6 College Park East, Belfast, BT7 1PS

6 College Park East, Belfast

This is a High Victorian, two-and-a-half-storey, red brick, end-of-terrace double-fronted former house, built in 1869 to designs by Young & MacKenzie. It stands at the junction of College Park East and University Avenue, in the Queen's University area of South Belfast, immediately south of Union Theological College and east of the main Queen's University buildings. The front elevation faces west onto College Park East, beyond which lies a university car park, while the south gable faces onto College Park itself.

Historical Background

College Park East, originally known simply as "College Park", was laid out in or shortly before 1864 on what had until then been the semi-rural edge of the Malone Plains, just east and south of the recently established Queen's College (completed 1849) and Union Theological College (completed 1853). The founding of Queen's in particular prompted several decades of development in the area, with regularly planned streets filled largely with High Victorian terraced housing for the professional and merchant classes moving southward out of a rapidly commercialising and industrialising Belfast city centre.

No. 6 is part of a mixed row of six properties. No. 4, approximately centrally positioned in the terrace, was the first to be completed in 1864; Nos. 1–3 and 5–6 followed in 1869; and "Hope House", which directly abuts the rear of No. 6 though is not strictly part of the row, was completed in 1873. Nos. 1–3 appear to have been developed by William Sherrie, a brush manufacturer with premises in North Street; No. 4 by Alexander Holmes; and Nos. 5–6 together with Hope House by Matthew Pattison (also written as Patteson or Patterson). A tender for making streets in College Park East was advertised by Young & MacKenzie in August 1870, and this firm was responsible for the design of the house and its neighbours.

A note on early records: the property at the north end of the terrace, present No. 1 College Park East, faces onto College Park East but is actually accessed from University Avenue. As a result, early street directories and valuation records from the 1870s to early 1880s are inconsistent — some list it under College Park East and others under University Avenue, with discrepancies in numbering — making it difficult to trace the earliest occupants with certainty.

The earliest recorded occupant of No. 6 appears to have been Matthew Pattison himself, listed as residing at No. 6 in the valuation book commencing 1865. By the time the first street directory to include "College Park East" was published in 1877, John Edgar was listed as occupant, followed by a Mrs. Patterson (later written as "Pattison", presumably a relative of Matthew) by 1880, and then William James Morton from around 1899. The 1901 census records the occupants as Louisa J. Morton (presumably William's wife), her three daughters, her sister, her father, and three domestic servants, with the building noted as a first-class dwelling with thirteen rooms in use. The Mortons vacated around 1905, and were succeeded by the Reverend John J. Robinson, Dean of St Anne's Cathedral. Around 1910 the property was converted into a private hospital managed by Miss Elizabeth Caldwell, which by the mid-1920s had expanded into the adjoining No. 5. Miss Caldwell appears to have retired in the later 1940s and the building became her private residence, remaining so until around 1964 when it was acquired by Queen's University for use as its Department of Celtic. Around 1978 it became the University's computer centre, a use that continued into the later 1990s. Since then the building has been greatly extended to the rear and integrated internally with the rest of the terrace, with the whole now serving as offices for the QUB School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work.

Exterior

The roof is covered in natural Welsh slate with black clay ridge tiles. The walls are red brick laid in Flemish bond throughout. Windows are timber sliding sash with horns, single-glazed, and are likely to be replacements. Rainwater goods are cast iron.

Front Elevation (West) The west-facing front elevation is double-fronted and asymmetrical across two and a half storeys, built in Flemish bond red brick with a centrally located entrance at ground floor level. To the right side is a two-and-a-half-storey canted bay, the top floor of which is jettied and extends above the eaves as a large half-timbered dormer — a device employed by Young & MacKenzie elsewhere in the city, notably at 28 and 30 Wellington Park, Belfast. A smaller timber dormer sits to the left side.

There is a continuous painted stone sill course to the first floor windows, with a bevelled brick course immediately below. Deep corbelled brick eaves detailing runs along the two-storey section beneath the natural slate roof. There is a two-stage brick chimney to the right side at the apex of the gable, with six terracotta pots. A stone corbel sits at the eaves edge on the right with flat stone coping to the verge. The base has a small painted rendered plinth with brick below.

The half-timbered jettied dormer above the canted bay has convex chamfered corners on each side infilled with brick in a header pattern. Beneath the timber bargeboard are carved timber brackets, with a pointed timber finial to the centre and exposed rafter ends. The smaller timber dormer to the left side is timber-clad to the apex with fish-scale vertical slates to the cheeks.

