Larger Bandstand, at Botanic Gardens, Belfast, BT9 5AB

Larger Bandstand, Botanic Gardens, Belfast — built 1925

This bandstand, dating from 1925, is situated to the southeast of the Colenso Parade entrance to Botanic Gardens in Belfast. It was not listed on the heritage register because alteration work to the support columns, replacement of the railings, and enclosure of the previously open high-level lattice work has resulted in insufficient remaining historic fabric to meet the legislative test for listing. It sits within a conservation area.

The bandstand is square in plan with a painted brick base. Ten square columns support a hipped roof: four columns are equally spaced on the north and south elevations, two are equidistant on the west side, and the east side is left open. Each face of the hipped roof features a central gablet. The structure is open on all sides, with slim metal railings of approximately 1 metre in height fixed between the columns on the east, south, and west sides; the north side, which serves as the principal elevation, has both railings and steps. A painted brick plinth with an overhang leads up via five steps to the raised floor.

The two corner columns at each end have chamfered corners, a rendered finish painted white, and conceal steel RSJs (rolled steel joists), which are exposed at the soffit. There is a decorative timber fascia with an upright-and-cross design, set below a painted downstand. The hipped roof is covered in natural slates with terracotta ridge tiles. Each small gable has vertical boarding to the apex, with timber bargeboards and soffit. Rainwater goods are uPVC downpipes, alongside cast iron goods elsewhere. The ceiling is a painted sheeted timber construction featuring a central square design.

The bandstand's setting is defined by a wide tarmac path that surrounds it on all sides, with mature trees framing the views. A timber shelter stands in close proximity.

Although the structure retains its original roof and plinth, along with some of the original frieze — currently (as of 2024) concealed beneath pagoda-style boarding — it has lost many of its original features. In particular, the original slender supporting columns, which were arranged so that the central section on each side projected forwards, provided a high level of detail and interest to the facades. Some of the turned work on the frieze has been replaced, as have the original railings, and these changes have removed much of the structure's character.

This bandstand is one of six built to the same design in Belfast parks in 1925, following Belfast Corporation's advertisement for building contractors for the construction of "band stands, wrought-iron railings, gates and cut stone piers in public parks" in November 1924. The six bandstands were constructed in Botanic Gardens, Woodvale Park, Musgrave Park, Alexandra Park, Victoria Park, and a sixth location that is unknown. Of these, only the bandstands in Woodvale Park and Botanic Gardens survive to the present day. The current bandstand replaced an earlier one, which had been built on the newly acquired ground near the rosary and was present by 1905; the current structure was positioned slightly further to the west when it was erected in 1925.

The history of music-making in Botanic Gardens stretches back almost to the gardens' inception. The Marquis of Donegall's band was among the first to perform there, playing on Thursday evenings in the summer of 1830. The first structure to accommodate a band appears to have been a "Pavilion" shown on the large-scale map of 1858, erected in 1856 for the visit of Monsieur Jullien and his model military band. Early structures appear to have been temporary in nature, and it is not until the large-scale map of 1884 that an octagonal bandstand is shown on the central lawn. Around the time that Belfast Corporation took over the park in 1895, this earlier bandstand was apparently removed; by 1901, the band of the Irish Guards was reportedly forced to set up on the "cold, cold ground" for lack of a bandstand, and the 1902 map shows no bandstand within the park. The Corporation subsequently acquired additional ground between Colenso Parade and the former boundary of the gardens following a resolution in November 1903 to lease approximately 3 acres for the use of the inhabitants of Belfast. This area was laid out in parallel walkways (a layout that still survives), initially planted with roses and known as a "rosary", and replanted in the early 1930s as wide herbaceous borders. It was on this newly acquired higher ground, near the rosary, that a bandstand was built and was present by 1905, to be replaced by the current structure in 1925.

Belfast Botanic Gardens have a broader history of considerable significance. They were laid out in the wake of a late 18th and early 19th century surge of interest in botany, horticulture, and gardening that led to the establishment of botanic gardens across Britain and Ireland — including at Glasnevin, Dublin (1796), Ballsbridge (Trinity College, 1806), and the Royal Cork Institution Botanic Garden (1809). Botanic gardens differed from gardens or arboretums created on purely aesthetic principles in that they existed to study and provide instruction in the care and classification of plants, and in horticulture and silviculture. They also served as a showcase for specimens brought back by colonial explorers. The gardens at Glasnevin and Belfast are the only botanic gardens in Ireland from this period to have survived in anything resembling their original form, although some researchers do not classify Belfast as a "true" botanic garden, as plant collections were not maintained on site.

