The Harbour, Harbour Road, Ballintoy, Ballycastle, Co Antrim BT54

Ballintoy Harbour is a mid-19th century industrial harbour formed within a natural coastal inlet on the north Antrim coast, just below the precipitous headland north of Ballintoy village. Construction of the present inner harbour began around 1860, initiated by James Francis McKennan (also spelt McKennon), who purchased the foreshore between the high and low water marks from the Crown Estate in October of that year for five guineas. The harbour is protected under scheduling rather than listing, scheduling being considered the more appropriate form of protection for this type of structure.

The harbour makes clever use of its natural setting, with the narrow entrance to the inlet providing additional protection from the sea. Its various structural additions trace its changing primary function over time: industrial use in the 1860s, fishing from the 1910s, and tourism from the 1970s onwards. The inner quay walls survive in an intact and relatively unaltered condition. The site also has interest in relation to an adjoining pair of lime kilns and a former Coastguard boathouse.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The north Antrim coast has many small inlets used by fishermen for generations. The first recorded attempt to build a harbour at Ballintoy was in the 1750s, when Alexander Stewart obtained grants from the Irish Parliament to develop coal mining in the area (most likely lignite). Although he claimed to have spent £500 on a quay, the venture failed and no such structure appears on either the 1832 or 1855 Ordnance Survey maps, suggesting it was washed away.

McKennan's more successful scheme had already begun before he formally acquired the foreshore. The Coleraine Chronicle reported in February 1860 that "a small harbour has been commenced for the speedier exportation of the limestone, and which, if completed in spite of its natural enemies — the raging sea beating that fearful coast, and the shifting sands which beset it — will be of very general benefit to that part of the country." Earlier in 1860, McKennan had completed a pair of lime kilns and a tramway to convey rock and burnt lime from an adjoining limestone quarry to a small timber jetty at the north end of what is now the outer harbour. The purpose of the harbour was to create a safer anchorage and better facilitate the export of the quarry's products. McKennan appears to have gone into partnership with a Mr John Herdman, who may have provided the capital for the harbour. A newspaper report of 1907 put the cost at £6,000 to £7,000 (equivalent to approximately £400,000 in 2017). This high cost was reportedly due to the need to construct the entrance first and then insert a coffer dam so that bedrock could be blasted away to achieve a depth of up to ten feet. In June 1860, the County Antrim Grand Jury sought tenders for a road from Ballintoy Church to the limeworks at the harbour; this is the present switchback access road.

By 1873 the harbour was described as "a new and neatly constructed landing place" where vessels of up to 150 tons burthen could operate for ten months of the year, with approximately ten feet of water that could easily be deepened. Boats of this size were capable of crossing to Scotland and further afield carrying heavy cargoes of stone. Her Majesty's Coastguard erected a boathouse at the north-east end of the harbour in the early 1870s.

Around 1879, following the death of John Herdman and a fatal accident the previous year involving his son William, the Glasgow-based Eglinton Chemical Company acquired the lease of the limeworks and harbour from the Herdman family. The new owners spent £10,500 filling a gap in the reef at the north end of what is now the outer harbour with large stone blocks to improve navigation. In 1880, in an attempt to assert control over the harbour's operation, the Company placed a lockable timber boom across the entrance to prevent a rival quarry operation from exporting stone setts. This also obstructed the fishermen, whom the new owners now wished to charge for use of the harbour. Following complaints to the Board of Trade and the Fisheries Board, the boom was removed in January 1881. At the same time, however, the Company blocked the public road to prevent the fishermen carting away their catches. Whether and when this dispute was resolved remains unclear.

By the time of the 1905 Ordnance Survey map, the harbour comprised the present masonry quays, an entrance gap, and the Coastguard boathouse at its north-east end. Although originally built for industry, it was by this point used mainly by fishermen: in 1907 there were 75 to 80 fishermen and 35 to 40 fishing boats operating from it. The harbour was then in poor repair, with storm-damaged stonework and a basin infilled with sand. The silting problem had in fact been raised in Parliament as early as 1899. From 1879 to 1882, the amount of sand removed per year had averaged 3,600 tons, and the harbour appears to have been prone to silting throughout its working life.

