Boundary Wall, Seacourt, Maxwell Drive, Maxwell Road, Bangor, Co Down, BT20 3LE

Boundary Wall at Seacourt

This boundary wall forms part of an extensive enclosure running approximately 250 by 100 metres around Seacourt, a grand classical house built around 1865 for Foster Connor, a Belfast linen merchant. The wall is constructed of whinstone rubble with red brick in English garden wall bond, and encloses an area of significant historical importance in Bangor's prosperous late nineteenth-century coastal development.

The section of primary interest runs along the north side, parallel to the Bangor-Belfast coastal path. This portion is distinguished by crenellated copings and features a three-stage castellated lookout tower in whinstone rubble, bowed to the north side. The tower was built to watch yacht racing, and contains replacement hardwood casement and fixed pane openings with brick dressings and projecting stone sills; the entrance door on the south face is covered with aluminium sheeting. The outer face of this section displays rubble stone while the inner face is English garden wall bonded red brick.

The wall is punctuated by a round archway with a triple header arch construction, inset with a modern steel gate. The remainder of the wall features soldier coping and is defined by square piers at the corners. The east section bounds Maxwell Lane, which provides access from Maxwell Road to the coastal path, and contains some replacement sections.

The wall appears to be contemporary with the main house and is shown on the third edition Ordnance Survey map of 1901. An aerial photograph of uncertain date shows the boundary wall together with two towers on the seaward side; the more easterly tower, captioned on the fourth edition Ordnance Survey map of 1919-26, does not appear to have survived. The architect of Seacourt is unknown, though James Hamilton and Charles Lanyon have both been suggested. The builders were Henrys, who also constructed the Albert Bridge in Belfast. The house does not appear in Griffith's Valuation (1856-64) but is listed in the first fieldbook of Annual Revisions from 1866, indicating a probable construction start date of around 1865. Valuation records show the property initially valued at £80 in 1866, rising to £180 by 1870, suggesting ongoing construction during this period.

The next owner, Samuel Cleland Davidson of the Sirocco Works, acquired Seacourt in 1895 and carried out repairs and alterations, raising the property valuation to £285 by 1915 (later reduced to £260 following appeal).

The boundary wall remains mostly intact and is a prominent feature both from Maxwell Road and from the Bangor to Belfast coastal path. It is stylistically coherent with the former walled garden at Seacourt and forms part of an important group of structures associated with the house, which includes separately listed gate piers. The wall is indicative of the status of this significant house and its role in Bangor's historical coastal development.