The Old Town Hall Buildings, Belfast
80 Victoria Street Belfast
BT1 3GL
The Old Town Hall Buildings are now in the care and use of The Court Service and are thus open to the Public purely for Court business.
The Old Town Hall Buildings were designed by Anthony Jackson and were completed between 1869 - 1871.
The Town Hall Building was located approximately where the Fairest River (now High Street) met the Lagan River, spanned by The Queens Bridge (rebuilt ion 1841) It was thus central to the Quays and business of the prosperous market Town that Belfast was burgeoning in the mid Victorian era.
When Belfast achieved City status in 1888 it was considered that the existing Town Hall Building was not imposing enough and plans were put forward to build what ultimately became the City Hall.
The site of The Old Town Hall were considered too constricted to reuse to permit the construction of a larger City Hall so the Old Town Hall Buildings were repurposed initially as a Police Court House and then occupied as Offices for The Unionist Party. It later reverted back to use as a Court House.
In 1921 The Old Town Hall Buildings were occupied by the Unionist Party for their Offices and were the nerve centre of Unionist leadership under Sir Dawson Bates in the run-up to the Election to the new Parliament in May 1921.
