Coastguard Cottages, 14 Belfast Road, Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim, BT38 8BU

A group of mid-nineteenth century coastguard cottages built around 1864, located to the south of Belfast Road, Carrickfergus. Set parallel to the road with small gardens to the rear, the group has historic maritime significance within Carrickfergus but has been altered and lacks sufficient architectural interest to warrant listing.

The specific cottage described is an attached single-bay two-storey terraced former coastguard cottage, the fifth from the left (east) in a group of seven. It is built to a rectangular plan on pan and includes a two-storey return to the rear with a cat-slide roof, and a single-storey lean-to entrance porch to the north. The pitched roof is covered in natural slate with blue and black clay ridge tiles. The eaves are cogged brick; few original cast-iron downpipes remain, with square profile replacement uPVC rainwater goods now in use. A roughcast rendered corbelled chimneystack stands on the east party wall, finished with decorative clay pots.

The walls are roughcast rendered with a cogged brick string course and smooth rendered platband above (north elevation only), and a smooth rendered plinth. Windows are timber casements with painted masonry cills. The principal north elevation, which is partly abutted by a single-storey extension to the right with a slated lean-to roof (shared with No. 16), has an exposed section to the left with a 6/6 timber casement at ground floor and dipartite 4/4 casements at first floor. The east gable is abutted by No. 12. The south (rear) elevation, partly abutted to the left by the two-storey return with slated cat-slide roof, has an exposed section with a single 6/6 timber casement window to each floor. The west gable is abutted by No. 16. The south return is detailed as the main block with two roof lights (shared with No. 16). The south gable is blank, with central timber 6/6 dipartite casements to the right cheek and a glazed timber panelled door to the right; a timber sheeted door stands to the left.

Set parallel to Belfast Road, the cottages are accessed from the east with parking to the north and garden 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 succeeded an earlier station at Governor's Place, Carrickfergus. The town plan for Carrickfergus from 1860 shows the buildings added in pencil at a later stage (date of addition not specified). The houses 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, having recently been refurbished as dwellings. The coastguard housing comprises a two-storey terrace of six houses with a larger house set at right angles at the west end. Various additions have been made to the rear (south) wall during the recent refurbishment. The terrace is now harled, making it unclear from cursory inspection whether it was originally of brick or basalt construction. It is ornamented with stone and diagonally-set brick stringing below first floor window sill level, with further decorative brickwork along the eaves and chimney corbels.