Waterworks Park, Antrim Road, Belfast, BT15 2AT

Waterworks Park Gate Screen, Piers, Gates and Railings, Antrim Road, Belfast

These decorative cast-iron railings, gates, and curved entrance screen form the east boundary of Waterworks Park on Antrim Road, and represent a good example of architectural metalwork in both the Victorian and Art Nouveau styles. They were originally designed to enclose the water basins, the former porter's lodge, and the pleasure gardens of the Belfast Waterworks, where two large reservoirs were developed by 1842 to supply fresh water to the city. The gates and railings are closely associated with the adjacent former gate lodge at 260 Antrim Road, a single-storey cruciform Italianate lodge constructed around 1850 and attributed to Sir Charles Lanyon.

The curved entrance screen sits immediately north of the lodge and features decorative cast-iron railings and matching iron gates, hung on square red brick pillars with moulded concrete capstones. The Victorian-era railings and stone plinth wall continue southward along the Antrim Road frontage, interspersed with the same red brick pillars, before terminating in a set of gates in the matching style. Further along the boundary, the character of the railings changes to 20th-century painted cast metal with plain uprights and no finials, set on a reconstituted stone plinth dating from around 1930.

At the north-east entrance to the park, facing the junction of Antrim Road, Limestone Road, and Cavehill Road, there is an elaborate Art Nouveau metal archway bearing the lettering "Queen Mary's Gardens" and the date June 1931. This archway is supported on brown brick pillars with raised rectangular panels to front and back and reconstituted stone copings. The 20th-century railings continue a short distance along Cavehill Road before terminating. The materials throughout are as follows: railings and gates in painted cast iron; piers in cast iron and brick; walling in sandstone; and cappings in cast iron and reconstituted stone.

The piers along the Antrim Road frontage originally consisted of an elaborate range of large square piers with recessed panels and cappings with urns, and the piers at the park entrance screen originally supported two cube-shaped lanterns. These were updated, most likely in the early to mid 19th century, to the simpler square brick pillars with reconstituted stone cappings seen today.

Historical background

The Antrim Road was originally laid out in 1830. The first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1832–33 records that the land on which the Belfast Waterworks was built was predominantly rural in character at that time, and included a number of dwellings — among them Solitude House — which were subsequently demolished to make way for the new reservoirs.

Belfast's earliest piped water supply had been established in 1678, utilising wooden pipes. By the 18th century the city drew its water from a variety of sources including artificial reservoirs, local springs, and barrels delivered by horse-drawn carts. By the early 19th century, however, the city's water supply was outstripped by the demands of a rapidly growing population. In 1840, responsibility for the water supply was transferred to the Belfast Water Commissioners under the Belfast Water Act. Among the measures enacted was the construction of a new reservoir on the Antrim Road, built between 1840 and 1842, fed by springs at Cave Hill and by a stream at Carr's Glen. William Dargan, the Irish engineer and railway entrepreneur, was appointed as engineer for the works. Two ponds were constructed: the middle (town) basin and the upper clearwater basin. The first connected houses received water from the Antrim Road reservoir, through cast-iron pipes, in 1842.

The Water Commissioners did not anticipate the steep increase in population that followed. By 1852, consultant water engineer John F. Bateman estimated demand at 2 million gallons per day, yet the reservoir could supply only a quarter of that amount by 1855. Access to the waterworks site was a source of conflict during the mid-19th century. The Commissioners employed watchmen at the boundary, supported by police protection or, alternatively, "twopenny horns" to be blown loudly at trespassers. Eventually, the Commissioners allowed public access to anyone willing to sign a book at the entrance gate and agree to abide by the rules for visitors posted in the hall of the gate lodge.

The Belfast Waterworks continued in use as a reservoir but was superseded in the late 19th century by the supply of fresh water from sources in the Mourne Mountains. During the 1880s and 1890s, recreational water events and galas were staged in the Antrim Road reservoirs.

In 1830, plans were implemented to landscape the small area to the north of the clearwater basin at the junction of Antrim Road and Cavehill Road. The works included tennis courts, a playground, a drinking fountain, and a flagpole. The site was opened by the Lady Mayoress on 8th July 1931 and named Queen Mary's Gardens — though the month of June is engraved into the ironwork above the gate. It is reported that during the 1940s, as part of early wartime preparations including the collection of scrap metal, Queen Mary's Gardens lost both its railings and gates.

In 1897, following the discovery of water sources in the Mourne Mountains, a public meeting was held to determine the future of the now-redundant waterworks. In 1899, the Water Commissioners allocated the site for leisure use, and it has functioned as a public park ever since. The waterworks continued as a venue for aquatic galas — including diving, swimming, boating, and model yacht racing — up until the 1960s, and a miniature railway ran along the perimeter of Queen Mary's Gardens and the north boundary of the upper reservoir.

In the mid-1950s, the Commissioners introduced a system of key access to the parks, with keyholders paying an annual subscription. The Belfast Reservoir Anglers' Association held fishing rights to the reservoirs and made day tickets available to the public. The property was transferred to Belfast Corporation on 1st May 1956. From 1958 onwards, the Corporation reduced the depth of both reservoirs for safety reasons. In 1966, the Corporation developed an ambitious plan to create a "Pleasure Resort" on the site, incorporating adult boating and fishing in the upper pond, children's bathing and model yachting in the lower pond, changing accommodation, a waterfall, and a tea garden. The first phase, incorporating the waterfall area, was the only local authority project in the United Kingdom to receive a commendation in the Civic Awards Scheme in 1969. In 1971, the Corporation commissioned the installation of a floral clock by building contractors James Ritchie and Son of Edinburgh; this was later transferred to the grounds of City Hall in 1976 after suffering vandalism on the Antrim Road site.

The gate lodge at the south-east entrance to the Belfast Waterworks was constructed around 1850 and is attributed to Sir Charles Lanyon (1813–1889), an English architect and engineer who served as County Surveyor for Antrim and carried out a number of important engineering works in and around Belfast during the mid-19th century. The Dictionary of Irish Architects records that Lanyon was responsible for the construction of the Antrim Coast Road between Larne and Ballycastle, and for the Glendun viaduct. In 1855, Lanyon provided recommendations to the Belfast Water Commissioners on how to increase the supply from the Antrim Road waterworks to over a million gallons per day, and it is suggested he may have designed the porter's lodge at around the same time. One authority, Dean, believed that Lanyon was responsible for the lodge's design, noting that it closely followed the architect's "Baroque Italianate style which he also employed at Dunderave, Moneyglass and Eglantine", and that on the side gables the architect employed his "distinctive stepped Venetian window which also featured on his demolished curator's house at Stranmillis and at Muckamore Villa."

The porter's lodge was first depicted on the second edition Ordnance Survey map for Belfast of 1858, where it appeared as a T-shaped structure; it did not acquire its current cruciform layout until the mid-20th century. The contemporary Griffith's Valuation of 1859 jointly valued the lodge, along with an ice house and curator's house (now demolished), at £30. Later editions of the Ordnance Survey maps from 1901 to 1938 record no change to the lodge's original layout. The Belfast Street Directories noted that a Mr A. Gilmour was caretaker of the Waterworks and resided at the lodge in 1860.

The railings and gate screen enhance the setting of the lodge and contribute to the character of Waterworks Park and the Antrim Road area, illustrating the site's historical development across the 19th and 20th centuries.