Masonic Building, 13-14 Arthur Square, Belfast, County Antrim, BT1 4FF

Masonic Hall, Arthur Square, Belfast

This is a four-storey rendered Masonic Hall, wedge-shaped on plan, dating from 1868 to 1870 and designed by the architectural practice of Lanyon, Lynn & Lanyon. Although the design has sometimes been attributed to Sir Charles Lanyon, contemporary newspaper reports make clear that the architect was his son, John Lanyon. The building was restored circa 2007 and stands at the corner of Arthur Square and Ann Street, with its principal elevation facing Arthur Square, a secondary elevation fronting Ann Street, and a chamfered single-bay elevation at the angle between them. It is an unusual exercise in a loose Gothic Revival style for a practice better known for other work, and it represents both the development of Belfast city centre and the history of the Masonic Orders in the city.

Exterior

The roof is hipped natural slate with clay ridge tiles and several decorative rendered chimneystacks with clay pots and disc mouldings. Cast-iron guttering of ogee moulded profile runs beneath overhanging eaves, with quatrefoil panels supported on a series of decorative brackets rising from a string course and framing ventilation discs. The walling is painted ruled-and-lined render with continuous sill and impost mouldings. The ground floor has been reclad in replacement sandstone with a replacement polished granite plinth course.

Window openings throughout are stepped, stop-chamfered, and pointed-headed with hood mouldings, fitted with timber casement windows and fixed-pane overlights.

Principal West Elevation (Arthur Square)

At the third floor, the fenestration is reduced and arranged in groups of three with deeply set cusped heads; the outer pointed heads spring from squat colonettes with stiff-leaf capitals. Those to the right are largely blind, and a large circular panel to the left frames a star motif set within a cinquefoil. At the second floor, windows are arranged in pairs and in one group of three, with slender banded colonettes. The first floor repeats this arrangement but with additional enrichment: chevron detailing to the impost moulding, label-stops to the hood mouldings, stiff-leaf carving to the stop-chamfered reveals, and paired colonettes to the arched heads, all resting on a continuous deep moulded sill course that frames the ground floor composition.

Above the principal entrance is a single cusped-headed window set within a pointed-headed opening springing from colonettes, with French doors opening onto a replacement stone balcony on plain scribed brackets inscribed FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL WHO ENTER. The balcony has replacement railings incorporating a Masonic motif. The principal entrance itself is recessed within a round-headed opening and fitted with double-leaf hardwood doors with raised-and-fielded panels, a semi-circular fanlight with gilt lettering, and a polished granite surround.

The far right bay houses the staircase hall, with smaller paired window openings. At the upper level these are shouldered, with decorative reveals, a single colonette, a plain hood moulding, and a rectangular panel depicting the Freemason motif with raised lettering reading 5870 / AD1870. Below these are segmental-headed openings with stepped reveals and a single colonette, and square-headed openings at ground floor level with bowtel-moulded heads and stepped stop-chamfered reveals. There is also a pointed-headed door opening at ground floor level, currently obscured by advertising.

The replacement ground floor has a series of round and pointed-headed door and window openings with a continuous hood moulding and Freemason carvings to the spandrels. The original ground floor had rows of pointed-headed arches with carved imposts; these have been overclad with Gothic arcading in a contemporary style during the 2006–7 restoration.

The chamfered corner bay is detailed in the same manner as the principal elevation.

Secondary Elevation (Ann Street)

Three windows wide, with a single window to the centre, paired windows to the right, and a group of three to the left, all detailed as per the principal elevation. The gabled east elevation is abutted by a central chimneystack.

Historical Background

By the late 18th century, five Masonic lodges were meeting in Belfast with over 200 members, generally in licensed premises or other public buildings. By the 1860s the masons were seeking dedicated premises. Immediately before the hall was built, Belfast's masons were meeting across four separate locations: two in Donegall Place, one in Weir's in Divis Street, and one in the Ulster Hall.

In 1863 the decision was taken to erect a single building to house all the masons of the town. Shares were issued at one guinea each, and an attempt was made to purchase the music hall in May Street for conversion, but the masons' offer was refused. Advice was sought from masons in England and Scotland regarding accommodation and fundraising, and in 1865 a joint stock company — the Belfast Masonic Hall Company Ltd — was established. At that time Belfast had 15 lodges and thousands of masons but no dedicated hall. The intention was not only to provide a meeting place but also to establish a Masonic Club where brethren from town and country could dine as at a first-class restaurant and find opportunities for forming Masonic friendships. The building was designed to have shops and offices on the lower storey to generate supplementary income from rents paid by the lodges, which is why a central location was essential.

