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5 (More) Derelict Buildings of Belfast

Another Selection of Forgotten Belfast Buildings Abandoned and Left to Wreck and Ruin...

By Juliet WilkinsonPublished 5 years ago 4 min read
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Wilton House

Wilton House, Belfast City Centre

Most recently used as the administrative offices of the RNID, this four-storey Georgian townhouse was likely built in the 1830s and was originally two separate dwellings in this once highly affluent residential area. In 1894 the two homes were combined into a single property which was then established as a hotel, Hotel Metropole. With 14 guest rooms, stables and coach houses (no longer standing), it was regarded as a first-rate hotel until around 1900, when the Belfast Technical College was built, cutting off the hotel from the popular green nearby. The building has been owned by the Ulster Institute of the Deaf since 1907 however has lain vacant for several years.

Wilton House

Former RUC Barracks, Belfast City Centre

Former RUC Barracks

Constructed in 1878, this former Royal Ulster Constabulary barracks began life as the "Belfast Hospital for Sick Children," replacing the first children's hospital in the city, which was located on King Street. Officially opening in April of 1879, the hospital was rated as a first-class facility whose first matron, a Miss Lennox, was a former student of Florence Nightingales'. In the 1930s, the Children's Hospital was relocated to the Royal Hospital due to the need for a larger establishment and the building was converted into an RUC police station. The station remained in operation until the 1990s, since then the building has lain vacant with no plans currently for the redevelopment of this well-secured site.

Former RUC Barracks

Former St Columba's Roman Catholic Church and Former Inter-denominational Church, South Belfast

Former Inter-denominational Church

These "matching" adjacent churches, thought to be built around 1910 to the designs of British architect George Thomas Hine, are a perfect example of "nature taking over." Now deconsecrated, graffiti-ed, and stripped of all fittings, the churches are barely accessible due to overgrowth on the once well-walked approach. Built for the use of patients of a local former asylum during a period of expansion, the churches whilst simple in design hold some still visible gothic undertones in the now crumbling architecture.

Former St Columba's Roman Catholic Church

Abandoned Villas at Knockbracken Healthcare Park, South Belfast

'Lagan'

Knockbracken Healthcare Park, now a listed healthcare complex, began life in the mid-1890s when the Belfast corporation purchased the Purdysburn estate with the view to build a new asylum facility. Plans were drawn up based on similar facilities in Germany to construct a "villa colony," during a time when consideration was increasingly being given to the environment and surroundings in which mental health conditions were treated. The settings (lush grounds and woodland) were paramount to the treatment of the (mostly) working class patients who, it was felt at the time, could attribute their mental health issues to living and working in busy inner-city areas.

Purdysburn Hospital was renamed in the 1990s to "Knockbracken Healthcare Park," following which began a nationwide programme of caring for and rehabilitating patients in the community. Inevitably, the result of which was the closure of many wards from the 1980s onwards as patient numbers housed in the park steadily declined. Not only do many of the impressive Villas built in the early 1900s now lie derelict, "newer" mid-century facilities as well as the vast former nurses housing block also lie vacant and inaccessible.

'Divis'

'Slemish'

The Mount, Belfast City Centre

The Mount (Number 36)

The two remaining Georgian terraced houses (numbers 34 and 36) of 'The Mount' were constructed in 1860, forming part of ‘The Mount Square’. The square was built on the site of ‘Mount Pottinger’ and the current view of the housing, whilst largely unimpressive due to being obscured from view by sheeting, hints at former glory on closer inspection. Some cast iron external features remain and the exposed basement windows help build a picture that these houses were once grand abodes. The delisting and subsequent demolishing of the majority of the terraces which made up the square have left the once 'mid terrace' number 34, and the larger 'end terrace' house number 36, in a solitary state.

The more impressive of the remaining terraces, number 36, was privately rented by various occupants until the 1970s when it was secured by the Simon Community who utilised the property as a hostel and homeless shelter for several years. Now dilapidated and inaccessible, both houses are stark examples of the increasing number of listed properties at risk, which have no plans for rejuvenation, in the Belfast area.

The Mount (Numbers 34 and 36)

Please see my article 7 Derelict Buildings of Belfast on Vocal Media for more examples of derelict properties in Belfast!

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About the Creator

Juliet Wilkinson

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