2008:321 - 16 Belfast Road, Bangor, Down

The area of the proposed development is a roughly L-shaped site located on the north side of Belfast Road, Bangor. It is currently in use as a car sales forecourt and adjacent workshops plus one domestic property. In the north-east corner of the proposed development site are the remains of what appears to be the original engine shed as appears on the second-edition OS map and built for the opening of the railway in 1864. It has lost its original roofing and now has a corrugated roof with skylights. It also has a large sliding double wooden door cut into the south-east wall. However, essentially the structure is intact. An extant brick-built chimney behind the engine shed is where the steam from the engines would be vented. This chimney lies within the bounds of the current railway, outside the limits of the proposed development and should not be directly impacted on by it.
Internally the structure of the engine shed is still sound. It is of irregular stone block/rubble-built construction, with its original entrance to the west now blocked up. It originally had five well-built classic arched windows moulded internally and edged in cream brick externally, as are the corners of the shed. One window has been truncated by the addition of the modern garage-type door.
Following instructions from EHS, the engine shed was surveyed and a programme of testing drawn up. Planning services, however, had not given permission for the other buildings on the site to be demolished in order to carry out the testing regime. As such, archaeological evaluation of this site is no longer required under the above licence at this time and EHS:HMU have recommended that archaeological conditions are instead attached to subsequent planning conditions.