Marks of Time - A blog of sketches of historic buildings

temple of Peace and Health, Cardiff.

15/6/2026

This unusual building is part of a campus of similar sized Portland Stone public buildings situated around Cathays park to the north west of Cardiff Castle, on land also once owned by the Marquis of Bute and donated to the people of Wales on condition that it be used for public purposes. Around the rectangular park are Cardiff University, the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff City Hall, the former Glamorgan county hall, a police station , government offices and this building which was built in 1938 in a striped back classical style typical of the era. The building originally housed two functions; a voluntary health association for the eradication of tuberculosis, and the Welsh National Council of the League of Nations Union. The funder, David Davies 1st baron Davies proclaimed that theme would be a ' a memorial to those gallant men from all nations who gave their lives in the war that was to end war' In an undercroft is a book of remembrance for the 35,000 people of Welsh origin who died in WW1. the building is now owned by the university but leased to the Welsh Centre for International Affairs.

Cardiff Castle

11/6/2026

The west gate and apartments of Cardiff Castle which look out onto a public park. A caste on this site dates from Roman times. A motte (steep man made earthwork with a fortification on top ) and surrounding bailey, or outer fortification, were constructed inside this by the Normans in the 11th century. This range of apartments along the western boundary of the fortifications was built by the Earl of Warwick in the middle of the 15th century. However, they were extensively remodelled by William Burges for the Earl of Bute in the late nineteenth century. The Bute Tower was raised two stories and the statues and arcading added. The Beauchamp Tower in the centre had a lead gothic spire added. The Herbert Tower was also raised two stories and its deep roof added. In the foreground is the West Gate which was rebuilt in the 1920's. Out of shot is a large clocktower. Today the site is operated as a tourist attraction by Cardiff City Council, though this most decorative elevation is a bit hard to see as it is tucked away from the city centre roads and obscured by the trees of Coopers Fields park. It is a dramatic and romantic elevation though and well worth seeking out.

Coleraine 45. the giant's Causeway Visitor Centre

2/6/2026

Just outside this area is the Giant’s Causeway Visitor Centre. This was completed following an international architectural competition in 2012 by Henegan Peng Architects (of Dublin and Berlin). With a grass roof and built into the hillside it seeks to minimize its carbon footprint, while catering for modern mass tourism. It is perhaps a fitting symbol of a new internationally connected yet ecologically conscious era and region.

Coleraine 44. Coleraine Council Offices

30/5/2026

After 30 years of Troubles, which took their toll on the area, particularly Coleraine, a new Council office in 2000 signalled a new era. Full of glass and with fine views of the River Bann, it was designed by GM Design architects and won architectural awards. To the right of the elliptical glass entrance are the offices, to the left, the council chamber encased in rubble stone with a glazed lantern above.

Coleraine 43. the new University of Ulster

14/5/2026

In the post war period, the main new development in this area was the creation of the New University of Ulster between 1968 and 1977 on the northern outskirts of Coleraine, creating a second University for Northern Ireland and taking advantage of seasonal accommodation being available for students in Portstewart and Portrush during the winter period. Uncompromisingly modern, within a campus overlooking the River Bann, it has since been adapted and changed as the University has developed. This image shows the Diamond Hall of 1968 as originally designed and before it got the current cladding of timber, and the Riverside Theatre of 1976.

Coleraine 42. Dhu Varren.

12/5/2026

After WWII The influence of International Modernism became more popular and though in austere times there was not a huge amount of building some one off houses were built in the style. My favourite is 61 Dhu Varren Road, Portrush, completed in 1959. This house was designed by Noel Cambell, a local architect. It has since been proposed twice for protection as a listed building and twice rejected by the District Council and the Historic Buildings Council. Clearly, it divides opinion. Cantilevered out towards the road from Portstewart to Coleraine, its present owners have renovated it sensitively and clearly appreciate its heroic modernist character

Coleraine 41. Bennarees Radar Station

9/5/2026

During the Second World War there were almost as many airfields along the North Coast as there were in Kent, reflecting that Northern Ireland was the closest part of the UK to the Atlantic Convoys. While the coast to the west of the Sperrins was the location of most of these, there was an airfield in this area to the east of Aghadowey at Mullaghmore and a radar station at Articlave as well as numerous pillboxes and other defences along the coast. A dramatic remnant is the 'Downhill Chain Home Low Radar Station' which sits on top of Benevenagh mountain looking out to sea. An antenna was located beside this and the facility was used to track aircraft during the later part of the war. Today, it is a farm shed.

Coleraine 40. Portstewart Town Hall

29/4/2026

Between the Wars, Home Rule did arrive, but only within the context of the Irish War of Independence. A Northern Ireland parliament was created in Belfast in 1921, and the Irish Free State got an independent ‘Dail’ in Dublin in 1922. The UK became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Public architecture of this era was largely a conservative ‘Neo-Georgian’, but at Portstewart, a new town hall built in 1934/35 was a much more exuberant streamlined affair, with modernist influences, probably reflecting the seaside architecture of other resorts and lidos across the UK and Ireland at that time. The architect was Benjamin Cowser, who won an architectural competition to design the building. When it was first built the Hall comprised on the ground floor, a reading room, minor hall, council room, town clerk’s offices (public and private), surveyor’s office, electrical manager’s office, three store rooms, heating chamber, strong room and three lavatories. On the first floor was the concert hall which could accommodate 380 people.

coleraine 39. The edwardians.

18/4/2026

The Edwardian period before the First World War was a period of prosperity across the UK, with Portrush , in particular, reflecting the affluence of the period. Buildings such as 27 Main Street, had details in the latest ‘Art Nouveau’ style. Portstewart Presbyterian Church (1904) is another elegant building from the period with clear influences of the style in its sweeping elegant curves. This was originally a movement of rebellion against modernity valuing craft skills and creativity over the repetitiveness and uniformity of industrial goods. Influenced by the Arts and Crafts Movement in England, the sweeping forms of nature were an important source of inspiration. The result was often elegant and bueatiful buildings.

But it was also a time of political turmoil with proposals to reinstate an Irish Parliament caused concern to Protestants. An extension of the franchise in the years from 1801, meant that they would now be a minority in such an institution. In 1912, c.500,000 people, led by political and church leaders, signed ‘ Ulster’s Solemn League and Covenant’ against ‘Home Rule’. Coleraine Town hall was used to collect signatures in this area.

Coleraine 38. The Downhill Tunnels

12/4/2026

A railway line was constructed from Derry-Londonderry to Coleraine in 1853 along a dramatic costal route still remarked upon today. The village of Castlerock joined the tourist economy as a result. The line required two tunnels which were cut through the imposing cliff at Downhill between 1845 and 1852. These were among the first of the type on the island and were important engineering feats for the time. They are still impressive today.