South Belfast house with ‘original historic character' set for listed status

Belfast Telegraph

16-05-2025

At the May meeting of the Belfast City Council Planning Committee, elected representatives supported the listing of 19 Wellington Park, Belfast, BT9.
A listed building has special architectural or historic interest. Stormont's Department of Communities is responsible for listing such buildings, but all prospective lists are put through the council for noting before going to consultation.
The second survey of all of Northern Ireland's building stock is currently under way, to update and improve on the first list of buildings of special architectural or historic interest, which began in 1974. This second survey in Belfast was due to be completed in 2017 but is ongoing.
Should the Department for Communities decide to list a property or structure, this places certain responsibilities on the owner. For example, a listed building has to be maintained in a way appropriate to its character and cannot be altered or demolished without prior approval.
Nineteen Wellington Park is a two-storey, double-fronted Victorian villa in a 'domestic gothic revival' style, constructed in 1889/90 as one of a pair with number 21 by the builder Andrew Dempster Gibson. The architect is unknown.
The council document on the proposal states: 'Externally it retains much of its original historic character such as the double-height canted bays, decorative brickwork and historic windows as well as internally in the elaborate plaster cornicing, plaster swags and tails, woodwork and stained glass. The plan form of the house is largely intact.'
Numbers 19 and 21 Wellington Park were purchased from Gibson by Samuel Hogg, a Shankill Road grocer who was resident at 19 from 1894.
Hogg was a relative of the celebrated photographer, Alexander Robert Hogg, whose collection of 5,500 glass plate negatives and lantern slides dating from the early 20th century are held by the Ulster Museum. These include an image of Samuel Hogg's premises on the Shankill Road called The People's Tea and Coffee Warehouse.
Listed buildings in Northern Ireland are divided into four categories. Grade A Special buildings are of national importance including both outstanding grand buildings and the fine, little-altered examples of important style or date.
Grade B+ Special buildings are those that might have merited A status but were reduced over detracting features such as impurities of design, or lower quality additions or alterations.
Grade B1 and B2 Special buildings refer to those of more local importance or displaying good examples of period style. Degrees of alteration or imperfection are acceptable in this category.
The proposed listing status for 19 Wellington Park is B1.