8 Beach Road, Whitehead, Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, BT38 9QS

8 Beach Road, Whitehead, is an attached mid-terrace two-storey house forming part of the former Coastguard station built in 1870. It stands on the west side of Beach Road on an elevated site with views across Belfast Lough, ideally positioned for its original maritime purpose.

The building is rectangular in plan with a single-storey kitchen extension to the west. It is constructed of English garden wall bonded red brick over a painted rendered plinth, with a corbelled sill course at first-floor level. The pitched roof is covered in natural slate and features a brick corbelled chimney with concrete coping and replacement pots. The principal elevation faces east and comprises a square-headed replacement uPVC glazed entrance door in a stepped rendered surround with a segmental head to the right, accessed via eight concrete steps with a rendered parapet (shared with an adjacent property). A window occupies each floor to the left. The south elevation is abutted by another property, while the north elevation adjoins a neighbouring building. The west elevation is partly abutted by the kitchen extension, which contains a single door and window. The exposed wall on this elevation contains a single square-headed window.

Windows throughout are replacement segmental-headed uPVC casements in stepped vermiculated sandstone surrounds with painted masonry sills. The gutters and downpipes are cast-iron with ogee profiling and round sections respectively.

The building is set within its own grounds, with access to the south-east through vermiculated square sandstone gate pillars. A car park and modern garages lie to the north-west, with an enclosed yard to the west.

Despite largely replaced windows and doors, the group retains evidence of its defensible past, including gunports and musket loops. Early photographs show that original entrances were not present on the east (shore) side, with these being added in the latter half of the twentieth century. A passage formerly ran the length of the terrace from the Captain's house to a fortified watchtower, aiding freedom of movement between cottages and suggesting a defensive design.

The Coastguard service in Whitehead was established in 1820-1, initially listed as at Black Head. An earlier group of Coastguard cottages sited at Marine Parade appears on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1832. The terrace was built in 1870 to replace these, providing accommodation originally for a chief boatman and five coastguards. The cost of construction was £1,732 18s 2d. The current Coastguard Station first appears on the third edition Ordnance Survey map of 1902. The Valuation Revisions of 1864-1879 list a Coast Guard Station, house and garden valued at £20.

The Coastguard was administered by the Admiralty as a naval force maintained to suppress smuggling, aid shipwrecked vessels, and serve as a reserve to the navy. This terrace formed part of an extensive series of stations erected in the mid-nineteenth century around the coastline of Antrim and Ireland.

Substantial renovation of the terrace, including replacement of windows, doors, and addition of kitchen extensions, was carried out in 1986-9. The building is located within a conservation area.