Store at Red Bay Pier, Adjacent to 100 Coast Rd, Cushendall, Ballymena, Co. Antrim, BT44 0QW

Store at Red Bay Pier

A three-storey, single-bay sandstone store erected around 1858 to serve the adjacent Red Bay Pier. The building stands on the east side of the road leading to Red Bay Pier, immediately north-east of the pier itself, aligned north-east to south-west with its principal elevation facing north-west towards the Coast Road.

The structure is built of rubble sandstone brought to courses with roughly dressed quoins. The roof is pitched with natural slate, fitted with replacement half-round plastic gutters and downpipes. All window and door openings have flat heads; those to ground and first floor level retain their original voussoired stone heads, but the original timber heads to the second floor windows have been replaced with reinforced concrete. None of the windows have cills.

The north-west elevation contains a large central doorway with a corrugated metal sliding door. This opening is original but has been heightened to accommodate lorries; its upper jambs are of concrete block and its flat head is of reinforced concrete faced with sandstone. A window flanks each side of the doorway, now infilled with rubble sandstone. Larger windows at first floor level on either side of the doorway are sheeted over with corrugated plastic. Three small window openings at second floor level are also sheeted over. The south-west gable is largely blank except for a large window at first floor left, now infilled with concrete blockwork. The south-east elevation facing the sea contains two openings each at first and second floor level, all sheeted over; the ground floor has no openings. The north-east gable is blank.

The ground on which the store stands is reclaimed from the beach and has been enlarged seawards in relatively recent times. Storage containers abut its south-west and south-east elevations, and a concrete hardstone lies in front of its north-west side. The pier lies immediately to the north-east, with a concrete-walled coal bunker to its west. Beyond lies the Coast Road, which here passes through the Red Arch, a sandstone headland from which the pier projects. To the south-west is a relatively modern single-storey dwelling with a goods depot beyond.

Red Bay Pier was opened around 1851 by the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland to facilitate trade to and from Waterfoot, a short distance south along the Antrim Coast Road. It was transferred to the ownership of the County Antrim Grand Jury in 1857. Much of its trade focused on the export of Antrim ore from the Cargan District to Scotland. An aerial ropeway connecting the mines to the pier opened in 1872 but was sabotaged by disgruntled hauliers the following year. Trade declined after a mineral railway from Retreat to Ballymena opened in 1876.

The store is cited in the 1859 Valuation book as belonging to Henry Hugh McNeile, with a rateable valuation of £4 10s 0d. McNeile's holding is noted as being "in fee", indicating he was the outright owner rather than merely a lessee, suggesting the building was erected by him rather than by the Board of Works to serve the harbour. The Valuation revision books record that the store became unoccupied in 1865 but was taken over by James Fisher in 1868. It remained in the hands of representatives of the Fisher family until at least 1929. The store has since been acquired by Murphy Oil & Coal Importers and converted into an oil storage depot.

Although the quality of construction is excellent and its setting close to the pier is of interest, extensive external alterations to its facade and comprehensive internal alterations have significantly diminished its character. Despite not meeting the threshold for listing, it remains a building of considerable local and industrial archaeological interest.