Donegall Street was once one of the most notable streets in Belfast’s history. Imagine!— a street brimming with people, heading to work, heading to church, or heading to find some entertainment— and Donegall Street had it all. Beautiful buildings situated tightly amongst bustling crowds. A picturesque building with a grand entrance and detailed lion relief pieces decorating the outside resided on Donegall street, one of the many eye-catching institutions to dwell there (as we may now know it, the area where Belfast’s once beloved North Street Arcade stood). The building, now sat empty, was not always the Arcade shopping centre it once was that may reside within current popular memory. Prior to the creation of the Arcade in 1936, the most famous of the building’s owners was the Brookfield Linen Company Limited. Belfast was once known as a linen manufacturing great — a city that was renowned for it — a city once deemed as a colossus of linen manufacturing— “Linenopolis”! The Linen industry in Belfast skyrocketed the city to become prominent and well-known. Brookfield Linen Co. Ltd. was one amongst many to have their hand in the industry, and stationed their selling and distribution centre at the beautiful Donegall Street building (later the North Arcade) to sell their textiles in 1869.
The Donegall Street building was originally designed by William Henry (W. H.) Lynn, the designer of many other Belfast buildings including The Central Library and the Bank Buildings (now where Primark resides). Lynn was an apprentice and eventual temporary business partner to prominent Belfast architect Charles Lanyon before their eventual falling out in 1872 when Lynn decided to go solo. It was noted that the Donegall Street space “form[ed] one of the finest warehouses in Belfast architecturally, the interior being particularly imposing”. The Donegall Street building’s symmetrical and commanding exterior takes you into up a grand staircase, then into a magnificent main hall with a striking dome feature. Interestingly enough, if you go into the Central Library today and look at the famous dome on the second floor, which was, again, also designed by Lynn in 1883, we can see echoes of this same feature in the old Brookfield Linen Co. Ltd. building as well. Perhaps Lynn had a signature style of sorts in this beautiful dome structure he utilized in multiple of his designs. This was quite a fanciful building for a linen merchant, but when a prominent architect like Lynn is on the project, it is bound to be ornate and nothing short of beautiful.
To add yet another prominent Belfast figure of the time to this building’s legacy, James Carlisle formed an work partnership with Alderman Phillip Johnston here for the Brookfield Linen Company Limited. First a contractor, Carlisle had a hand in the building of the Crumlin Road Gaol with Lanyon as the architect, and even the other Brookfield Linen location of the Brookfield Mill on the Crumlin Road. Carlisle had also funded the Carlisle Memorial Methodist Church to be created in his deceased family’s honours. Carlisle’s only two children, James and Mary, and his granddaughter Anne, all passed away tragically while James was still alive, and the church was James’ way of honouring his lost loved ones. Many big Belfast names were a part of this project, all knowing one another during a time of Belfast’s’ growing prominence in the world’s sphere.
The Brookfield Linen Co. Ltd. was noted in 1912 as having equipment and linen “of the highest order” within Ulster. They specialized primarily in white linens, as they had bleaching services and had a large variety of different kinds of weaves and consistencies for buyers to choose from. White linens were some of the highest quality linens anyone could make or sell— the Brookfield’s linen products would have been considered quite a high bar. While the companies’ first mill in Brookfield served as the larger workspace which created the bulk of the products, the Donegall Street location primarily served as a distributing centre and office building to handle the selling side of business. Donegall Street was once a bustling street, a connecting point in between North Belfast’s docks and Belfast’s city centre, creating the perfect spot for a selling location. The company had branch agencies all over the world, in England, the United States, Ireland, Scotland, and even in Central and South America who all bought their products. The 1900s really solidified Belfast on the global stage— a time when Belfast-made products like linen and rope was being loaded onto Belfast-built ships to be sent around the globe.
However, while the linen industry was thriving and the Brookfield Linen Company was too, 1934 was catastrophic for the Donegall Street location. In early March of 1934, the building caught fire and as a result was ‘voluntarily liquidated.’ Though the full extent of the fire damage after and the future of the building was not mentioned in any of the early news reports, it was noted in the March 1934 Belfast Newsletter that the Brookfield Linen Co. Ltd. was “in voluntary liquidation” right after the fire had happened, proving substantial losses. The Newsletter also reported in March of 1934 that the fire broke out around 2 in the afternoon while employees were on their lunch break, and all attempts to save the building failed. Though some staff members tried to save a few ledgers and documents, they had to evacuate as the smoke began to rise.
“As a precaution, however, members of the staff hastily removed bundles of ledgers and documents from the offices, which they were later compelled to evacuate themselves because of the dense smoke.”
