Historical Information on 27-37 Talbot Street

Nos 27-37 Talbot Street, a four-storey redbrick warehouse located opposite St. Anne’s Cathedral (HB26/50/067), was constructed in 1903-04 to designs by Belfast architects Blackwood & Jury.

Early Commercial Properties

Before the completion of the warehouse, nos 27-37 Talbot Street had housed several individual commercial properties. The directory for 1880 records that a wood turner, a carpenter, tailors, and a plasterer operated their businesses on the street (Belfast Street Directories – 1880-1901). The Belfast Revaluation confirms that six buildings (on the site that would be occupied by the current warehouse) existed until at least 1900, when they were included in the revaluation; the valuer noted the six properties were worth between £6 and £8 and were ‘old’ in date (the ‘old’ designation typically referred to buildings dating from at least the early-19th century).

Construction and Early Use

The new building, advertised as 'built to suit intending tenants, either as warerooms, stores, or factories', commenced around March 1903 and appeared to be completed in March of the following year. The property was first included in the Annual Revisions in 1908 when it was valued at £360 and used by Young King & Co. as a Bonded Store. Young King & Co., a local distillery company, also had offices at nos 32-76 Talbot Street (now demolished); however, the 1908 directory notes that the company utilised the building for dry goods storage.

Changes in Occupancy

In 1912, the value of the warehouse was decreased to £330 after an appeal against its high rating. Young King & Co. continued to occupy nos 27-37 Talbot Street until 1924 when the company vacated, leasing the warehouse to W. W. Kennedy & Co., a carrier and removals firm that had previously occupied premises on nearby Academy Street (Belfast Street Directory – 1918). In 1927, W. W. Kennedy & Co. sublet part of their warehouse to William Campbell & Co., brass founders and finishers who had originally worked from nearby nos 6-26 Talbot Street. William Campbell & Co. occupied nos 33-37 Talbot Street while W. W. Kennedy & Co. operated from nos 27-31; the total rateable value of the building decreased to £302 in 1927 due to these changes.

Subsequent Tenants and Valuations

In 1930, W. W. Kennedy & Co. vacated nos 27-31 Talbot Street, and the soft drinks manufacturers Hollywood & Donnelly moved into this portion of the building, increasing the total value to £379. Hollywood & Donnelly occupied nos 27-31 Talbot Street until the 1960s, but by the First General Revaluation of property in Northern Ireland (1935), the other half of the warehouse lay empty after William Campbell & Co. vacated; under this revaluation, the total value of nos 27-37 increased to £490.

No further revaluation occurred for over two decades due to disruptions caused by the Second World War. However, following the conflict, the warehouse was included in the second revaluation (1956-72). By the 1950s, Hollywood & Donnelly expanded to occupy nos 31-33, while the remaining nos 35-37 were occupied by the Daily Mirror as a warehouse. Hollywood & Donnelly vacated the building in 1964 after over three decades; prior to the cancellation of the revaluation, the tenants of nos 27-37 Talbot Street changed multiple times. By the end of the Second Revaluation in 1972, the total value of the warehouse decreased to £312.

Historical Context of Talbot Street

Talbot Street formed part of the town-planning scheme initiated by Lord Donegall in the late-18th century; as part of this scheme, Donegall Street, Church Street, Academy Street, and Talbot Street were developed along their current layouts. The development of Talbot Street was carried out by Roger Mulholland in the 1780s, with the street's name derived from a Mr. Talbot, who was employed as Donegall’s agent in Belfast (Brett, p. 6; Patton, p. 308). In the mid-19th century, Talbot Street gained a reputation as a working-class area of Belfast where ‘social evils’ such as alcohol and prostitution were prevalent; in 1853, Rev. William O’Hanlon noted that in the Talbot Street area, ‘spirit stores meet you at every turn … some of them most imposing establishments – and all of them driving a brisk and profitable trade in the material of ruin … let us think of the fatal effects of such a deluge as this through the households of the poor and we shall cease to wonder at the social degradation and vice that prevail’ (Royle, p. 119).

Listing and Recent Developments

Nos 27-37 Talbot Street was listed in 1990 when the building was utilised as office space; Patton, writing in 1993, described the building as a ‘four-storey redbrick warehouse with bullnose reveals to opes.’ Patton suggested that, due to the division of the warehouse into two distinct sections, the building was ‘apparently built in two stages, one with scalloped pediment and capped stone finials, the other with wavy gables above a brick diaper pattern’ (Patton, p. 308).

In recent years, the ground floor of nos 27-37 Talbot Street has been occupied by a restaurant in the Cathedral Quarter of Belfast. However, in 2012, the restaurant, known as ‘No. 27 Talbot Street,’ was forced to close. The ground floor is currently occupied by an Indian restaurant known as ‘Mumbai 27’, while the upper floors have been converted into private flats owned by Helm Housing.

References

Primary Sources

PRONI OS/6/1/61/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1858
PRONI OS/6/1/61/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1901-02
'Belfast News-Letter', 24 February 1903, 4 March 1904
PRONI OS/6/1/61/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1931
PRONI OS/6/1/61/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1938
PRONI VAL/12/B/43/C/33-45 – Annual Revisions 1906-1930
PRONI VAL/7/B/9/16 – Belfast Revaluation 1900
PRONI VAL/3/B/3/13 – First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1935
PRONI VAL/4/B/7/42 – Second General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1956-72
Belfast Street Directories (1880-1918)
First Survey Image – HB26/50/193 (1980)

Secondary Sources

Brett, C. E. B., ‘Buildings of Belfast: 1700-1914’ Belfast: Friar’s Bush Press, 1985.
Patton, M., ‘Central Belfast: An historical gazetteer’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1993.
Royle, S. A., ‘Portrait of an industrial city: ‘Clanging Belfast,’ 1750-1914’ Belfast: Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society, 2011.

Online Resources

Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie

1 Belgravia Avenue

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