’Old Life Boat House’, [?4A] Portavogie Road, Ballyhalbert, Newtownards, Co Down, BT22 1BU

This is a former boat house dating from the early nineteenth century, likely constructed between 1820 and 1839. It is located on the rocky shoreline south of Ballyhalbert, near Newtownards, County Down, and has been converted into a dwelling house. The building is long and rectangular, with many new multi-pane timber windows and an asbestos slate hipped roof. The exterior is rendered, and features PVC gutters, down spouts, and a chimney. The original boat house likely had a large, probably arched, doorway for the boat incorporated into its east gable; remnants of the stone slipway for the boat remain at that gable.

An Ordnance Survey map of 1834 shows a building on the site marked as a Coast Guard Station, staffed by six coastguard men and one chief officer, according to the Ordnance Survey Memoirs. Adjacent dwellings are known as ‘Coast Guard Cottages’. A valuation from approximately 1835 and a revision of the Ordnance Survey map from 1860 corroborate this history. A further valuation from about 1863 is also documented. The building possesses industrial archaeological interest.