Large shed, 7 Bank Square, Maghera, Co Londonderry, BT46 5AZ

This is a large, single-storey store building likely dating to around 1920, situated on the southwest side of Bank Square, southeast of Maghera town centre. It is rectangular in plan, measuring approximately 22m x 12m. The façade is finished in unpainted roughcast.

The building features a Belfast Truss roof, a construction method developed in the mid-nineteenth century to provide efficient, lightweight, and long-span roofs, driven by industrial demand. A distinguishing feature of this building is that the trusses retain a manufacturer's mark, making it one of the few surviving examples with this detail. The northeast gable has a large, off-centre vehicle doorway fitted with a roller shutter. The southeast elevation has two relatively large windows on the right-hand side, with relatively recent, though dilapidated, window frames, and is partially obscured by creeper growth. A small, boarded-up high-level window is located centrally on the northwest elevation. The rear gable is not visible. The curved roof is covered with corrugated metal.

The Belfast truss was initially developed and manufactured by McTear & Co. from 1866 until 1908. Subsequently, Anderson & Co. began production in 1886, later introducing a “Mk II” version in 1896 designed for long spans and low weight. Although the term “Belfast truss” is commonly used, it generally refers to timber bowstring trusses where internal bracing members meet on the top curved member rather than the bottom. The building is currently unused, and is of industrial archaeological interest, as part of a survey into Belfast Roof Trusses. Ownership is by the Presbyterian Church.