The site was previously occupied by a three-storey terrace terminating in an octagonal toll-house that had collected tolls from County Down travellers crossing the Long Bridge. The foundation stone was laid on 24th June 1868 with full Masonic ceremonial by Sir Charles Lanyon. The lower portion of the building to the first-floor windows, together with the dressings, was executed in sandstone from the Cookstown area, and the remainder was to be faced with white brick. The contractor was Thomas McKeown of Belfast and the estimated cost was £8,000. Following the foundation stone ceremony, a banquet of 500 brethren was held in the Ulster Hall, succeeded by a ball in the Music Hall attended by brethren and their lady friends, with music provided by a string band.

The masons moved into the new hall in April 1870. From the outset, the ground floor was divided into six shops — including a hair-cutting room and a corner unit let to Tyler and Sons, boot manufacturers — while the Ann Street frontage was let to R S Barry & Co, hardware merchants. The remainder of the building, known as Masonic Chambers, was divided into offices let to solicitors and insurance companies, along with Masonic clubs and lodge rooms. The first floor, valued at £132, was let as offices and a billiard room. The second floor, valued at £77, was divided between caretaker's rooms and billiard and reading rooms belonging to the Donegall (from 1878) and Belfast Masonic Clubs. The Masonic Hall and lodge rooms occupied the third floor, initially valued at £180 but reduced to £50 on appeal.

Even on completion, the building could not accommodate all Belfast's lodges under one roof, and Lodge Number 7 continued to meet at the Ulster Hall. The growth in Masonic membership eventually led to a further hall being built on the Crumlin Road, with several others constructed in outlying areas of the city.

The Belfast Masonic Hall Company Ltd did not prosper financially, and the building passed into the hands of the Belfast and Provincial Building Society, from whom the lodges, clubs, firms, and shops rented their accommodation. In the late 1880s, following the liquidation of the building society and the consequent threat of eviction, the brethren resolved to purchase the hall outright by subscription and mortgage. It became their property on 1st February 1889.

By 1901 the ground floor shops were occupied by A McNerney, oyster dealer; Thompson Bros, dyers and cleaners with works at Drumbeg; Lennan, Son & Co Ltd, saddle and harness manufacturers; F Campbell, tobacconist; John Tyler & Sons, boot warehouse in the corner unit; and Lennon Bros, fruit merchants, brokers and salesmen on the Ann Street side. The caretaker in 1901 was Agnes Spence, a widow from Scotland, who lived in the six caretaker's rooms with her two daughters. The upper floors by this date were occupied entirely by Masonic clubs and lodges.

Subsequent Works and Alterations

In 1892, following the settlement of the trust deeds of ownership, the committee began improving the building with new furnishings, ventilation, lighting, painting, and decoration. Electric light replaced gas in 1897. In 1905, to accommodate new lodges, a new lodge room, ante-room, and refreshment room were constructed on the first floor and furnished at a cost of approximately £500. The mortgage was paid off in 1909.

In 1911 the Masons decided to erect new modern lavatories and sanitary facilities and to improve the caretaker's apartments. William John Fennell was appointed architect, with contractors Messrs Lowden & Co and Messrs Thornbury Bros, at a cost of £700. In 1913 Fennell supervised construction of an electric hoist costing £655, and in 1914 improvements to ventilation and heating were made under the supervision of Fennell & Clarke. In 1915 three pianos were supplied by Messrs Crymble, one for each of the refreshment rooms.

In May 1918 a fire broke out in the attics, badly damaging the roof and top floor with both flames and water. The upper attics were subsequently rearranged on a new plan with storage presses built in for the lodges. The lodge rooms and clubs received new ceilings, and Messrs Geo Morrow & Son were engaged to paint and redecorate the building. Ventilating fans, electric top-lighting, and fire escapes were installed, the porch was re-tiled, and the front door glass panels and other windows were fitted with suitable and artistic decoration. In 1919 vacant ground floor shops were improved to attract better-class tenants.

In the early 1920s serious defects were found in the fabric of the building, including defective eaves spouting and a crack in the front wall, necessitating external repairs completed by Thornbury Bros Ltd. Further works of refurbishment were carried out in the 1970s and 1980s, including a completely new kitchen and modernised toilets, replacement lifts and carpets, a new floor in the banqueting hall, ladies' toilets installed in the 1980s, and the refurbishment of dining rooms with cleaning and restoration of all paintings.

By 1999, fifty-six lodges were based at Arthur Square alongside thirty-five Royal Arch Chapters, a Council of Knight Masons, and five Preceptories. In 2006–7 the building underwent a thorough restoration internally and externally.

Setting

The building stands at the junction of Arthur Square and Ann Street, overlooking a pedestrianised civic space at the entrance to the Victoria Square shopping centre.