2-12A Warren Road (former coastguard dwellings), Donaghadee, Co Down, BT21 0DS

Former Coastguard Station, now residential terrace, built circa 1875–80

This is a two-storey red brick terrace block with hipped roof, end bays, and a squat look-out turret, built around 1875–80 as a coastguard station. It served as the chief station for the North Ards area and provided accommodation for both the Lieutenant and the Area Commander. The building appears to have remained in use as a coastguard station until around 1950. The block sits on the west side of Warren Road with a partially obscured view of the open sea. It now contains nine dwellings, though two original houses have been amalgamated into one (now number 10), and a further dwelling (number 12a) has been created by converting the former look-out turret and stores at the north end.

The building is constructed throughout in red brick with restrained cream-coloured brick decoration. The hipped roof is slated and carries a series of chunky brick chimney stacks. Rainwater goods are a mixture of cast iron and PVC. The turret roof and the south bay each carry elaborate wrought iron finials and ridge decorations. To the front of the block are shared gardens enclosed by a tall rubble wall to the street.

Front, North and South Elevations

Number 2 occupies the south end of the block. To the left of the east front is a timber door screen with sidelights and a panelled timber door set within a segmental arch-headed opening. The first floor of this section is blank. To the right is a large full-height projection containing a single-storey canted bay with a hipped natural slate roof. This bay is now fitted with PVC windows, and all windows in it have sandstone sills. The lintels are in sandstone and form a continuous band around the bay. A projecting sandstone eaves course continues to either side as a string course along the full length of the building. At first floor level there are two segmental arch-headed windows, each with brick inner reveals and PVC frames, resting on sandstone sills beneath segmental soldiered brick arches. The left corner of the bay has in-and-out brick quoins, while those to the right corner, along with the south face of the projection, are obscured by plain cement render. The north face of the bay remains in original brick and is blank.

Number 2a: To the right on the front façade is a window with a PVC frame. To its right is a paired door arrangement, the left-hand door belonging to number 2a. This door is now PVC with a semicircular fanlight fitted with PVC tracery. A pair of semicircular arch heads with contrasting brick voussoirs and a keystone surmount both this door opening and its neighbour. At first floor level are two semicircular arch-headed windows with PVC top-hung frames.

Number 4: To the right is a timber door with vertical sheeting and a plain semicircular fanlight. To its right is a recently enlarged window opening with a PVC frame and a slim concrete sill. The first floor has two PVC windows as at number 2a.

Number 6: A PVC panelled door sits below the left side of a paired semicircular arch-headed opening, as before. To the left is a recently enlarged window opening with a plain frame.

Number 8: The door is as at number 6. To the right is a window with a PVC frame, with two further PVC-framed windows at first floor level as at previous properties.

Number 8a: The door to the left is timber with vertical sheeting. To the right is a window with a PVC frame, with two similar windows at first floor level as before.

Number 10: This comprises two original houses now amalgamated. To the right is a PVC door with surround as before. To the left are two recently enlarged windows with PVC frames. To the far left is the original door opening, which now contains a semicircular arch-headed PVC window. At first floor level there are four PVC windows as at previous properties.

Number 12: To the left is a PVC door with a surround and to the right is a window with a PVC frame. At first floor level are two PVC-framed windows as at previous properties.

Number 12a occupies the north end of the block and largely consists of a squat seven-sided, two-and-a-half-storey former look-out tower with a hipped roof. To each of the three east-facing faces of the tower is a narrow slit window, resembling an arrow loop, with a flat brick arch with contrasting voussoirs. At first floor level on each corresponding east-facing face is a sash window with Georgian panes (six over six) and matching dressings, with a squat six-pane window to the central face at second floor level. One of the north faces of the tower has a window at first floor and one at second floor level, matching those on the east. The central north-facing face of the turret is considerably broader than the others and has a ground floor doorway with a modern door; the remainder of the ground floor level of this face is rendered. An open concrete stair with a masonry guard rail rises to the right of the ground floor doorway, winding around the north and south faces of the turret to a small sentry box-like rendered porch at first floor level. This stair is believed to be original and gave access to the look-out room on the second floor and the office on the first floor. The front façade of number 12a sits on a squared rubble base with a sandstone coping. The eaves course is formed from corbelled brickwork.

The short south elevation of number 12a is three storeys, the ground having been cut away to reveal a semi-basement level. To the centre of the elevation is a large full-height hipped-roof bay with a narrow window at each floor level. To the west face of the bay is a small window at the top floor and a slightly larger one at semi-basement level, both with modern frames.

Rear Elevation

Number 12: To the right-hand rear is a large two-storey gabled return. To the left is a PVC-framed window at ground floor level with another at first floor. To the west gable of the return is a recent flat-roofed return. The upper floor of the gable is blank. The north face of the original return has a partly glazed door to the left and a PVC-framed window to the right, with a PVC window at the centre of the first floor.

Number 10: The ground floor is obscured by a modern U-shaped flat-roofed return sandwiched between the two-storey returns of the neighbouring properties. At first floor level are four PVC-framed windows of various sizes.

Number 8a: To the left of the rear elevation is a large, recently built or rebuilt two-storey hipped-roof return, with a further single-storey hipped-roof modern return to its west face. To the right, on the west face of the original rear wall, are a ground floor window and a first floor window, both with PVC frames.

Number 8: This is a handed version of number 8a.

Number 6: To the left side is a two-storey flat-roofed return, with a single-storey flat-roofed return to its west face. The ground floor of the original rear wall is blank, while at first floor level is a modern window.

Number 4: To the right side is a single-storey return with a monopitch roof. To the right is a PVC-framed window, and at first floor level are two PVC-framed windows, the right-hand one being the smaller.

Number 2a: To the left is a two-storey flat-roofed full-width modern extension, with two further smaller single-storey extensions to the left side of the west face.

Number 2: There are two windows at ground floor level and two at first floor level, all with modern frames. Those to the right side are set slightly lower. At semi-basement level there is a modern glazed door to the left.

Modern rear extensions are generally in red facing brick, with the exception of number 6, which is finished in unpainted render. Some return roofs are covered with artificial slate.