Tea Lane
/Collections/Buildings/town-buildings/Tea-Lane)
These six houses were once part of a 22-house terrace, originally built in the late 1820s for the workers in the nearby textile mills and brickyards of the Sandy Row area, then a mill village on the southern outskirts of Belfast.
They predate the first local government housing regulations. From 1845 houses had to have larger rooms and from 1878 a back entry, so waste from the backyard toilet did not have to be carried through the living quarters for disposal.
In 1880 clean mains water was supplied to Belfast.
This greatly improved public health and between 1905 and 1912 the city authorities provided free gas fittings - a light, a cooking ring and, of course, a coin-operated meter.
The 1901 weekly rent was 20p to 25p. The average weekly wage ranged from 45p to 115p. Rent alone could account for 25-50% of the weekly wage which left little for food and clothing. It was not uncommon for two families to share a house, one family downstairs subletting the upper floor to another family.
The larger house in the centre of the terrace has a passage through to the yard, enabling the occupants to keep a horse or donkey.
Original location: Rowland Street [formerly Tea Lane], Belfast
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