Introduction
During the
second half of the
nineteenth century,
Belfast grew to be
the largest and most
successful producer
of linen in the world
becoming known
internationally as
‘Linenopolis’.
However, to the linen merchants of Belfast, ‘Linenopolis’
referred to the area around Bedford Street and behind the
White Linen Hall (now Belfast City Hall). As the city grew
rapidly (between 1841 and 1901 the population multiplied by
five) linen enterprises, factories, warehouses and offices spread
across the damp former floodplain of the Blackstaff River and
factory chimneys and multi-storey buildings occupied what
had once been meadows and mill ponds. At the eastern edge
of what is now the Conservation Area lived a community
that was swept along in this rapid industrial development
and who both benefitted from it and experienced its darker
side. ‘Linenopolis’ was designated a Conservation Area in
1992 in recognition of its special place at the heart of Belfast’s
nineteenth century development.
This industry built links with communities across the world.
Northern Irish factories such as Mackies’, built factories
in Calcutta to produce jute. There was a definite exchange
of skills. India had a developed textile industry with many
skills in weaving, spinning and decorative techniques.
The influence of Indian textiles on modern fashion can be
traced back to the 17th and 18th century. Indian embroidery
became ‘collectable’ among the urban elite in the 1960s and
1970s, it was accessed by foreign visitors who made use of the
emerging travel industry. Indian women became professional
artisans and benefited from training in literacy, health care
and as group managers. As with Northern Ireland professional
status brought respect due to their earning capacity, and local
ideas about embroidery have changed from seeing textiles
as a domestic ‘time-pass’ hobby to an understanding of its
commercial potential.
Developed with assistance of Gillian Allmond PHD Researcher
(Archaeology) Queens University of Belfast.
Walking Tour Leaflet.indd 1
INTERESTING FACTS
ote business links
Trade mission to India 1996 to prom
Visitors went to
nd.
Irela
n
between India and Norther
was an 11 day
This
.
utta
Calc
and
New Delhi, Bombay
uded representatives
visit in January to February, and incl
ding construction,
buil
from print and packaging, plastics,
ucts, textiles,
prod
rete
construction equipment, conc
stries.
indu
ive
mot
auto
and
heavy engineering
Embroidery and ornamentation
Some of the women working in the
linen warehouses
were employed as embroiderers or orna
menters (folding
linen in fancy styles). The buildings
too are ornamented,
many with linen flowers and other rem
inders of our linen
heritage. See how many motifs conn
ected with the linen
industry you can spot on the warehou
ses along Adelaide
Street and Linenhall Street.
A SELF GUIDED WALKING TOUR
Exploring the links between
Belfast and India’s textile industries
Published May 2014
ArtsEkta
Philip House
127 - 137 York Street
Belfast, BT15 1AB
Tel: +44 (0)28 9023 1381
[email protected]
www.artsekta.org.uk
www.belfastmela.org.uk
Follow us on
See us on
ArtsEkta is a registered charity (XR96726)
and company limited by guarantee (NI060389)
Front cover caption L-R:
BELUM.Y3158 © National Museums Northern Ireland Collection Ulster Museum
BELUM.Y3262 © National Museums Northern Ireland Collection Ulster Museum
www.artsekta.org.uk
20/05/2014 14:08
Walking Tour Route Map
Orm
lin
eau
t
Hard
castl
eS
Bank
more
St
A24
Gra
ce
Premier Inn
Eliz
aS
t
St
mac
ORM
BAT EAU
HS
Joy St
Limelight
Ave
1
St
Cro
Rd
THOMPSON MEMORIAL
DRINKING FOUNTAIN
4
t
10
Du
b
Henrietta St
ST MALACHY’S
CHURCH
ne S
BOAS
WAREHOUSE
Russell St
Cath
eri
8
Y’S
ST MALACH
SCHOOL
Adelaide St
9
JOY STREET
HOUSES
Hamilton St
Sussex Pl
Clarence St
Bedford St
EWART’S
WAREHOUSE
7
3
Cromac St
ULSTER HALL
2
t
Franklin St
6
JAFFE
WAREHOUSE
Linenhall St
James St S
Adelaide S
5
Alfred St
Ten Square
Joy St
A1
May St
Rap
hae
l St
CHARLOTTE STREET
CAR PARK
Erin W
Apsley
Rd
blin
ay
Charlo
Mary
ville
St
The route begins and ends at Charlotte Street car park on Ormeau Avenue. ay
•Approximately 1 mile long
•The route will take less than one hour to walk including visits to interiors
Ra where appropriate.
iand
•The centre of Belfast is accessible by car and public transport (rail/bus)
neyall the buildings on the route which
are open to the general public have level access ramps.