Antrim County Council was lobbied by the fishermen to acquire the harbour and carry out necessary repairs to support the export of herring. The possibility of constructing an entirely new harbour nearby was investigated but deemed less economical. Since the harbour was in private ownership, the Congested Districts Board first had to acquire it before transferring it to the Council, who could then access government grants. Mr Herdman — to whom ownership had passed on William's death in 1878 — sold it to the Board for £50, a fraction of its reported construction cost, evidently keen to be rid of it. These transactions were completed between 1907 and 1909.

The Council then secured a grant of £1,533 from the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction towards an estimated total cost of £2,300. The Department's Chief Engineer, Mr Charles Oliver, prepared a scheme of works comprising: repairs to the quay walls; dredging of the basin; removal of a sandbar at the entrance; construction of a breakwater; and construction of a slip at the back of the harbour for use by fishermen, with an extra £100 allocated for this last element. Works began in 1909 and were largely complete by early 1914, with the final obstruction at the harbour mouth removed in September 1915 by the Department's dredger Fàg An Bealach (meaning 'Clear the Way'). Despite poor weather conditions extending the programme to approximately five years, the final cost came to £2,406 — only £6 above the original estimate.

The 1922 Ordnance Survey map shows the quays as before, now with the recently constructed slip at the south-west end. The back of the harbour is captioned 'sand', indicating that regular dredging had been neglected in the intervening years.

By 1936, the harbour's scenic qualities were attracting day-trippers, and a tea room was being operated by the Misses Esma White and Vera Taylor of Craignamaddy. A 1939 Belfast Telegraph article described it as "an Antrim Coast beauty spot." In 1953, Ballycastle Rural District Council petitioned Antrim County Council and the Ministry of Commerce to develop the harbour to "facilitate the export of lime and farm produce and the import of coal and manures," and to provide employment, but nothing came of this.

The last major scheme of works was initiated in the 1970s by Moyle District Council, which refurbished the harbour for tourism rather than industry or fishing. A scheme prepared by the Department of Finance in 1976 entailed: underpinning the masonry quay wall; construction of a dwarf wall along the seaward side of the quay with rock armour behind; relaying of the 1910s slip deck; repairs to the 1910s breakwater; a new landing stage and slip on the south-east side of the inner harbour; a new quay along the north-east side of the outer harbour; renovation or rebuilding of the building at the south-west end as a café; and extension of the visitor car park. In recent years, visitor numbers have increased significantly following the harbour's use as a filming location for HBO's Game of Thrones.

THE HARBOUR STRUCTURES

Eleven features have been identified in and around the harbour.

1. Inner Harbour

The inner harbour is entered through a gap between the quay along its north-west side and an L-shaped pier projecting at right angles from the other side. This pier was originally built entirely of squared limestone blocks but most of it has since been replaced with mass concrete, with a concrete footing subsequently added to its seaward face to counteract undercutting.

A quay runs along the north-west and south-west sides of the inner harbour. It is faced with squared limestone rubble and coped with roughly-dressed limestone blocks. Cut into the north-west section are two flights of steps down to the water, both with modern galvanised metal safety railings. The deck of this section is of concrete and ramps down gradually towards its north-east end. Between the two stairways, a wooden post bears various metal plaques commemorating boating accidents. The back of this section is protected by a rubble limestone wall dating from 1976 to 1977, which continues north-east as a low mass concrete wall with stone gabions on top, extending to the concrete wall at the south-west end of the outer quay. The inner quay is lit by modern street lights, and there is a picnic table and benches at its south-west end.

The quay along the south-west end of the inner harbour is partly recessed and has a flight of stone steps towards its south end. The recessed section has a relatively recent mass concrete footing. A slip was cut through this section of quay in 1910 to 1913 (see Feature 2). There are several mooring bollards and a picnic table along its grassy top, and the back of the quay is delineated by a low rubble limestone wall — a relatively modern feature separating the quay from the tarmacked public car park behind.

The original rubble stonework continues for a short distance along the south-east side of the inner harbour, partly reinforced with a later concrete footing. Further along is a low concrete landing stage built in 1976 to 1977, cut through towards its north-east end by a slipway (Feature 3), the upper end of which gives access to the stage. The boathouse slip (Feature 8) was removed to make way for this stage, which has several bollards along it.

