Boundary Post near, Car Park to, Newforge Business Park, Newforge Lane, Belfast

A cast iron boundary post dated 1918, standing on the north bank of the River Lagan approximately 500 metres from Shaw's Bridge, near the car park at the end of Newforge Lane. The post marks the outer extent of the administrative jurisdiction of Belfast Corporation (as Belfast City Council was then known) and of Cromac District Electoral Division and Ward.

The post is of slightly tapered cylindrical profile, measuring 3 feet high by 1 foot in diameter. It features a banded octagonal base, an oversailing octagonal collar supported on a splayed dentil casting, and a slightly smaller spoked cap. One of the spokes bears an additional casting that may signify its orientation. The front and rear faces display the shield of Belfast Corporation's coat of arms. Below this on the front is an attached plaque, secured with four countersunk screws, reading 'PARLIAMENTARY AND MUNICIPAL BOUNDARY OF BELFAST CROMAC DIVISION CROMAC WARD 1918'.

The post is unaltered and remains in its original location. It does not appear on the 1920-21 six-inch Ordnance Survey map but is marked on that of 1931. The design of all of Belfast's existing posts is very similar to a post dated 1858 which survives on the west side of High Street, Holywood, County Down, suggesting continuity in local design and possibly the reuse and repositioning of earlier posts.

The post was erected following the Redistribution of Seats (Ireland) Act 1918, which abolished Belfast's four existing parliamentary constituencies (North, East, West and South) and increased the number to nine: Cromac, Duncairn, Falls, Ormeau, Pottinger, St Anne's, Shankill, Victoria, and Woodvale. Each new constituency had its own Member of Parliament and encompassed one or several municipal wards used for elections to Belfast Corporation. These new constituencies were first used in the General Election of 14 December 1918, conducted under the Representation of the People Act 1918. This election was of special significance as it was the first time all men over 21 years of age and all women over 30 could vote; it was also the first election to be completed within a single day. The County of the Borough of Belfast itself had been created under the Local Government Act 1898 and enacted the following year.

Following the inception of the devolved parliament for Northern Ireland in 1922, the number of Westminster MPs was greatly reduced and the Cromac parliamentary constituency, created only four years earlier, was abolished and the previous Belfast seats restored. The municipal wards, however, continued to be used for local elections. Belfast Corporation was later superseded by Belfast City Council in 1973, and its jurisdiction extended beyond its former borough boundary.

The post is of historic importance as a remnant of the 1918 election and the short-lived period in the province's political development up to the formation of Northern Ireland and the Stormont administration in 1922. Such posts are relatively rare as many have been lost to road widening and removal. This post has group value with three other similar boundary posts on the banks of the River Lagan.