268 Antrim Road, Belfast, Co. Antrim, BT15 5AA

268 Antrim Road, known as Rockmount, is an end-of-terrace, three-bay, two-storey-with-attic red brick Victorian house built in 1844. It stands on an L-shaped plan on the west side of the Antrim Road in the townland of Skegoneill, Belfast, and forms the southernmost of a terrace of three (with nos. 270 and 272 to the north). The house is of both architectural and historical significance, retaining many original features and carrying a strong association with one of Belfast's most important Victorian architects.

Exterior

The front elevation faces east and is constructed in red brick laid in Flemish bond. A painted raised stone plinth runs along the base, and a raised rendered band marks the first-floor string course. The most distinctive feature of the front elevation is a projecting two-and-a-half-storey gable at the south-east corner, finished with raised smooth ashlar quoins and crowned by a broken pediment. The ground- and first-floor windows within this projecting gable are set within smooth rendered surrounds, with scrolled brackets supporting moulded sills and cornice headers. A semi-circular opening at the apex of the gable has a smooth rendered surround and a one-over-one timber sliding sash window.

The central entrance is approached by a flight of stone steps and features a six-panelled painted timber door with a fanlight above, which carries the lettering '268 ROCKMOUNT'. The doorcase has a rendered surround with scrolled brackets on pilasters supporting a painted cornice canopy. A two-over-two sliding sash window sits directly above the entrance door. Throughout the front elevation, windows are square-headed with rendered reveals and painted stone sills, fitted with paired two-over-two horizontally divided timber sliding sash windows.

The south side elevation is two-bay, with blind openings at first-floor level and a blind opening to the western ground-floor position. The rear of the building includes a two-storey rear return to the west, which is three-bay and finished in smooth cement render with square-headed openings fitted with uPVC windows and a uPVC door. A single-storey garage with a flat roof is attached to the western end of this return. The rear elevation to the west is two-bay with a central gabled rear return, and the main roof includes a dormer with a hipped slate roof and a timber square-headed casement window. The uPVC casement windows to the rear and garage represent later alterations that detract from the building's character.

The pitched roof is covered in natural slate with clay ridge tiles. The eaves overhang on paired timber brackets with scrolled ends, with a timber-sheeted soffit beneath. Rainwater is collected in ogee-moulded uPVC gutters discharging to circular downpipes. The red brick chimneys have rendered bands and copings and are fitted with round terracotta chimney pots; the chimney to the north is shared with no. 270.

Setting and Boundary

The site is enclosed to the east, at the junction with Antrim Road, by a rock-faced coursed basalt boundary wall. A pair of square-plan piers with moulded pyramidal copings forms a pedestrian gateway fitted with a decorative painted cast-iron gate. A hedge forms the southern boundary and a rendered wall the western boundary. The grounds to east and west include a tarmacked yard surface to the west with rendered brick yard walling. The building sits adjacent to the north entrance of the Waterworks, formerly known as Queen Mary's Gardens, and contributes significantly to the character of this stretch of the Antrim Road.

Historical Notes

The Antrim Road was originally laid out in 1830, and the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1832–33 shows the area around the junction with the Cave Hill Road as predominantly rural with no buildings present. The terrace — originally known as Richmond Terrace — first appears on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1858, shown in its current layout with gardens to the front. The terrace was built in 1844, a date recorded in the original deeds held by a former owner of no. 268, and was leased to tenants by James McCaldin, a hat and cap manufacturer with premises in Waring Street.

No. 268 was valued at £44 in Griffith's Valuation of 1859. Its first recorded occupant was Robert Young (1822–1917), a local architect and civil engineer who had established his independent practice in Belfast in 1852. Young resided at Rockmount until around 1865, when he moved to Fortwilliam Villas — a property he also designed. Shortly before his departure he entered into partnership with his former pupil John Mackenzie to form Young and Mackenzie, around 1867, which had become the most successful architectural practice in Belfast by the end of the 19th century.

Following Young's departure, the house was occupied by a Ms Maria Thompson from around 1865, after which occupants changed with some frequency. By 1901 the house was home to Captain Samuel Molyneux, Harbour Master with the Belfast Harbour Board. In that year the Census of Ireland classified Rockmount as a first-class dwelling containing 13 rooms. Molyneux remained at the property until his death in 1909, after which his widow Sarah Ann continued to live there until around 1915. The house was then briefly occupied by the Reverend A. F. Moody, minister at Cliftonville Presbyterian Church, and by the 1920s a Ms Agnes Craig was recorded as the occupant.

Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936–57), ownership passed to Marion Allworthy, who converted the building into a number of self-contained apartments, giving a combined rateable value of £92. Allworthy still owned the property at the time of the Second General Revaluation (1956–72), by which point the value had fallen to £79. The Cassidy family have owned the house for approximately 40 years at the time of listing. Nos. 268–272 Antrim Road were listed together in 1986.

The building has group value with the other listed houses at nos. 270 and 272 Antrim Road.