In February 1827, the Belfast Botanic and Horticultural Society formed under the presidency of the Marquis of Donegall and resolved to lay out a Botanic and Horticultural Garden in Belfast. On 1st May 1829, a lease was signed on a 14-acre site at the junction of the Malone and Stranmillis Roads. Funds were raised through the issuing of shares supplemented by loans, and by the end of May 1829 a large number of shrubs and trees had been planted. Admission was charged to non-members of the Society after 1830. For a brief period after 1865, funds were raised to allow working people to be admitted free on Saturday afternoons, and employers were encouraged to buy free tickets for their employees, but these schemes lapsed when Ormeau Park opened as a free public park in 1871. Entry was therefore generally by ticket until the gardens were taken over by the Corporation in 1895, and the number of access points was restricted in order to control revenue.

The first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1832–3 shows the "Botanic Gardens" within a landscape of fields and country houses, approximately a mile outside the town of Belfast. Tree-lined paths are shown following roughly the same layout as today, along with two ponds towards the southeast end; the lower of these was drained in the 1930s, and the former upper pond is now the site of a Japanese sunken garden. Initially there was only one main entrance to the gardens, though they could also be entered along a pathway adjacent to Friars Bush graveyard. A small structure, possibly a lodge, is shown adjacent to the main entrance driveway on this early map, but this was soon replaced by a larger entrance building. A pinetum was established in 1838 to the southeast of the main entrance, displaying over 170 species of conifers by 1851. Adjacent to the pinetum, a collection of deciduous and evergreen oaks was planted, and some trees from both collections remain in the park today.

The distinctive early Victorian Palm House — also initially known as the conservatory — was designed by Sir Charles Lanyon and partially executed by Richard Turner of Dublin, a pioneer in the use of curved iron ribs and curved glass. The Palm House is one of the earliest surviving examples of curvilinear cast and wrought ironwork, pre-dating those at Glasnevin and Kew. Turner was engaged as contractor between 1839 and 1840, constructing only the wings of Lanyon's design: the west wing opened as a cool house and the east wing as a tropical house. In 1840, the Society and Gardens received the title of "Royal" from Queen Victoria, at the instigation of the Marquis of Donegall. As Turner subsequently became heavily involved in other projects, Charles Denoon Young (1822–1887), an Edinburgh ironworker also responsible for the Dublin Exhibition Building (1853) and the Kensington Gore Museum of Science and Art (1856), was engaged to complete Lanyon's original design for the centre house of the conservatory with the addition of a dome. The dome, constructed between 1852 and 1853, shows the influence of Turner's Palm House at Kew, which had been completed five years earlier. It was glazed by Messrs H McKendry & Co of Waring Street using Hartley's patent rolled plate glass. The second edition map of 1858 captions the "Royal Botanic Gardens", now adjacent to "Queen's College" (completed 1849). The College was constructed on grounds adjoining the northern boundary of the gardens and was one of several public buildings to fill the surrounding area in the mid-19th century, as the gardens became gradually surrounded by the rapid outward expansion of the town. The newly completed conservatory was accessed from the main entrance at University Road, where patrons entered through an entrance building constructed between 1832 and 1858. A second subsidiary entrance to the southwest gave access to the curator's house, and a promenade at the southeast corner led to the tidal banks of the Lagan.

As the area to the northeast of the gardens (formerly known as "the Plains") began to be developed for housing, a second lodge (built 1865 and extended to the rear before 1902) and gatescreen were built at a new Botanic Avenue entrance to the park at a cost of £200. Gates costing £75 were provided as a gift by Robert Corry, the main developer of housing in the Plains area.

In 1877, the then garden foreman Charles McKimm was appointed curator, remaining in post until his death in 1907. Already projected at the time of his appointment was a new gate lodge to the gardens, replacing the earlier entrance building. The initial design, by William Batt (d.1910) — who conducted a "vigorous practice in the High Victorian style" (Brett) and designed numerous Belfast churches and villas, as well as Ballynafeigh and Clifton Street Orange Halls — was exhibited at the Belfast Industrial Exhibition in 1876. This original design shows a lodge that may have borne a passing resemblance to the existing lodge, comprising a building with entrance arches through which patrons passed. However, the Society was forced, most likely for financial reasons, to curtail its ambitions and instructed Batt to prepare fresh plans on a reduced scale. Batt's amended design for a Venetian Gothic lodge was realised, featuring a clock tower (a clock was added to the tower around 1881) finished with a vane and finial of gilt wrought iron. Ornamental carving on the gate lodge took the forms of birds, flowers, and plants such as passion flowers, grape vines, and water lilies. Construction was completed in April 1878, the lodge containing public toilets and "commodious" living accommodation for the gatekeeper. The Society felt that the lodge and gates would form a "most attractive feature of the gardens", seen as a "credit to the company and an ornament to the town", and it was hoped they would induce a much larger number of visitors to frequent the grounds. The original ornamental wrought-iron gates "of very superior design" were hung on "heavy cut-stone piers" fitted with gilt iron gas standards and glass globes. The wrought ironwork, including the gates, was supplied by Messrs Riddel & Co, and the cut stone was "of the best description from Dungannon quarries" — difficulties in obtaining the stone from Dungannon had delayed construction of the lodge. Carving on the capitals of the gate piers features anemones, primroses, lilies of the valley, pansies, and hop blossom. The finials on the two outer piers were intended to resemble the Nile lily and convolvulus. Carving on the lodge and gate piers was by Alexander Stevens, sculptor of Chichester Street, who was active in the 1870s and is also known to have executed carving on the Theatre Royal and on Fitzroy Presbyterian Church. The contractors for the lodge and gatescreen were Messrs Dixon & Co, and the total cost was £1,300 including the gates.

