38 Hamilton Street, Belfast, County Antrim, BT2 8LP

38 Hamilton Street is a terraced, two-bay, three-storey redbrick late-Georgian townhouse built around 1830 to 1839, forming part of a terrace of six similar houses lining the south side of Hamilton Street in Belfast city centre. It is one of the finest surviving examples of late-Georgian terraced housing in central Belfast and sits within a conservation area.

ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION

The house is rectangular in plan, facing north onto Hamilton Street. The pitched roof is covered in natural slate with black clay ridge tiles, and there are shared redbrick chimneystacks at either end of the terrace fitted with clay pots. Cast-iron guttering runs along a stepped redbrick eaves course, with cast-iron downpipes below. The external walls are laid in Flemish bond brickwork with a rendered plinth course at the base.

The three-storey front elevation is two windows wide. Window openings are square-headed with painted masonry sills and replacement six-over-six timber sash windows. The off-centre front door occupies a round-headed opening with a moulded surround and is flanked by flat-panelled pilasters, with a stepped lintel cornice and decorative fanlight above. The replacement timber panelled door opens onto a concrete platform reached by three nosed steps, flanked by a low rendered plinth wall and replacement iron railings enclosing a small paved front area. Adjacent to the main entrance is a further round-headed door opening, fitted with a replacement sheeted timber door and overpanel, giving access to the rear of the property.

The east side elevation abuts the adjoining No. 36, and the west side abuts No. 40. The three-storey rear elevation is also two windows wide and is abutted by a single-storey lean-to extension that spans the full width of the terrace. The rear window openings have camber-headed brick arches and are irregularly placed, lighting the main rooms to the right and half-landings to the left. The lean-to contains a bipartite six-over-six timber sash window and a single timber glazed door, which opens onto a communal rear area surfaced in tarmac. Access to this rear area is via pairs of tall sheeted timber gates at either end of the terrace, supported on pairs of tall redbrick piers with redbrick screen walls and concrete coping.

HISTORY

Hamilton Street was developed in the 1830s on reclaimed land to the south-east of Belfast's town centre. This land had been created by the construction of a paper mill dam along the Blackstaff River at the present junction of Ormeau Avenue and Cromac Street. The first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1832 to 1833 shows that Nos. 36 to 40 were already constructed by that date, with Nos. 42 to 46 following shortly afterwards. The street takes its name from the family name of the Dukes of Abercorn, who resided at No. 3 Hamilton Street from 1818 (now demolished).

In its early decades the street attracted high-ranking merchant-class residents, many connected with the newspaper and printing trade. By the 1850s, however, the area had become more distinctly working class as businessmen relocated to grander houses in the Belfast suburbs. The Belfast Street Directories record that under an earlier numbering system, No. 38 Hamilton Street was listed as No. 34 in 1852, when it was occupied by a Mr. James Anderson, a portrait painter. By 1859, Griffith's Valuation records that the house had passed into the possession of a Miss Elizabeth Bruce, who rented it from Elisha Crawford, who also owned the rest of the terrace. The valuer classed it as a B+ dwelling — described as "not new but in sound repair" — measuring six by seven and a half yards and valued at £15. Elizabeth Bruce continued to reside there until around 1905, although the Belfast Street Directories note that a Bernard McAnulty, a saw sharpener, lived at the address in 1877 and 1880.

By 1901 the house was occupied by Mr. Edward Doherty, a Roman Catholic mechanic, who lived there with his wife Mary and their five children. The 1901 Census described it as a second-class dwelling consisting of five rooms with no outbuildings. Around 1906, during Doherty's occupation, ownership of the entire terrace — apart from No. 46 — passed to a Captain E. Gibbons, who continued to own it until at least the 1970s. By 1911 Doherty's son Edward was employed as a turbine engine fitter, likely in an industrial factory or the nearby shipyards, while his daughters worked as machinists in a clothing factory, reflecting the working-class character of the neighbourhood at that time. Doherty continued to reside at the house until his death sometime in the 1920s, after which his widow Mary Doherty remained in possession for a further decade.

In 1935, under the first general revaluation of property in Northern Ireland, the rateable value of No. 38 was increased to £18. During the Second World War, Hamilton Street suffered significant damage in the Belfast Blitz, when the Luftwaffe targeted the nearby shipyard industries, and many houses along the street were lost. Nos. 36 to 46 were repaired and subsequently included in the second general revaluation of property in Northern Ireland, which ran from 1956; No. 38's value was recalculated at £19, at which it remained through to the end of the project in 1972.

Mary Doherty had vacated the house sometime after 1935, and by 1940 it was occupied by Mr. John Keenan, a barman, who remained there until the 1980s. The house then stood vacant until its restoration between 1988 and 1990. In 1971, the architectural historian C. E. B. Brett described the houses on Hamilton Street and neighbouring Joy Street as "the best example left in the city of late-Georgian Belfast." Many of the remaining houses on Hamilton Street and the returning Catherine Street North and Joy Street were demolished in 1988, by which time the surviving Nos. 36 to 46 had also fallen into disrepair.

RESTORATION

The terrace was restored between approximately 1988 and 1990 by the Hearth Revolving Fund (Hearth Housing Association), with a new running bay added at the rear. During the restoration, only the exterior walls were retained. Although this process inevitably resulted in some loss of original interior fabric, the exterior has been restored in a sensitive manner and retains much of its historic detailing and late-Georgian character. The house was listed in 1985 along with the rest of the terrace and continues to be occupied as a dwelling.

SIGNIFICANCE

No. 38 adds significant value to the group as a whole, retaining the style and proportions of the terrace and contributing to the continued survival of this rare example of late-Georgian terraced housing in the centre of Belfast. Its architectural interest lies in its style, proportion, ornamentation, setting, and group value; its historical interest rests on its age, authenticity, and local significance.