6 & 7 Donegall Quay, Belfast

6 & 7 Donegall Quay, Belfast

This is a terraced two-storey rendered former house, built around 1855, forming part of a small group of three surviving original structures on Donegall Quay that together represent the maritime history of Belfast's historic harbour front. Although recent alterations and the loss of historic fabric and detailing have compromised its character, the building remains one of the last remaining links to the original Belfast harbour.

Architectural Description

The building is rectangular on plan, facing east onto Donegall Quay and overlooking the River Lagan. It sits on the west side of the river, fronting onto a slip road called Oxford Street, which runs parallel to but at a lower level than Donegall Quay. The pitched concrete-tiled roof is set behind a parapet wall with a concrete coping, and a cast-iron hopper and downpipe break through the parapet at the north end. The exterior walls are painted render throughout.

The front elevation is three bays wide. Window openings are square-headed with applied architrave surrounds, painted masonry sills, and replacement 2-over-2 timber sash windows. At ground floor level, a large square-headed opening provides vehicular access, flanked by a pair of rendered pilasters that suggest there was formerly a shopfront here; this opening now has a folding steel gate. To the left of this vehicular opening are a pair of square-headed door openings fitted with replacement panelled timber doors and overlights, along with a further panelled pilaster to the left.

The south side elevation abuts the adjoining No. 5 Donegall Quay, and the north side elevation abuts the adjoining Nos. 8 and 9 Donegall Quay. The rear elevation is abutted by a single-storey extension with a pitched felt roof. The first floor at the rear is cement rendered and has square-headed window openings fitted with replacement timber casement windows.

The Victorian façade, originally designed by Belfast-based architect Alexander McAlister (c.1821–1897), was removed around 1980. A survey photograph taken in 1976 shows that the building once had a more ornate roofline adorned with rounded finials.

Historical Background

The first buildings along this stretch of the River Lagan, on what is now Donegall Quay, were constructed in 1715 as part of Isaac Macartney's reclamation and development of a block of land where High Street and the Farset River met the Lagan. A map of that development records that the quay was then known as Hanover Quay and consisted of a number of merchant properties.

The origins of Nos. 6 and 7 themselves are not precisely established due to the subsequent refronting of their façades, but architectural historian Patton suggests the building dates from the mid-to-late 18th century, likely between 1760 and 1790. The façades of Nos. 5 to 9 Donegall Quay were refronted in 1855, the work attributed by Brett to Alexander McAlister. McAlister was born in Carlow but was educated and practised in Belfast, and is noted by the Dictionary of Irish Architects as one of the leading Catholic architects of the Victorian period in the city, alongside Timothy Hevey (1846–1878). His confirmed works include St. Malachy's Boys School and the Convent of Mercy in Sussex Place, and the Donegall Quay refronting was among his first known independent commissions.

The building can be identified with certainty from Griffith's Valuation of 1860, which records it as occupied by Samuel Boyd and James Tedford (who also occupied the adjoining No. 5). The building was leased to both men by a Mr. William Lewers. Samuel Boyd and his wife Sarah occupied the ground and first floors, operating a licensed spirits shop on the ground floor and residing on the first floor. Tedford occupied a half-height attic floor which he used as a sail loft, where he sewed and laid out sails before trading them. Griffith's Valuation assessed the total value of No. 7 at £19: £10 for the ground floor shop, £5 for the first floor residence, and £4 for Tedford's sail loft.

James Tedford Senior was a retired sea captain who, after returning to Ireland and establishing his chandler's business at Donegall Quay, expanded into ship ownership. At his death in 1867 he owned a number of merchant ships that traded with South America and the Caribbean, and their exotic cargoes were frequently unloaded along the Donegall Quay wharves. Tedford also occupied several neighbouring buildings: his first sail loft was on the top floor of Nos. 6 and 7 from at least 1860, and by around 1910 the adjoining and larger warehouse at Nos. 8 and 9 had been acquired by Tedford's and was used for the sewing of sails.

In 1866 the ground and first floors passed to a Mr. Thomas Reid, who established a public house called the London Tavern, catering for seamen arriving or departing from the quay. Reid's tenure was brief; by 1877 a Mr. Patrick McKee was running the public house, and by 1882 the tenant had changed again to a Mr. Joseph Russell. The valuation of Nos. 6 and 7 (excluding the sail loft) was increased to £30 in 1887 for reasons that are not recorded, though this may be connected to the reopening of Donegall Quay to trade in 1885, which had been closed during the widening of the Queen's Bridge.

The Annual Revisions note that by 1882 the building, together with the adjoining Nos. 8 and 9, had come into the possession of the Victorian architect Sir Charles Lanyon (1813–1889), whose estate encompassed many properties along the Lagan. After Lanyon's death in 1889, ownership of Nos. 5 to 9 Donegall Quay passed to a Mr. Frederick Kinahan, a local magistrate and partner in Lyle & Kinahan, wine and spirit merchants, as recorded in the 1901 Belfast Street Directory.

The Belfast Revaluation of 1900 records the public house as then administered by a Mr. Patrick Mullaghan, whose annual rent was set at £47 12s. 6d., with the value of the public house increased to £100. The valuer at this time noted that the building had a very old lease and described the structure itself as "old" — a rating that in Belfast Revaluation records generally denotes a Georgian build date, consistent with Patton's suggested mid-to-late 18th century origin. At this period the upper rooms were no longer a private dwelling but were occupied by the offices of the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners, as noted in the 1901 Belfast Street Directory.

By 1911 the top floor was no longer in use as a sail loft and was used merely as attic space by Patrick Mullaghan, while the first floor had reverted to use as a dwelling. By 1913 a Mr. John McGaherty had taken over both the public house and the upper dwelling. Upon McGaherty's taking possession, the value of the property was increased to £70, and he remained the recorded occupant through the end of the Annual Revisions, which were cancelled in 1930. He was still recorded as occupant of the public house in the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland in 1935, which assessed the licensed ground floor at £80 and the upper floor — then in use as a hairdressing salon and offices — at £29 10s.

The building survived the heavy bombardment of the Belfast docklands during the Blitz of 1941. The second general revaluation, which commenced in 1956, records that by that time McGaherty's public house had passed to Jamison & Green Ltd., a tool and factory equipment supplier with their main offices on Ann Street off Donegall Quay. Jamison & Green removed the original shopfront to create the large ground floor vehicular opening, giving access to the courtyard at the rear of the Ann Street office. As a result of this conversion the value of No. 7 was revised to £64, at which it remained by the end of the second revaluation in 1972.

Jamison & Green came into possession of Nos. 6 and 7 around 1950. The building, along with the adjoining Nos. 8 and 9, was listed in 1992 following the closure of Tedford's Chandlers shop in the preceding year. Jamison & Green continue to occupy offices on Ann Street but have vacated the upper floors of Nos. 6 and 7, which are currently in use as office space.

Setting and Significance

Together with the neighbouring Nos. 5 and 8–9 Donegall Quay, and the wider group of maritime buildings including the Custom House and Sinclair Seamen's Church, Nos. 6 and 7 form one of a rare group of surviving examples of Belfast's nautical heritage, standing as a record of a period when the quays along the River Lagan were at the heart of the city's mercantile life.