the cottages as landlord, with correspondence referring to proposed improvements and additions; it appears to be at this time that the rear returns were added.

The 1901 Belfast and Province of Ulster Street Directory lists the crew as John Pring (chief boatman), boatmen Palmer, Pinwell, Mackay, and Purdy Kerr, and coastguards McEwan, Telint, and Robertson. By 1907 the crew comprised Henry Brunsen (chief boatman), boatmen T. Dickson and T. Dingley, coastguards T. Seagrove, A. White, and M. Gunning, with James Thompson as station master.

In 1893 the Helen's Bay coastguard were involved in rescuing the crew of the schooner Clans of Chester, which had become stranded in the bay. Lifesaving was not formally recognised as an official coastguard function until 1922.

By 1925 the station was no longer in use as a coastguard station. A letter dated 27 March 1925 from a Mrs John Murry to the then Prime Minister Sir James Craig appeals directly for one of the houses, noting that she had been told "a word from you would get one for no one would go against you." The Prime Minister's office referred her request to the Ministry of Finance for sympathetic consideration. Renovation works were carried out in 1993. The cottage remains in residential use.

The house is set at the end of a long private lane to the north-west of Craigdarragh Road, Helen's Bay. Facing north, the terrace enjoys uninterrupted views across Belfast Lough and has direct access to the beach. A large lawned communal garden lies to the front, partly bounded by mature trees to the north and accessed from the east through a decorative cast-iron gate. To the rear, each cottage has a private garden and car parking.