BELFAST CITY HALL

Belfast City Hall is the civic building of the Belfast City Council.

Located in Donegall Square, it faces north and effectively divides the commercial and business areas of the City Centre.

Plans for the City Hall first began in 1888 when Belfast was awarded city status by Queen Victoria. This was in recognition of Belfast's rapid expansion and thriving linen, rope-making, shipbuilding and engineering industries.

Construction began in 1898 under the supervision of architect Sir Brumwell Thomas and was completed in 1906.


EXTERIOR OF THE BELFAST CITY HALL

The exterior is built mainly from Portland Stone and is in the Classical Renaissance style. It covers an area of one and a half acres and has an enclosed courtyard.

Featuring towers at each of the four corners, with a lantern crowned 173 foot brass dome in the centre, the City Hall dominates the city centre skyline.


INTERIOR OF THE BELFAST CITY HALL

The interior has a number of notable features including The Porte-Cochère and Grand Entrance, The Grand Staircase, The Reception Room and The Great Hall which was totally destroyed during the Belfast blitz and subsequently rebuilt.

Carrara, Pavonazzo and Brescia marbles are used extensively throughout the building as are stained glass windows featuring among others the Belfast Coat of Arms, portraits of Queen Victoria and King William III and shields of the Provinces of Ireland.

Various memorials are located in the building, including ones to Frederick Robert Chichester, Earl of Belfast, Sir Crawford and Lady McCullagh and the 36th (Ulster) Division.


GROUNDS OF THE BELFAST CITY HALL

The gardens surrounding the City Hall are a popular with office workers taking their lunch as well as tourists and Goth, Rock and Punk teenagers gathering in their dozens.

Various statues stand in the grounds, including one of Queen Victoria by Sir Thomas Brock. There is also a granite column dedicated to the American Expeditionary Force, many of whom were based in Belfast prior to D-Day.

The most notable feature of the grounds is Brock's marble figure of Thane, in memorial to the victims of The RMS Titanic sinking. The ship was built in Harland and Wolff's shipyard located in the east of the city.

The grounds also house Northern Ireland's main war memorial, The Garden of Remembrance and cenotaph, at which wreathes are laid on Remembrance Day.


PORTLAND STONE

Portland stone is limestone from the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. It has been used extensively throughout the UK, notably in the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire. It is exported to many countries, for example the stone is used in the United Nations building in New York.

Three main "Portland Beds" are quarried. The Base and Whitbed beds are fine textured and contain few fossil remains, and so are popular for high quality work. The Roach bed is rougher with many fossils.

The Portland Sculpture and Quarry Trust was formed in 1983. The Trust is dedicated to preserving a knowledge and understanding of stone and the landscape from which it comes.


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