Coastguard Cottages, 12 Belfast Road, Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim, BT38 8BU

A group of mid-nineteenth century coastguard cottages built around 1864, located south of Belfast Road in Carrickfergus. Set parallel to the road with small gardens to the rear, the cottages feature appealing architectural characteristics including cogged brick eaves and string courses. The group holds historic interest due to its maritime association with Carrickfergus, though alterations have diminished its architectural significance.

The individual cottage described here is an attached single-bay two-storey terraced structure, the fourth from the left (east) in a row of seven. Built around 1864, it is rectangular in plan with a single-storey pitched return to the rear. The pitched roof is covered in natural slate with blue and black clay ridge tiles. Cogged brick eaves with cast-iron downpipes (few remaining) and square-profile replacement uPVC rainwater goods are evident. A roughcast rendered corbelled chimney stack sits at the west party wall, topped with decorative clay pots.

The walls are finished in roughcast render. A cogged brick string course and smooth rendered platband run across the north elevation only, with a smooth rendered plinth to all walls. Windows are 6/6 replacement uPVC casements designed to mimic original 6/6 timber sliding sashes, with painted masonry cills throughout. The principal south elevation is abutted by a single-storey pitched return to the right (shared with No. 8); the exposed section to the left contains windows at each floor level. The west gable is abutted by No. 14, the east gable by No. 10. The north (road-facing) elevation has one window per floor, with the first-floor window consisting of dipartite 4/4 uPVC casements. The south return features two windows in the gable (shared with neighbouring property) and a replacement uPVC door to the left.

The cottages are accessed from the east with parking to the north and gardens to the south. They are bounded to the road edge by a roughcast rendered wall with saddleback coping.

The Coastguard Station is first recorded in the Valuation Revision book of 1861-94, leased from J. Bowie at a ground rent of £36. It replaced an earlier station at Governor's Place, Carrickfergus. The Carrickfergus town plan of 1860 shows the buildings added in pencil at a later stage (date not specified). The cottages appear on the third edition Ordnance Survey map of 1902, captioned "Coastguard Station". According to Hamond's survey of 1991, the station remained in use until at least 1945 and is now in private ownership. The terrace originally comprised six two-storey houses with a larger house set at right angles at the west end. Various additions were made to the rear (south) wall during recent refurbishment as dwellings. Hamond notes the terrace is harled and that it is unclear from cursory inspection whether it was originally brick or basalt construction. It is ornamented with stone and diagonally-set brick stringing below the first-floor window sill level, with further decorative brickwork along the eaves and chimney corbels.