Band stand, Central Promenade, Newcastle, Ballaghbeg, Co. Down

The site on the Central Promenade in Newcastle, County Down, marks the location of a former bandstand erected around 1905 by the Newcastle Urban District Council. The structure may have replaced an earlier, potentially temporary, building indicated on a 1903 Ordnance Survey map. The original cast iron bandstand was removed around 1987, subsequently restored by the National Trust, and reconstructed in the grounds of Rowallane House, Saintfield. Only the uprights of the reconstructed bandstand are original; the roof and much of the decorative metalwork (filigree) are replacements based on the original design. What remains on the promenade site is an octagonal base constructed of brick and concrete, upon which a modern, stylized metal framework now stands. The Ulster Museum’s Welch Collection contains a photograph of the bandstand dating to around 1910. Further information can be found in 'Victorian and Edwardian Newcastle' by Grenfell Morton and from Mr. Mike Snowden, the Estate Manager at Rowallane Gardens.