Belfast Newsletter- Thursday 8th March 1934
How devastating for Belfast to lose such a prominent, beautiful building. Imagine— a building designed by W. H. Lynn built on one of the most prominent streets of the time with very little record remaining of it in its industrial heyday. If it could have been saved to this day, it would have been one highly observed by the masses, locals and tourists alike. Once a grand structure, a mark of Belfasts’ linen wealth, then became remnants of what once was in one mere day.
As the linen industry was continuing to boom in Belfast despite Brookfield’s Donegall Street location fire, the Company heavily relied on their remaining factories, including the Spinning Company on the Crumlin Road, which had been in operation since 1850. At the Crumlin Road location, by 1934 it was noted that nearly 700 people were already employed there, with over 500 of them being women. With flax spinning, linen bleaching processes and linen dying processes, and the eventual creation of cotton yarns in the Brookfield Linen Co. Ltd., the business was thriving at its other Crumlin Road location.
The workshop location at times faced difficulties trying to pick up where they left off in business after their main distributing location fell. The Crumlin Road workshop location lasted until the 1960’s, the same time many linen mills were closing in Belfast. This Crumlin Road location carried out Brookfield Linen Company’s legacy for quite some time until the linen industry in Belfast began to decline as cheaper-made textiles arose around the world.
Once it became clear that the Donegall Street offices were lost to the flames, firefighters turned their focus to saving the neighbouring buildings. Listed as linen manufacturers, Douglas & Green sat next to the burning building, as well as James Johnston & Co., which were noted as being flax and tow merchants. This proves that Donegall Street was not only known for its prominent religious sites, like St. Patrick’s Church and the Donegall Street Congregational Church, but also for its vital industries, with factories and warehouses dealing in linen, tin and even biscuits. When you take a look at this snapshot of time, Donegall Street in 1934, just in this one small section alone we can see three linen-related businesses next to one another. Through and through, working class industries like the linen industry built this city and its legacy, one not soon to be forgotten.
Whilst the lose of such an extravagant and important building is a loss to the history of the area, it is important to remember the impact the fire had on those who worked in the Brookfield Offices on Donegall Street. About 50 people lost their jobs due to the Brookfield Linen Co. Ltd. Donegall Street location fire, with the majority of them being women and girls. The linen and textiles industry provided many women and girls with the opportunity to work, a chance to create their own finances outside of the domestic sphere. While Belfast lost a beautiful building, 50 workers also lost their livelihood, at least for a while, which undoubtedly was quite heart-breaking. All while the United States was going on through The Great Depression and many world economies were struggling, growing fears of losing ones livelihoods was prominent, a fear that these 50 folks had to face as it came true in the blink of an eye.
With a major loss to the city, gone to the flames, the site for the building did not sit derelict for long. The future of what was previously known as the North Street Arcade, which will be explored in the next blog, would soon come into fruition as a hip, new gathering space and state of the art shopping experience. Echoes of the sites industrial origin still remain for all to see. A large relief plaque depicting linen mill workers spinning flax was placed at the entrance of the Arcade in 1936, a piece that has since survived another major fire.
A letter from the Crumlin Road location in 1934 wrote that the fire at the Donegall Street location had all of their initial company information that they lost, saying “all the records were kept there”. This loss, unfortunately, leaves a significant number of sources left out from our understanding of the original Donegall Street location.. So many pieces of Belfast’s history were lost to flames and ash. There is a harrowing amount of history we may never know, buildings we may barely know were even there, and people’s stories that will go untold. Belfast is full of rich history: The stories of individuals…of industry, of prosperity and of loss. The story of the Donegall Street Offices of the Brookfield Linen Company encapsulate all of these stories. Despite the devastating loss of the office and its records, its story was waiting to be told. As we look on at the plaque still standing outside the Donegall North Street Arcade entrance, we recognize that echoes of the past still remain, a past not-so-distant. Belfast— a resilient, proud city, full of life. A city, as we will see, very adept at turning tragedy into opportunity!
About the Author:
Brooke Norgaard is a MA student at Queen’s University Belfast in the Public History program. She obtained her undergraduate degree in History at the University of Sioux Falls with a focus in history teaching. Her focus areas are women’s history, the Salem Witch Trials, dark tourism, and carceral history. Norgaard has spent years working at various history museums in the United States and is currently an intern for the North Belfast Heritage Cluster. All research has been conducted to a high academic standard and has been fully referenced. If you would like to know more about a story or piece of research, or if you wish to tell us about your own story, email us at: archiveproject@nbheritagecluster.org