Fortwilliam Gateway, Antrim Road, Belfast, Co. Antrim

Fortwilliam Gateway comprises two pairs of ornate Gothic Revival dressed sandstone gate pillars marking the western entrance to Fortwilliam Park from the Antrim Road, in the townland of Skegoneill. They were designed by William J. Barre in 1864 and sit within the Somerton Road Conservation Area, immediately adjacent to a small gate lodge. The four pillars are all that survive of what was originally a five-pier gateway: the central pier, which divided the carriageway for traffic, was removed in the mid-20th century, and the ornate dwarf sandstone walls that originally flanked both sides of the entrance have also been lost.

Each pillar is square in plan and built from dressed sandstone. At the base, a sandstone plinth carries a moulded base course. The corners of each pillar are dressed with triple foliated, capped engaged columns that rise to an astragal, from which springs an early Gothic style arch with cusping, trefoil embellishment and Romanesque moulding. The spandrels on each of the four sides are decorated with two quatrefoil ornaments. Above acanthus-leafed cornices, pyramidal caps in ashlar stone rise to decorated arched octagonal pinnacles with carved ornamental finials.

When complete, the gateway also included cast iron decorative gates, wicket overthrows, and a cast iron central pier which Dean described as resembling a Chinese lantern. Late Victorian photographs confirm this arrangement. The four surviving sandstone side piers were used by pedestrians. The gate lodge to the north side of the gateway was also designed by Barre.

The gateway was constructed in 1864 as one of the principal entrances to Fortwilliam House, which had been built before 1830 and stood in the townland of Skegoneill as one of many gentlemen's mansions along the Antrim and Shore Roads. Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) records that the house was built near, and named after, a fortified encampment known as Fort William, believed to have been erected by King William III in 1690. According to Lewis, the encampment measured 70 feet square and was surrounded by a deep fosse and defended by a bastion at each angle, with another earthwork of rougher construction nearby.

Dean records that the estate was owned by the Lendrick family until 1810, when George Langtry, a local ship owner, acquired it. By the mid-19th century Fortwilliam House had grown into one of the most extensive gentlemen's manors along the Shore Road. Griffith's Valuation of 1859 recorded the property as being owned by Elizabeth Langtry, consisting of the house, a gate lodge and numerous outbuildings across approximately 155 acres. Also in 1859, Fortwilliam House passed to William Valentine, a Director of the Northern Banking Company and the Belfast and Ballymena Railway. Valentine commissioned the construction of gateways at both the Antrim Road and Shore Road entrances to the estate in 1864. While the architect of the Shore Road gateway is not known with certainty, the Antrim Road pillars are firmly attributed to Barre.

William Joseph Barre (c.1826–1867) was born in Newry and became one of Belfast's most prolific architects, despite his short career. He moved to Belfast after winning the competition to design the Ulster Hall in 1859 and went on to design some of the city's most impressive Victorian buildings, including Belmont Presbyterian Church (1860–61), The Moat (1863–64), University Road Methodist Church (1864–65), the Provincial Bank on Royal Avenue (1864–69), Bryson House on Bedford Street (1865–67), and the Albert Memorial Clock Tower (1865–69). His Gothic Revival design for these gate pillars is characteristic of his style and closely resembles the ornate detailing of the Albert Clock. Barre died in 1867 of illness, having made a brief but lasting mark on the architectural landscape of Belfast.

In the 1860s the Fortwilliam Estate was broken up and developed into one of Belfast's most exclusive residential areas. A new street was laid out between the Antrim Road and Shore Road gateways and named Fortwilliam Park, along which a number of merchants' manors were subsequently built. Fortwilliam House itself was demolished in the 1930s when the remaining estate was developed for housing, though both gateways remained. Following the demolition of the gate lodge at the Shore Road entrance in 1955, the City Surveyor noted that the gateways were picturesque and did not interfere with traffic. Nevertheless, increasing traffic volumes on the Antrim and Shore Roads led to the removal of the central gate pier of the Antrim Road gateway in the mid-20th century. A vehicular collision on 11 April 1985 severely damaged one of the pillars, prompting a report in the Belfast Telegraph which noted that the pillars constituted a danger to the public. The pillars had already been recorded as deteriorating dangerously shortly after their listing in 1980, with a report at that time suggesting they were unlikely to be repaired satisfactorily and recommending removal on public safety grounds.

Holding repairs were carried out following the 1985 incident, but it was not until 2003–04 that a full restoration was undertaken. The pillars were dismantled by McConnell's Stonemasons, defective stone was replaced, and the pillars were reconstructed in their current form.

Together with the neighbouring gate lodge and the sandstone gate screen at the Shore Road end of Fortwilliam Park, the Antrim Road pillars provide a visible reminder of the former grandeur of Fortwilliam Estate and make a unique contribution to the character of the Somerton Road Conservation Area.