J Braddell and Sons Ltd, 11 North Street, Belfast, BT1 1NA

J Braddell and Sons Ltd, 11 North Street, Belfast

A three-storey red brick shop with double attic, built c.1890, occupying a single bay across three windows wide on the east side of North Street in central Belfast. The building is notable for the survival of its timber and cast-iron frame construction and the retention of most of its original architectural detailing. Its gabled elevation is unusual and represents one of the few remaining 19th-century buildings on North Street constructed for a small business, from a period when the street was a thriving commercial location with numerous such enterprises. The building exemplifies a type now rapidly disappearing from towns across the Province.

The rectangular plan faces south-west. The roof is pitched and hipped with natural slate and features a large cast-iron light. Valley gutters and square cast-iron downpipes are present. The front facade walling is laid in English garden wall bond with terracotta and sandstone detailing.

The principal south-west elevation at ground floor displays a traditionally designed modern timber shopfront with two square-headed openings flanked by fluted pilasters on tall panelled bases. The opening to the right comprises a timber panelled stall riser with a three-light shop window divided by circular mullions into arched panes. The opening to the left is deeply recessed, timber-panelled, and contains two doors: the left door is timber panelled; the right door is angled with two bottom timber panels, a single glazed top panel, and a plain rectangular overlight. Both openings are fitted with timber panels above that conceal steel roller shutters. The main fascia bears individually raised lettering flanked by red sandstone console brackets, with a red sandstone cornice above.

Three equally spaced windows occupy the first and second floors, with bull-nosed arrises. Those on the second floor feature a cill course with a moulded foliate terracotta string course below and a continuous drip moulding above. The attic floor contains a single central arched window opening of the same type as below, with corbelled brickwork beneath the cill. This is flanked by rectangular terracotta foliate panels centred on the windows below. A moulded brick string course at impost level forms a drip moulding over the arch, surmounted by an intricate terracotta keystone and a square terracotta panel with circular inset detail and foliate moulding. A corbelled parapet gable crowns the elevation, finished with sandstone coping, kneelers, and ball finials.

All windows are segmental timber casements with overlights and red sandstone cills unless otherwise noted. The south-east and north-west elevations are wholly abutted by adjoining buildings. The north-east rear elevation is abutted at ground floor by a flat-roofed extension and on the first floor at right by a small return with a lean-to roof sloping from right to left. The exposed section shows red brick English garden wall bond walling with a single window opening to the first floor, two openings to the second floor, and a single window opening to the attic floor.

The building stands on the east side of North Street in central Belfast, flanked by buildings on both sides, with a temporary car park on a vacant site to the rear.

Historical context

While a building existed on this site through the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Edition Ordnance Survey maps, it is difficult to discern precisely when the current structure was erected. Patton suggests a date of c.1890. Mid-19th-century North Street was home to numerous small businesses, from shoemakers and publicans to tallow chandlers and umbrella makers. The Ulster Streets Directory of 1880 records the London & Counties Tea Co, with Samuel Cheetham as manager, as the occupier at 11 North Street. By 1901, J. Adams, an oil and colour merchant who had occupied 7 North Street in 1880, was noted as the occupier and registered as a glass and colour merchant. This succession suggests that a new and improved building may have been constructed between 1880 and 1901, with Adams relocating to the more modern premises while remaining on North Street.

The current occupant, J Braddell & Sons Ltd, moved into the premises in March 1988. The company operates two large sales floors, workshop, and storage areas, making it probably the largest field sports shop in Ireland, displaying approximately 400 rods at any one time.

The Braddell business has a long history. Joseph Braddell and his son came from County Donegal to Belfast in 1811 and established a business manufacturing and supplying sports equipment for the gentry. Their original premises were in Castle Place, adjoining the Ulster Club, positioned conveniently near their intended customers. The operation expanded to five workshops equipped with up-to-date machinery powered by their own 15hp engine, with up to twenty employees manufacturing the "Ulster Bulldog" revolver, shotguns, fishing rods, and golf clubs, many of which were exported worldwide. Following Joseph Braddell's death, Colonel Charles Playfair, son of a noted Birmingham gunmaker, took over the business. In 1890, William James Clarke joined as a junior salesman and later became manager.

In 1915, W.J. Clarke, with financial assistance from two wealthy customers, purchased the shooting and fishing section of the business and relocated to Arthur Square. Another employee, John Knox, took over the golf and other sports sections, opening a shop in Upper Donegall Street. The manufacture of guns and golf clubs ceased after this division, though guns bearing the Braddell name continued to be made by the Midland Gun Company and J.W. Tolley.

The business survived the Second World War, with the Clarke brothers working in partnership until 1970 when Bobby Clarke retired. In 1975 they moved to larger premises at 9 North Street to accommodate increased stock display. The shop changed ownership in April 1982 when the proprietor of a similar business on Royal Avenue, Belfast, took over, expanding the shop and refinishing the display areas. After operating as separate companies for some years, Braddells and Rankins merged in March 1988 and relocated to the current larger premises at 11 North Street, where the business continues as a supplier of fishing tackle, guns, and accessories.

The building is located within the Cathedral Conservation Area and is listed as Grade B1.