W
1940s
Sal
y St
is
buon
A grocery shop
Shankill Road, this remained open for 20 years.
rythe
C
Coffee shop opened ont the Shankill Road.
St
1950s
ur
K
sa businessman were a Knitwear and shirt factory in Belfast.
Two of the first factoriesytoSbe
by nd
an Indian
t built Li
tte St
Du
Sal
Businesses in Belfast
isb owned by members of the Indian community
ac Pl
1990s
The Plaza Hotel and Renshaws Hotel.
Walking Tour Leaflet.indd 2
s
ll Pas
a
Doneg
1960s Fish and chip shop in the old Lodge Road in Belfast.
-1970s Quality Curry House, Ellora and Ajanta Restaurants were the 1st Indian restaurant opened in Belfast.
Crom
HOYFM.WAG.1066 © National Museums Northern Ireland
Collection Ulster Folk & Transport Museum
1 Charlotte Street
melodious strains that industry can
Car Park
produce and to spend there a few
This is the site of Henry Joy’s paper
short hours of relaxation, pleasure
mill. In the distance is the newly-built
and enjoyment”. (Belfast Newsletter).
White Linen Hall (replaced by the
7 Ewart’s Warehouse
City Hall in 1906) - the beginnings
Built 1869
of the linen trade in Belfast.
Built to designs by James Hamilton,
2 Joy Street Houses
originally built for the Bedford Street
Built c1840
Weaving Company. Taken over by
The first major development of
William Ewart in 1876. The large
housing for rural people coming
factory behind employed 350 workers
into the city to work in the markets.
operating 486 looms. The singleThe 1901 census shows that many
storey factory would have generated a
of the women living here were later
deafening noise, audible to passers-by
employed in the linen industry in a
in Bedford Street.
wide variety of trades: as smoothers,
8 Boas Warehouse
stitchers, machinists, laundresses,
(now Wetherspoon’s)
weavers, spinners, lappers and many
Designed by Lanyon, Lynn and
other trades.
Lanyon as a store for Herman Boas.
3 St Malachy’s School (not
Linen goods were hemmed, sewn,
usually open to public)
embroidered and made up into
Designed by Timothy Hevey in 1878
garments or table and bed linen.
Attendees at the school would have
Finished goods were displayed and
included ‘half-timers’, children who
stored in warehouses like these.
worked in the linen industry in the
Linen firms occupied this building
morning and came to school in the
until as late as the 1980s.
afternoon where complaints were
9 Thompson Memorial
often made about the smell and dirt
Drinking Fountain
of flax oil and dust which clung to
Installed 1885
them.
A memorial to Dr Thomas
Thompson. At this period about
4 St Malachy’s Church
Built in 1841/2
70% of linen workers were female
Designed by Quaker architect Thomas
and 9% were under 13. Long hours
Jackson. The dampness of the site,
were common until the Factory Act
formerly a mill pond, has caused and
of 1874 limited the working week to
most likely will continue to cause
56 hours.
problems with ground water rise.
10 Ormeau Baths, Built 1888
Construction began in 1888 to
5 Jaffe Warehouse
(now Ten Square Hotel)
designs by Robert Watt. Containing
Built 1893
two swimming pools and 16
The earliest surviving linen
individual marble baths. Most
warehouse from the period. Carved
housing had only basic sanitation
heads (by Thomas Fitzpatrick)
and warehouse workers had to be
include figures of importance to
scrupulously clean to deal with the
the linen industry such as Jacquard,
white linen.
inventor of the damask loom and
Watt, inventor of the steam engine
Other sites of interest
used to power the mills and factories.
Mackies and Sons
Otto Jaffe built the firm into the
Mackies was once the world’s largest
largest linen exporter in Ireland.
and most successful manufacturer of
textile machinery. It exported linen
6 Ulster Hall Opened 1862
and jute machinery to countries
Designed by WJ Barre. “The
including India. A wide range of
monotonous hum of the spinningtextile machinery for the processing
jenny and the continuous clack of the
of all types of fibres, natural synthetic
power-loom can be hushed to silence
and manmade was produced by
in order that the rich and the poor,
Mackies. In 1955 the company built a
the manufacturers and the sons and
factory in India for the manufacture
daughters of toil may meet together…
of machinery for jute mills.
to listen to sweeter sounds and more
20/05/2014 14:08