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

The harbour at Ballintoy is a working fishing harbour situated in a natural inlet at the bottom of a steep headland just north of Ballintoy village in County Antrim. It comprises eleven distinct features arranged around an inner and outer harbour.

Inner Harbour

The inner harbour is entered through a gap between a quay running along its north-west side and an L-shaped pier projecting at right angles from the opposite side. This pier was originally constructed of squared limestone blocks, though most 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. Two flights of steps cut into the north-west section provide access down to the water, both fitted with modern galvanised metal safety railings. Between these stairways stands a wooden post bearing metal plaques commemorating various boating accidents. The quay deck in this section is concrete, sloping gently down to its north-east end. The back of the quay is protected by a rubble limestone wall dating from 1976-77, which continues north-east as a low mass concrete wall topped with stone gabions, eventually meeting the concrete wall at the south-west end of the outer quay. The inner quay is lit by modern street lights and includes a picnic table and benches at its south-west end.

The quay along the south-west end of the inner harbour is partly recessed with stone steps towards its south end. The recessed section has a relatively recent mass concrete footing. A slip was cut through this section in 1910-13 and several mooring bollards and a picnic table sit along its grassy top. The back of the quay is delineated by a low rubble limestone wall, a relatively modern feature separating the quay from the tarmaced public car park behind.

Along the south-east side of the inner harbour, the original rubble stonework continues for a short distance and is partly reinforced with later concrete footing. Beyond this sits a low concrete landing stage built in 1976-77. It is cut through towards its north-east end by a slipway giving access to the stage, and has several bollards along its length. This landing stage was constructed following the removal of an earlier boat house slip.

Slips

A concrete slipway was inserted through the south-west quay wall in 1910-13. Its side walls are of mass concrete, now heavily weathered, and its concrete deck was renewed in the 1970s with a steel safety barrier across its seaward end.

A second slip of mass concrete is contemporary with the 1970s landing stage along the south-east side of the inner harbour, and provides access to the boat house near the entrance pier. At survey, its bottom end was undergoing repairs having been undermined by wave action. A small corrugated-metal shed is built into the slope at the slipway's top end.

Outer Harbour

A quay of mass concrete was formed on top of the rock along the north-west side of the outer harbour in 1976-77. Its deck slopes down from the slightly higher inner quay. Halfway along is a short flight of steps and a ramp to facilitate loading and unloading of boats at low water. Vertical steel access ladders are set into the quay face, with cast metal mooring bollards along its edge. The back of the quay is protected at both ends by a concrete wall approximately 1.4 metres high with rock armour behind. The middle section is delineated by a dwarf wall beyond which stone cobbling consolidates the surface. Four modern street lights illuminate the quay, and picnic tables and benches occupy its south-west end.

Breakwater

A mass concrete wall was constructed in 1910-13 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 1976-77. More recently, the seaward side has been reinforced with rock armour.

Café

Now operating as Roork's Kitchen, this single-storey, two-bay building stands aligned north-south just above the west end of the inner harbour. Early twentieth-century photographs show it in a derelict state. Comparison of its openings then and now suggests it has been largely rebuilt on the footprint of the previous building but without a small annex that originally abutted its south end. The original thatched roof has been replaced in slate. This renovation probably took place in 1976-77 as part of the harbour's redevelopment as a tourist attraction. The building now 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. A doorway opens at the left end of the east elevation and on the north gable. Four window openings appear on both the east elevation and the seaward west elevation, including one bow window, all with concrete cills. The building is now fitted out as a café and is of no special heritage significance.

Shelter

This building at the head of the inner harbour occupies the site of a former Coastguard boat house shown on the 1855 Ordnance Survey map, though it appeared as a roofless shell by the 1922 edition. Now serving as a public shelter, it has a monopitched artificial slate roof, no rainwater goods, and random rubble basalt walls. The extent to which any original boat house masonry survives in the walls is uncertain. Openings at its north-west end allow public access to benches along the inside back wall. It is of no special heritage merit.

Boat House and Kilns

An early 1870s Coastguard boat house occupies a separate listed entry. A pair of lime kilns dating from the 1860s also occupy a separate listed entry. Both features are recorded as part of this harbour complex.

Toilets

A modern single-storey public convenience block with 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.

Houses

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

Setting

The harbour is hemmed in along its south-east side by limestone cliffs down which a serpentine access road descends from the village. Along this road stand two listed buildings: Ben Dhu and the former Coastguard Station. The harbour is protected to the north-west by wave-washed rocks and opens to the sea to the north-east. At its south-west end is a public car park and the pair of lime kilns.