Coach Yard, Helen's Bay Railway Station, Helen's Bay, Bangor, BT19

Situated immediately NW of Helen’s Bay Station on avenue between Helen’s Bay and Clandeboye House, this early 1860s coach yard is of octagonal plan, elongated along its N-S axis. It enabled horse-drawn vehicles to execute a U turn in Clandeboye Avenue, here running in a cutting, having dropped off or picked up their fares at Helen’s Bay Station (HB23/15/039A). Both the walls and floor of the yard are now heavily overgrown, making close inspection virtually impossible. The yard is bounded to all but its N and S sides by a high wall of quarried random rubble blackstone. A parapet runs along the top of the wall, delineated along its base and top by an ashlar sandstone string course. At ground level on the east wall is a doorway, now infilled with concrete blocks, which formerly gave access to a staircase up to the private waiting room in the station building (see station for details). The doorway arch is of segmental profile and has stepped ashlar sandstone jambs and sandstone voussoir with moulded intrados. In the wall above the doorway is a recessed panel. Although now obscured by ivy, old photographs show it to contain a panel with the Dufferin family crest. The panel is trimmed in sandstone ashlar, with a two-centred head rising from single imposts. The parapet and its associated sandstone courses all rise over the panel. Although the staircase apparently had a glass roof, it was also lit by four slit openings in the east wall; only one of these slits is now not obscured by ivy. Setting Located in Helen's Bay on the Clandeboye Avenue to the north-west of the railway station (HB23/15/039A). To the east are the station platforms (HB23/15/039B) and to the north the associated road bridge (HB23/15/039F) with stone retaining walls beyond which extend some distance to the north on either side of Clandeboye Avenue. At the south end of the yard, the avenue continues towards Clandeboye under a railway bridge (HB23/15/039D). At the north end, the avenue continues in the Helen’s Bay direction. Walling: stone