Waring Street, once known as Broad Street, took its present name in the 17th century from Thomas Waring, a prominent local tanner-merchant.
By the early 1800s, its proximity to Old Sailortown and the docks had turned it into a lively run of shops, taverns, emigrant agents and offices.
It later became the headquarters of Ulster Bank, which commissioned one of Belfast’s grandest buildings, a two-storey Italianate sandstone façade with paired windows and intricate sculpture.
The site was acquired in 1836, but the decision to build came in 1857, after directors Robert Grimshaw and James Heron visited Glasgow and Edinburgh to study the finest bank architecture. Their brief was clear, substantial, prosperous & ozzing with classic eleganance.
The building still stands today, and is of course the Grand - Merchant Hotel, which would not look out of place in ancient rome.
Chichester Street was once known as South Parade but was later renamed in honour of Sir Arthur Chichester, a central figure in Belfast’s early history. A soldier and veteran of the Spanish Armada, Chichester became the Crown’s leading official in Ireland in the early seventeenth century.
He viewed Irish Catholicism as a threat to English rule and
played a key role in shaping the Plantation of Ulster
following the 1607 Flight of the Earls.
In 1611, Chichester built a new Belfast Castle
on the site of an earlier Norman fortification at
Castle Place.
This development spurred the town’s growth, which was formally recognised in 1613 when Belfast was granted its Royal Charter.
The charter transformed Belfast from a small settlement into a planned town, laying the foundations for the modern city, his influence left a lasting mark on Belfast.
Today, Chichester Street is lined mainly with large office buildings, including the National Records Office,
the Land Registry, and a number of major corporate businesses.
It is also home to one of Belfast’s best-known pubs,
The Garrick Bar, which has been serving pints of Guinness for over a century. Along the street resides Fred Malcom’s,
one of Belfast’s oldest jewellers & diamond dealers.
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