1. Slip (South-West Quay)

This concrete slipway was inserted through the south-west quay wall between 1910 and 1913. Its side walls are of mass concrete, now with extensive surface weathering. The concrete deck was renewed in the 1970s and has a steel safety barrier across its seaward end.

1. Slip (South-East Side)

This mass concrete slip is contemporary with the 1970s landing stage along the south-east side of the inner harbour. It also gives access to the boathouse near the entrance pier. At the time of survey its bottom end was undergoing repairs, having been undermined by wave action. A small corrugated-metal shed is built into the side of the slope at the slipway's upper end.

1. Outer Harbour

A quay was formed in mass concrete on top of the rock along the north-west side of the outer harbour in 1976 to 1977. Its deck slopes down from the slightly higher inner quay. Halfway along is a short flight of steps and a ramp to facilitate the loading and unloading of boats at low water. Vertical steel access ladders are set into the quay face, and cast metal mooring bollards run along its edge. The back of the quay is protected at both ends by an approximately 1.4-metre-high concrete wall with rock armour behind. The middle section is delineated by a dwarf wall, beyond which is stone cobbling to consolidate the surface. The quay is lit by four modern street lights and there is a picnic table and benches at its south-west end.

1. Breakwater

This mass concrete wall was built between 1910 and 1913 across a rocky inlet on the seaward side of the inner harbour to protect it from storm damage. Its faces are heavily eroded and one-third of its top was patched with concrete in 1976 to 1977. More recently, the seaward side has been reinforced with rock armour.

1. Café (Roork's Kitchen)

Now operating as a café known as Roork's Kitchen, this single-storey, two-bay building is aligned north to south just above the west end of the inner harbour. Early 1900s photographs show it in a derelict state. A comparison of its openings then and now suggests it has been largely rebuilt on the footprint of the earlier building, minus a small annex that originally abutted its south end. The original thatch roof has been replaced in slate. This renovation probably took place in 1976 to 1977 as part of the harbour's redevelopment as a tourist attraction.

As it currently stands, the building has a pitched artificial slate roof, an off-centre stone chimney, stone verges, metal gutters on timber eaves, and rubble masonry limestone walls brought to courses. There is a doorway at the left end of the east elevation and on the north gable. Four window openings face the east elevation and four face the west (seaward) elevation, one of which is a bow window; all have concrete cills. The building is now of no special heritage significance.

1. Shelter

This building at the head of the inner harbour occupies the site of a former Coastguard boathouse shown on the 1855 Ordnance Survey map, which had become a roofless shell by the time of the 1922 edition. Now a public shelter, it has a monopitched artificial slate roof, no rainwater goods, and random rubble basalt walls. How much, if any, of the original boathouse fabric is incorporated in the walls is uncertain. Openings at the north-west end allow public access to benches along the inside back wall. The building is now of no special heritage merit.

1. Boathouse

This is an early 1870s Coastguard boathouse, described and evaluated separately under the associated listing record HB05/10/018B.

1. Kilns

This pair of 1860s lime kilns is described and evaluated separately under the associated listing record HB05/10/018C.

1. Toilets

A modern single-storey public convenience with a steeply pitched artificial slate roof, harled walls (probably concrete blockwork), and timber doors and casement windows. This block probably dates from the late 1970s and is of no heritage interest.

1. Houses

Old photographs show this single-storey terrace to have been thatched originally. It appears on the 1832 Ordnance Survey map and on subsequent editions. It probably originally incorporated three or four houses but has since been heavily refurbished as two holiday lets. It now has a pitched natural slate roof and cement-rendered walls. The original door and window openings have been reconfigured, and the windows now have uPVC frames and concrete cills. Nothing of the terrace's original character survives.

SETTING

The harbour has been formed in a natural inlet at the foot of a precipitous headland just north of Ballintoy village. It is open to the sea to the north-east, with the former Coastguard boathouse just inside the entrance to the inner harbour. To the north-west it is protected by wave-washed rocks. At its south-west end are a public car park and the pair of lime kilns. The south-east side is hemmed in by limestone cliffs, down which the serpentine access road from the village descends. Along this road are two listed buildings: Ben Dhu (HB05/10/013) and the former Coastguard Station (HB05/10/010A–C).