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VICTORIAN BELFAST
The term Victorian describes things and events from the reign of
Queen Victoria, from 1837-1901. For a building or object to be Victorian
it must come from between these two dates.
It was during Victorian times that Belfast grew from a town into
a city. Money from industries like shipbuilding, rope making and
especially the linen industry, paid for the growth and Belfast became
a city in 1888.
Linen is a cloth made from the flax plant. Ulster had an advantage
over other linen producing areas because the flax plant grows well
in our soil and weather. Other places had to import, or buy in,
flax to made their linen.
Belfast linen was sold all over the world to many important people.
One large linen shop was Robinson and Cleavers in Donegall Place,
at the front of the City Hall. New shops and a Burger King are now
in the old building that once sent or exported linen all over the
world. Along the walls are the carved stone heads of the most important
customers. Princes, princesses, kings and queens, including Queen
Victoria herself, all bought their linen from Robinson and Cleavers
in Belfast.
Other examples of Victorian buildings in Belfast include the Scottish
Provident building, the Albert Memorial Clock, Queen’s University,
the Palm House in Botanic Gardens and the Crown bar, which is still
lit with gas lights.
As the city grew, people moved from the countryside into the city
in search of work and a better life. There was plenty of work in
the mills, but it was often dangerous, very poorly paid and the
living conditions were awful.
Next time you are in Belfast city centre, look up at the buildings
and try to spot the carvings and other decoration left on the buildings
by the Victorian builders and architects for us to see.
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