24A Belfast Road, Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, BT38 8BU

24A Belfast Road is a small, plain, single-storey hipped roof stuccoed house built in 1880-81 as the gate lodge to the now-demolished Castle Rocklands house. The property stands behind a high wall on the south side of Belfast Road on the western outskirts of Carrickfergus. Later flat-roofed extensions have been added to the rear and south side.

The east elevation of the original block is symmetrical, with one window on each side of a central doorway. The hipped roof is laid with Bangor blue slates in regular courses and features overhanging eaves on a painted stone eaves course, moulded cast iron guttering, and lead ridge and hips. Two chimneys rise from the roof, smooth cement rendered and painted with moulded cornices and two stub pots each. The walls are smooth cement rendered with linear detailing and painted throughout. Moulded quoins mark the extremities, a moulded projecting plinth runs around the base, and moulded cornices and door and window surrounds provide articulation. The windows are rectangular timber sliding sashes, vertically hung with 2 over 1 lights and horns, set in recessed frames with projecting stone cills. The entrance comprises a modern rectangular timber glazed and panelled door topped by a plain rectangular fanlight, partially obscured by a mounted bulk-head light. The door has a modern metal draught strip surround, modern letterbox and escutcheon, and a plain cement screed doorstep.

A lower flat-roofed extension is set back to the left-hand edge of the main block. Its wall is rendered as the main block with a projecting plinth but without quoins, and a plain rendered projecting eaves course. One rectangular PVC two-light window is inserted, with one fixed light and one side-hung casement in plain reveals and a small projecting painted concrete cill.

The south elevation comprises the south gable of the main hipped-roofed block with a flat-roofed projection to the front and flat-roofed rear return to the west. The original main block's roof matches the front except for clay hip tiles to the left-hand side. Walling on each side of the flat-roofed projection is rendered as the front elevation, including quoins to the extremities. One window to the left of the projecting block matches those on the front elevation except it is glazed 2 over 2. The projecting block has a blank south wall containing one small PVC waste pipe. Its west wall contains a modern rectangular timber two-panel glazed door with modern handle and draught strip set in plain reveals, with two rendered steps and a cast iron downpipe.

Extending west from the main block is a flat-roofed rear return with similar render to the main block but without quoins or moulded cornice. A large plain projecting painted rendered eaves course runs across. One modern rectangular PVC two-light window is inserted in plain reveals with a concrete cill. One doorway has a broken timber door with a crude three-pane fanlight above, leading to a covered passage with rendered walls, cement screed floor and plastered ceiling, which connects to a small enclosed yard to the north.

The west elevation comprises the rear of the main block with a lower flat-roofed rear return projecting at the right-hand side. The main block's west elevation has a hipped slated roof as described for the front except for clay hip tiles, with a plain rendered and painted wall to the left of the rear return featuring moulded and coved cornice. One rectangular timber sashed 2 over 1 window with horns is set in plain reveals with a painted projecting stone cill. PVC casing to cables is affixed to the wall. The rear return's west elevation is a plain cement rendered wall.

The north elevation of the main block shows a hipped slated roof with overhanging eaves, lead hip to the left, and clay hip tiles to the right-hand hip. Moulded cast iron guttering runs beneath. The original end wall is now faced with artificial stone up to the soffit, obscuring all original render except for small portions of coved cornice at each extremity. Artificial stone facing continues to each end to form boundary walling. The north elevation of the rear return, within the enclosed yard, is a plain rendered wall with plain projecting eaves cornice, a cast iron downpipe at the right-hand end and a cast iron soil pipe to the left. Two windows are modern—one rectangular metal and one rectangular PVC—both in plain reveals with painted concrete cills. One door is rectangular timber, tongued and grooved with a glazed panel set in a crude timber frame, leading to the rear covered passage.

The building stands within its own grounds with its north gable next to the pavement at the main road. The entrance front faces a driveway and is set back beyond small grassed areas containing flower beds and bushes. Tarmac paths cross the entrance elevation and lead to the main driveway; crazy paving runs along the south elevation with a cement screed area along the south side of the rear return. A small garden to the south is enclosed by a hedge bordering the driveway and west boundary wall. The west boundary is formed by a basalt rubble wall with rounded cement coping, except within the yard where it is uncoped. The yard is surfaced in cement screed, and the enclosing wall on its north side is of modern artificial stone. The east boundary is formed by a modern concrete post and wire fence. The north boundary is formed by modern artificial stone walling extending from each side of the north gable of the main block, linked to a basalt gatescreen to the east. Mature trees line both sides of the main driveway running south of the site.

The gateway to the main drive comprises a pair of square masonry piers, now without gates, linked to a pair of outer piers by screen walls. The outer pier to the east marks the boundary corner; the outer pier to the west is linked to the entrance front of the building by a lower modern artificial stone wall. The piers are square on plan, of squared basalt with hammered finish, surmounted by moulded sandstone cornices, painted, with painted ball finials. Screen walls are of basalt rubble with concrete slab copings. All masonry has modern reticulated cement pointing. Map evidence suggests that the outer piers were originally positioned further north and linked to the inner piers via a quadrant wall. The piers were undoubtedly moved to their present position when Belfast Road was widened, apparently around 1980. The wall and gate screen were significantly altered around 1980.