All windows except those in the dormers are 1/1 single-glazed timber sliding sash with horns, likely to be replacements, and all have chamfered brick reveals. The canted bay windows have continuous painted stone header bands with a chamfered bottom edge. The paired window openings to the left of the front door on both ground and first floor levels have shallow pointed painted render heads with a row of brick headers above, as does the single window on first floor level aligned with the front door below. Both dormer windows have been replaced: those to the jettied dormer are four-pane timber casements, while those to the smaller dormer are four-pane with the top panes top-hung.

The entrance consists of a pointed arched painted stone engaged surround beneath a pointed arched hood mould, which terminates on each side with a decorative foliated label stop, and has an indented keystone to the centre. The original painted raised-and-fielded six-panelled timber door is retained, with a plain round-arched fanlight over and two replacement concrete steps up. The small front garden is now paved with concrete paving stones and gravel. A painted plinth wall to the street is fitted with replacement painted metal railings.

South Gable Elevation The gable elevation onto College Park is largely symmetrical. It is abutted on the east side by a narrow two-storey modern extension linking the rear of No. 6 with the west gable wall of Hope House, a detached former dwelling fronting onto College Park. There is a large stone corbel on each side at eaves level with a flat coping stone to each verge, and a central flat section beneath the two-stage brick chimney. Centrally located paired windows appear on the ground, first and second floor levels. Ground and first floor window openings have the same detailing as those on the front elevation: chamfered brick reveals and shallow pointed painted render heads with a row of brick headers above. The second floor (attic) paired windows have arched painted rendered heads. Ground floor windows have separate painted stone sills; first floor openings sit above a continuous painted stone sill band with a row of corbelled brick below; and the paired second floor windows share a single sill. All windows to the gable are 1/1 single-glazed timber sliding sash with horns and are likely to be replacements.

North Side Elevation The north side elevation is fully abutted by No. 5.

Rear Elevation (East) A modern two-storey extension abuts the rear wall of No. 6 (and No. 5), linking both houses with the new block constructed to the rear of Hope House. Much of the existing rear elevation of No. 6 is now internal within the new extension, with the exception of a narrow strip on the south side which remains external. This exposed section has a modern glass panel applied at ground level up to window-head height. Above, at first floor level, is a single 1/1 timber sliding sash window with horns (likely a replacement) with a painted stone sill and splayed brick head. The roof of the modern extension over-sails this first floor window. The existing eaves are visible above the extension roof; below these is PVC guttering beneath a flat-roofed dormer on the left side with a replacement timber triple casement window. To the right side, not visible from street level, is another flat-roofed dormer with an identical window.

The now-internal section of the rear elevation of No. 6 consists of painted render to the left side of ground floor level and modern timber panelling to the right, either side of a former opening that retains its splayed brick head and is now a shallow recess containing a radiator. Within the rendered section is a modern glass and timber door with a glazed side screen, with a PVC downpipe to the left. Directly above the door is a large arch-headed 2/2 half-landing window with coloured glass margin panes and etched glass to the main panes. A structural steel beam abuts the existing rear wall of No. 6 at right angles to the right of this window. At first floor level there are two 2/2 windows to the right of the half-landing window. The second floor half-landing window — a similar but smaller version of the first floor window — has been abutted by the roof of the extension, leaving only the bottom half visible below the new ceiling. The modern glazed roof structure of the extension abuts the rear wall of No. 6 below the existing eaves level, running north to south. All windows to the rear have splayed brick heads (apart from the half-landing windows) and painted stone sills. All windows are single-glazed timber sliding sash with horns, and some are likely to be replacements. All brickwork is laid in Flemish bond.

Interior

Despite the modern alterations — including internal connections into No. 5 to the north and the rear extensions — much of the original layout remains intact. Original interior detailing survives, including decorative plasterwork in the hall and the original staircase.

Setting and Group Value

The terrace as a whole (comprising Nos. 1–6 College Park East) has strong group value, all now internally integrated and used as university offices. The terrace adds significant character to the Queen's University area. No. 6 is particularly distinguished by its jettied dormer, a design feature used by Young & MacKenzie elsewhere in Belfast. The whole row, including Hope House to the south-east, now functions as a single complex with a new main entrance formed on College Park.