IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Crumlin Road, BELFAST, BT14 6AR

A window on the north western side of the building.

A window, facing the Crumlin Road, sprouting a growth of buddleia.

Opened in 1850, this neo-Palladian building was designed by the notable Belfast architect and county surveyor, Sir Charles Lanyon. The building was enlarged in 1905-06 with blocks added either side of the columned portico. A tunnel linked the court with Crumlin Gaol on the other side of the road. The courthouse was closed in 1998 and was sold five years later to a private developer. Plans were approved for the conversion of the building into a 4-star hotel but the downturn in the economy thwarted these plans.

Opened in 1850, this neo-Palladian building was designed by the notable Belfast architect and county surveyor, Sir Charles Lanyon. The building was enlarged in 1905-06 with blocks added either side of the columned portico. A tunnel linked the court with Crumlin Gaol on the other side of the road. The courthouse was closed in 1998 and was sold five years later to a private developer. Plans were approved for the conversion of the building into a 4-star hotel but the downturn in the economy thwarted these plans.

These well built houses now serve as a working out unit for prisoners from Maghaberry Prison who are approaching the end of long-term sentences.

Tunnel connecting Crumlin Road Gaol to the Courthouse http://www.geograph.org.uk/snippet/1664 . The tunnel was used to take remand prisoners for trial and, after sentencing, convicted prisoners to the jail. The tunnel also supplied heat to the courthouse - through the partially covered pipes on the right - so when operational apparently it was extremely hot down here (not now, and is several degrees cooler than at the surface). The original brick roof is in the foreground - beyond that the rest of the tunnel has been clad in reinforced concrete: this is the section that is actually under the road and the concrete was added in the 1970s to protect it from surface level car bombs (the tunnel is actually only 1.5 metres deep). Fights were apparently common down here during the 'Troubles' as rival groups of paramilitary prisoners would regularly meet going to and from court.

Listed as HB26/43/024, the Masonic Hall on the Crumlin Road was completed, in the Art Deco style, in 1940 to a design by John MacGeagh http://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=24503674 . This detail is at the entrance.

This is situated next to the Crumlin Gaol. A number of lodges use this hall. http://pglantrim.org/hallCrumlinRd.shtml

The statue of Justice atop the disused courthouse (with additional seagull).

Detail from the railings facing the Crumlin Road. They are similar to those on the former Crumlin Road gaol http://www.geograph.org.uk/snippet/1673 (opposite).