According to a report on 16 January in the Belfast Telegraph, the building at St Peter’s Cathedral in west Belfast has been recommended by the Department of Communities for B1 listing, just one category below the top tier A, which is reserved for some of the most special constructions in the country.
The building at St Peter’s Square, just off the lower Falls Road, has been described in the listing notes as a four storey L-shaped ashlar parochial house. The parochial house has been added to since the original design, with a two storey entrance portion and small extensions to the rear. However, much of the original historic fabric and fine detailing survives throughout, such as the steep slated gables with corbelled eaves and original joinery and cornicing internally. The parochial house and cathedral are observed in the listing notes as: ‘the most significant group of historic buildings in the immediate and wider area, with the twin spires of the cathedral visible across much of the city’.
Belfast city councillors who sit on the council’s planning committee are set to discuss the recommendation for listing at a meeting tomorrow evening. The minutes for the meeting include a recommendation that the committee, in recognition of the heritage value, supports the proposed listing by the Department for Communities. This 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.
Read more in the Belfast Telegraph
