Stranmillis Roundabout, Direction Signs, Stranmillis Road & Lockview Road, Belfast, BT9 5DZ

Stranmillis Roundabout Direction Signs

A pair of cast-iron signposts located in south Belfast at the junction of Stranmillis Road and Lockview Road. One post stands on the north side of the roundabout at the edge of the grassed area where Stranmillis Road meets Stranmillis Embankment; the other is positioned on the footpath at the corner of Stranmillis Embankment and Lockview Road.

Each signpost is approximately 2.5 metres tall with a cast-iron base measuring roughly 200 millimetres in diameter and 400 millimetres in height. Above this sits a tapered section approximately 450 millimetres high featuring moulded detailing, leading to a main shaft of approximately 100 millimetres diameter. At the top of each post is a finger-post sign; one reads 'STRANMILLIS ROAD' and the other 'LOCKVIEW ROAD'.

The signposts relate to an earlier road layout in which Stranmillis Road and Lockview Road met at an intersection before the roundabout was constructed. They date from between 1900 and 1919, though records suggest they may have been erected around 1905–06, coinciding with the extension of the tramline into what was then Lockview Road. At that time, the area remained on the edge of Belfast's built-up zone, with Lockview Road a quiet lane serving only a handful of properties. The tramline extension and subsequent housing development (including Harleston Street and Laganvale Street) transformed the locality. The signposts may have been erected to alert travellers to this newly developed thoroughfare, or possibly by the tram authorities themselves, whose styling they somewhat resemble—particularly the overhead electric cabling poles introduced when Belfast Corporation electrified the tram system in 1905.

The posts retain some original moulded detailing but have suffered loss of original fabric and components, affecting their authenticity. While of local historical and social interest as street furniture linked to early 20th-century traffic growth and urban development, they are not considered to possess sufficient special historic or architectural interest for formal listing.