Jameson Street Sign, Junction of Jameson Street and Ormeau Road, Ballynafeigh, Belfast, County Antrim, BT7 2GU

A tiled street sign of the traditional Belfast type, located at the junction of Ormeau Road and Jameson Street in Ballynafeigh, Belfast. The sign dates to around 1905 or slightly later, though it is not in its original location.

The sign is freestanding, positioned at the southern end of Ormeau Road, facing south-south-west, and set back on the public pavement between asphalt and block paving. A modern street lamp stands immediately adjacent to the south-east.

The sign is composed of white on black encaustic tiles displaying sans serif lettering, typical of those used throughout the Belfast Corporation area in the early to mid-twentieth century. The glazed tiles are approximately 12 centimetres high and of slightly varying widths according to the characters they bear. The letters spelling JAMESON STREET (one word above the other) are white on a black background. The tiles are set on what appears to be a cement back plate with additional blank tiles filling extra space on the lower row at both ends. A moulded tile border frames the sign, enclosed within a mild steel angle frame that is mitred and welded and attached to a pair of wrought-iron angle posts, all painted black. The mild steel frame exhibits severe corrosion and delamination, causing the tiled section to bow outwards and resulting in a vertical crack running through the sign's centre. The tiled border shows loss of moulding to the left and bottom sides, and several letters display loss of infill approximately one-eighth of an inch deep. The posts are relatively clean with only minor surface corrosion.

The sign's development reflects Belfast Corporation's move towards standardisation of street signage. Before the early 1900s, there was little uniformity, with developers or residents installing signs of varying styles. In late 1904, Belfast Corporation's Police Committee established a sub-committee to examine the matter. Initially an enamel signage form was favoured, but in July 1907 this was rescinded, with councillors agreeing that tile street signs should be used in leading thoroughfares and iron signs in other streets, while prohibiting hanging or projecting signs in main arteries. This standardisation effort was prompted by the city's rapid growth and the need for legible markers through newly developed streets. The takeover and electrification of the city's tram system in 1905 may have provided further impetus, as passengers required clear identifiers for various roads along their journeys. Freestanding white on black ceramic signs and similarly coloured ceramic or iron wall-mounted signs were likely introduced or widely adopted around this time, possibly first along tram routes. The regularity of surviving signs—characterised by distinctive sans serif lettering and fluted cast-iron columns with ball finials—suggests that all are Corporation installations of 1907 or later. Cast-iron columns began to be superseded by square-section concrete posts around the early 1930s. This latter version was in use along newly developed streets in 1951, and tenders for glazed tile sign letters were still being advertised by the Corporation until late 1955.

Jameson Street itself was laid out in 1896 along the northern boundary of what had been the garden of Retreat Lodge, a pre-1855 house formerly home to the Spence family. Just beyond the north-western corner of this garden facing onto Ormeau Road stood a circa 1840s public house run by Hugh Black. An early photograph of the junction, possibly taken around 1910, shows no evidence of a freestanding street sign at this location. In 1935 the old pub was demolished and the original section of the Errigle Inn public house was built on its site. A photograph from perhaps the later 1930s shows a tile sign similar to the present one attached to the south-facing gable of the new premises. By around 1950 a narrow railed-in space had been created next to this gable, and a photograph from this period shows the sign seemingly attached to the railings. Before circa 1965 the railings were renewed and the sign was removed and placed on what appears to be its present supports.

Photographic and map evidence, along with the sign's unprotected back and lack of casing, suggest that it was originally mounted to a building before being moved to railings and subsequently to a freestanding position. The present square-section steel uprights are of more recent date than the original structure. Though the sign is of local interest and makes a valuable contribution to the streetscape, it does not meet the criteria for listing.