Boundary Marker, outside 593-595 Falls Road, Belfast, BT11 9AB

Cast-iron boundary post marking Belfast's former municipal and Parliamentary boundary, dated 1918 but probably installed here in 1896-98. As well as an important piece of civic heritage, this post also relates to a significant juncture in the wider political history of the United Kingdom. The year 1918 witnessed the introduction of various electoral reforms, most notably the extension of the franchise to women. Originally tracing the semi-rural perimeter of Belfast Corporation's jurisdiction as it stood at the end of the Victorian period, many of the surviving boundary posts are now landlocked in suburban surrounds, unwittingly becoming curious pieces of furniture that add much interest to the city's streetscapes.

The post is sited on the western side of Falls Road within asphalt hardstanding in front of commercial units. A modern street lamp and commercial signage are immediately adjacent. Of slightly tapered cylindrical profile, the post measures approximately 0.6 metres high by 0.25 metres diameter. The base is buried in asphalt. An oversailing flat octagonal cap sits atop, with a slightly smaller fluted circular upstand.

The front face bears the shield of Belfast Corporation's coat of arms. Below this is an attached plaque with lettering reading "Parliamentary / and Municipal / Boundary of / Belfast / St Annes Division / St Annes Ward / 1918". The plaque is missing its lower right quadrant, exposing larger lettering underneath which reads "Borough". It is secured to the post with three of four remaining countersunk screws. The body of the post is painted matt red.

Although dated 1918, a boundary post is marked on this vicinity on the 1903 Ordnance Survey map, indicating that the post is earlier—probably dating from 1896-98—and was merely adapted in 1918 by bolting a new plaque over the original legend. The design is similar to a post dated 1858 on the west side of High Street, Holywood, County Down, suggesting continuity in local design and possibly in some cases the reuse, and perhaps repositioning, of earlier posts.

The post is set along what was in 1918 the limit of the County of the Borough of Belfast, a boundary created under the Local Government Act 1898 and enacted the following year. The course followed that of the municipal boundary established by the Belfast Corporation Act of 1896, which itself largely tracked the line of the town's Parliamentary boundary as set out earlier in the century. Map evidence suggests that these earlier demarcations possessed boundary posts of some description and that these may have been repurposed, and in some instances repositioned, as the nature and course of boundaries themselves evolved.

The new Parliamentary and Municipal boundary as established in 1898-99 enclosed the city's four Parliamentary constituencies—Belfast North, East, West and South—which had been established following the 1885 United Kingdom-wide redistribution of seats in the wake of the Representation of the People Act (also called the Third Reform Act) of 1884. Following a further Representation of the People Act (Fourth Reform Act) in 1918, the existing four constituencies were abolished and increased to nine: Cromac, Duncairn, Falls, Ormeau, Pottinger, St Anne's, Shankill, Victoria, and Woodvale. Each new parliamentary division had its own Member of Parliament and encompassed one or several municipal wards, with the latter used for elections to Belfast Corporation. This particular post marks the boundary of the parliamentary division of St Anne's and of St Anne's ward within it.

Voting in the new constituencies was initiated in the General Election of 14 December 1918, a historic occasion that witnessed women candidates standing for the first time and the extension of the franchise—previously restricted solely to male property owners—to men over the age of 21 and women over 30. This was also the first election to be completed within one day, rather than spread out over a number of weeks. With the inception of the devolved parliament for Northern Ireland in 1922, the number of Westminster Members of Parliament was greatly reduced. The St Anne's parliamentary constituency, created only four years before, was abolished and the previous Belfast seats restored. The municipal wards, however, continued to be used for local elections for some time thereafter. Belfast Corporation was superseded by Belfast City Council in 1973 and its jurisdiction extended beyond its former borough boundary.