1 Coastguard Cottages, Causeway View Lane, Portrush, BT56 8DA

1 Coastguard Cottages, Causeway View Lane, Portrush

This is a two-storey end-of-terrace house, built in 1896 as part of a former Coastguard station. It sits at the southern end of a terrace of six dwellings (1–6 Coastguard Cottages) and retains much of its original form and appearance. The station as a whole is a good example of its type and is of interest as part of the Coastguard estate in Northern Ireland.

The wider station complex

The full station complex consists of a detached two-storey station building and commanding officer's house (130 Main Street), the six-dwelling terrace, original outhouses, and a later boathouse and associated store. The entire grouping is designed in a simple, loosely Georgian style — almost artisan-cottage in character — and, although lacking the architectural flourishes of some earlier stations, achieves an attractive plainness through good proportion and consistency. The complex may originally have been finished in brick throughout, though this is not certain; it is now almost entirely rendered. The buildings occupy a slight rise on the north side of Portrush town centre, between Main Street to the south and Causeway View Lane to the north.

The terrace runs north–south, with the former station building at the south end of the site, its south elevation facing directly onto the Main Street pavement. The detached gardens belonging to each dwelling lie to the west. Cottages 3–4 and 5–6 are paired, with mirrored internal layouts; they are entered from the east side, with access from Causeway View Lane. Nos. 1 and 2 are also paired with mirrored internal layouts but are entered from the west side, with access from Main Street, and are slightly larger than Nos. 3–6. This difference in size reflected the relative status of the occupants: No. 130 was the commanding officer's house, and Nos. 1–2 housed middle-ranking officers.

Description of No. 1

No. 1 is at the southern end of the terrace. To the right of the rear elevation there is a two-storey return. The front entrance is set in the west façade, and to the rear there is a small private yard. To the east side of the return is a communal access yard serving the rears of Nos. 1 and 2.

The roof is hipped and finished with natural slate and grey fireclay ridge tiles. The eaves are overhanging with exposed rafter tails. Rainwater goods are uPVC. There is a shared rendered chimneystack to the ridge, with corbelled bands and matching clay pots.

The walls are rendered with a ruled and lined finish. The west-side wall is set on a rubble stone canted plinth.

The front (west) façade has a flat-headed door set to the right of centre. To the left is a flat-headed window with a cut stone sill; the painted timber sash frame has a 6-over-6 arrangement. To the right is a similar but smaller flat-headed window with a 2-over-2 arrangement. Directly above each of these is a matching window at first-floor level. On the right side of the first-floor south façade there is a further window with a 3-over-6 arrangement. Windows to the rear are of similar design and include 3-over-6 and 6-over-6 arrangements.

Setting

The gardens extend to the west. To the east there are two communal access yards divided by a masonry wall. The northern yard gives access to the front entrances of Nos. 3–6, while the southern yard gives access to the rears of Nos. 130, 1 and 2. To the rear of Nos. 3–6 there is a small range of single-storey outbuildings containing a communal washhouse and, for each dwelling, two small outhouses — one an outside WC and the other a fuel store.

Historical background

The station was built in 1896 to replace an earlier one that predates 1857. The earlier station comprised a station house and four smaller dwellings arranged in a terrace fronting directly onto Main Street, and may not have been purpose-built. A Board of Works tender notice for the new buildings appeared in August 1892, but it is not until 1896 that valuation records refer to a "new coastguard station in progress." The identity of the architect is not known. Valuations suggest the total building cost was approximately £2,500.

The main station building originally included a rocket station and a look-out hut, which may have been elevated, though this is not certain. A Belfast truss-roofed building was constructed at some point after 1921 — and possibly after 1935, as it does not appear on the Ordnance Survey map partially revised in that year — on part of the gardens originally belonging to Nos. 5 and 6. It does not appear to have had any relationship to the cottages themselves.

In 1923, following the transfer of the Coastguard to the Board of Trade and a reduction in staffing, the dwellings began to be let to private tenants. In that year, No. 6 is recorded as let to a Mrs. Millar. By 1925, Nos. 2–6 were tenanted by George Scarborough, William Elliott, John Henry, Charles Meadows, and Mrs. Millar respectively. No. 1 and the station itself were retained by the Coastguard service until at least 1972. No. 1 was acquired by its then-current owner in the mid-1980s.

Note on the history of the Coastguard

The Coastguard in Ireland traces its origins to the Preventative Water Guard, a UK-wide body established in 1809 to combat smuggling. In 1816 this was expanded and reorganised to take control of revenue vessels, and in 1822 the force was transferred to the Board of Customs and renamed the Coast Guard. Although those involved were in practice responsible for rescuing people in difficulties at sea, revenue protection — not lifesaving — remained the body's official function. In 1856 the Guard was transferred to the Admiralty, and its staff (by then mainly naval men) took on coastal defence roles and served as a naval reserve. In 1923 the Coastguard was placed under the Board of Trade, with its role restricted to lifesaving, salvage from wreck, and the administration of the foreshore.