Site of former Police Station

Site of Former Police Station

This site at the eastern corner of the Bowling Green was formerly occupied by a large three-storey house of probable pre-1833 construction. The building was subsequently used as a bank from 1862 to 1882, and then as a Police Station from 1926 until its demolition around 1985. A new large police station complex now stands in its place.

According to a survey description from 10 February 1970, the building was a three-storey structure with rendered walls, quoins, and a slated roof. The eaves cornice was square, and drop-hung windows with full glazing bars were enclosed in square moulded architraves. Doric columns supported an entablature and pediment forming a porch. Ground floor windows were protected by iron grills. The building was five windows wide and noted as being in a run-down condition at the time of survey.

A building of similar but not identical plan appears on the Ordnance Survey map of 1833-34, with a large well-planted garden to the southeast and outbuildings to the southwest. Valuation records from 1832-34 suggest this was likely the property formerly occupied by James Hamilton Esq., measuring 54 feet by 35 feet by 29 feet. The main section was accompanied by substantial additions: one measuring 13½ by 22½ by 24 feet, another of 31 by 22½ by 15 feet, a cellar used as a store of 54 by 35 by 8 feet, and offices measuring 30 by 22½ by 15 feet, 66 by 18½ by 15½ feet, and 121 by 22 by 16 feet. The whole property had a rateable value of £41-14-5 and was assessed as 'not new' with a quality rating of '1B', indicating it was at least 25 years old and possibly considerably older than 1832. By the second valuation of 1857, the building was unoccupied, though the property plan remained substantially similar.

In 1862, the building was acquired by the Belfast Bank for use as premises under the management of William Smyth. A new office was added to the site in the same year, likely to the rear of the main building. The property continued as a branch of the Belfast Bank until 1882, when the branch relocated to the commercially more important Main Street. The building then reverted to private domestic use, though it retained the name 'Bank House' into the early 1900s. Robert S. Smith was recorded as occupant between 1882 and 1899, and Charlotte A. Smyth from 1899 to 1908. Repairs were carried out to the house in 1892, suggesting it required maintenance; its rateable value had fallen by £7 from a high of £56 in 1883 to £49 by 1892. The final private occupant was Jonathan Reilly, who lived there from 1908 until 1926.

In 1926, the property was acquired by the Northern Ireland Government for use as a Royal Ulster Constabulary station. The building served in this capacity until around 1985, when it was demolished to make way for the new police station.