McKimm's next major building project was to oversee the construction of a Fernery — now known as the Tropical Ravine, and also formerly known as the "Intermediate House" or the Glen — on the site of a former Orchid House and propagating house. Construction took place between 1887 and 1889, largely carried out by McKimm and his gardeners. The fernery, a building of stone walls and a glazed roof enclosing a sunken ravine, was initially roughly half its present length.

Raising money to maintain the gardens was a continual problem, which the Society addressed with regular garden fetes and other events featuring balloon ascents (for which a gas pipeline was installed in the main lawn), archery, boats on the Lagan, dancing and band music, firework displays, military tournaments, flower shows, and on at least one occasion a "submarine explosion" in one of the ponds. Notable events included a tightrope display by Mr Blondin — the first man to walk across the Niagara Falls on a tightrope — and Herr Holtum the "Cannon King", who could catch a cannon ball fired towards him. Political meetings were another regular occurrence, the largest being the Ulster Unionist Convention in 1892, which attracted a crowd estimated at 300,000. Entry and hire fees for these events helped raise money for maintaining the gardens and erecting new buildings.

Belfast Corporation took over the gardens in 1895, renaming the site Belfast Botanic Gardens Park and opening it free to the public from 1st January of that year. Following a programme of restoration to the Palm House, the Corporation extended the Ravine under McKimm's supervision, providing a heated lily pond and separating the house into tropical and temperate areas. The new fernery, double the length of the original and brick-built with a lantern ridge, was opened in 1902. No architect for the new building is identified in contemporary sources, though Paul Larmour speculates that the Dutch gable at the east elevation may be the work of William Batt.

A site for the Belfast Museum and Art Gallery within the gardens was reserved in 1912, and the new museum opened in 1929 with an extension (completed 1972) that required the demolition of the former curator's house (built 1844). Images of the museum shortly after opening show a low wall and railings connecting the museum and the main park entrance, replacing the wall of 1887. The museum appears to have retained to the present day its original pre-war gates and railings at the Stranmillis Road entrance.

As the area around the gardens became developed with housing and the park was extended westwards and southwards, further entrances were opened. At Agincourt Avenue (now Botanic Court), a wooden gate of around 1910 was replaced with the present-day gatescreen in 1925. Two entrances were opened along the newly built Stranmillis Embankment in 1932, and a gatescreen was installed at Colenso Parade in 1934, replacing an earlier wooden structure. Although the lodge itself was demolished in 1965 — having become costly to maintain and no longer in keeping with the aesthetic of the mid-1960s — the stone piers designed by Batt and erected in 1878 survive within the present-day gatescreen. The only other survival of the lodge within the park is a stone carved with the name "Royal Botanic Gardens", incorporated into a modern brick wall at the Botanic Avenue entrance. This stone was originally built into the wall of the old gate lodge and is shown in historical images above the right-hand entrance archway. Other parts of the lodge — namely the weathervane and the clock — were distributed to members of the public, while the Ulster Museum recovered some stonework including a gargoyle and some of the bird and plant sculptures.

After being threatened with demolition, the Palm House benefitted from a major restoration programme in the late 1970s, including ironwork cleaning, preservation, and replacement where necessary. The Tropical Ravine was included in the same programme, both buildings being completed simultaneously in May 1983. The Tropical Ravine underwent a further £3.8 million renovation project between 2016 and 2018.

The gardens have gained additional acreage several times, as outlined above, but the layout of the original site acquired in 1829 has remained largely unaltered since the 1840s. Although various features have come and gone, elements such as the flower beds shown in front of the Palm House on the large-scale map of 1873, the open lawn at the centre of the park, and some original trees remain in place today. The park remains heavily used for leisure and as a thoroughfare. The bandstand, though remodelled, continues to perform its original function as a stage for performers from time to time, and new uses such as yoga classes also benefit from the level surface and weather protection it provides.