Berkeley Deane Wise
Encyclopedia
Berkeley Deane Wise was an Irish
civil engineer
who made a significant impact on the development of railways and tourism, particularly in Northern Ireland
.
, County Wexford
, the son of James Lawrence Wise, solicitor, and Elizabeth Deane. The family moved to 26 Waterloo Road in Dublin, where Wise was brought up. He went to school in England before entering Trinity College Dublin in 1871, but he did not proceed to a degree.
Wise started his civil engineering career in 1872 as a pupil to Mr Marmaduke Backhouse and then Mr James Price, MICE, Chief Engineer of the Midland Great Western Railway
of Ireland, during which time he was the Resident Engineer on the construction of the Navan and Kingscourt Railway.
From October 1875 until December 1877 Wise was Assistant Engineer to the Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford Railway where he was engaged on a new tunnel 450 yards long at Bray Head.
In December 1877 he moved north to become the Chief Engineer to the Belfast and County Down Railway
(BCDR), where he stayed for 11 years, living at Salem Cottage on the Knock Road, Belfast
.
During this time he re-made most of the line and carried out extensive alterations to the Belfast Terminus at Queen's Quay including new signal gantries. Towards the end of his time on the BCDR, Wise prepared drawings, specifications and estimates for the Quoile Viaduct to carry the railway over the River Quoile
.
Wise was committed to the safe operation of the railway, and introduced interlocking signals at most of the stations. He developed and patented the signalling staff system which bears his name and is described in patent 1030 of 1896. He also gave the BCDR its characteristic somersault signal.
Wise was elected as a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers
in London on 4 December 1888, aged 33, and remained a member until his resignation through ill-health on 27 February 1907. Among those who proposed him were famous Ulster engineers Luke L Macassey and Bowman Malcolm
. He was elected a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers of Ireland
in 1880 and was its Vice President from 1904 to 1906.
Wise ensured that renewal of the BNCR track was carried out to a high standard. He specified steel bull head rails of 83 lb per yard laid on creosoted Baltic redwood. Wise was a strong advocate of good quality stone ballast, and he developed a quarry near Ballymoney where he installed the latest stone-breaking plant. Wise introduced the tablet signalling system and gave the BNCR its characteristic somersault signals. His resignalling of York Road Station, Belfast in 1897-98 was the largest installation in Ireland. From around 1900, Wise also pioneered the use of reinforced concrete for railway structures, such as the King’s Bridge in Whitehead.
Wise designed many of the stations of the BNCR (see List of Works). His first was Larne Harbour Station, built in 1890 to a budget of £3,000; it had a double faced platform, one side serving the broad gauge line from Belfast and the other the narrow gauge from Ballymena, and a clock with two minute hands showing both English and Irish time, which was 25 minutes later.
But perhaps Wise's most famous building is Portrush railway station
, which still stands. By 1891, the existing station was completely inadequate to deal with heavy summer traffic. Wise designed a mock Tudor building with black beams painted on white stucco, all on a red brick base. There was an elegant clock tower, some 50 feet high and three platforms 600 feet long, covered for the first 200 feet by a canopy supported by the girders known as the Belfast Truss. On the seaward side, Wise designed the Cafe and Restaurant for over 250 diners, with a balcony overlooking the Atlantic ocean. Portrush Station was built by contractor McLaughlin and Harvey, opening in the spring of 1893.
Wise gave the BNCR a distinctive architectural style of red brick buildings with large overhanging awnings and half-timbered gables. It owed much to the Old English style of architect Norman Shaw. Two wooden kiosks, designed by Wise, one from Portrush and one from Belfast York Road in a Swiss style, are preserved in the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum
in Cultra.
Wise worked under Edward John Cotton
, General Manager of the BNCR, and together they developed the most prosperous railway in Ireland, showing a particular flair for the promotion of tourism. So as well as his normal work on the railway and its stations, Wise designed tea rooms, promenades, bandstands, footpaths and golf courses across the network.
Glenariff
, one of the nine Glens of Antrim
, was described by William Makepeace Thackeray
as 'Switzerland in Miniature'. In 1889 the BNCR leased the upper part of the Glen and Wise constructed paths and walkways so that tourists could see the spectacular waterfalls. They were brought down by jaunting car from the narrow gauge station at Parkmore. In places Wise cantilevered the path from sheer rock faces and built rustic shelters at strategic points, including one below the Ess-na-Larach waterfall which tourists could view through coloured glass. Two years later, Wise designed and constructed a tea room at the bottom of the glen, which survives as a restaurant; ever mindful of the needs of tourists, it incorporated a darkroom for photographers.
Wise constructed the Promenade in Whitehead
using railway sleepers and made a beach by importing sand by train from Portrush. A bandstand was built on the promenade and there were summer fireworks displays. In 1892 Wise also engineered a path that stretched 1¼ miles to the Blackhead promontory. The lower sections bordered the shore but blasting and cantilevering from the cliffs was necessary towards Blackhead. He designed Sunshine House, a refreshment room beside the path at Blackhead. The path can still be enjoyed today and there is a plaque to Wise’s achievement in the car park at Whitehead.
One of Wise’s most spectacular civil engineering masterpieces was the Gobbins Path
, which wound its way dramatically under the cliffs, over 250 feet high, on the Islandmagee
coastline. It was designed to bring tourists to the area using, of course, the BNCR. Construction started in May 1901 and the design showed Wise’s typical design flair. The 2 mile path was cut precipitously into the cliffs, with tunnels and bridges, including two tubular bridges 70 feet long that connected the 'Man o'War Stack' to the main path. The bridges were built in Belfast
and floated to Islandmagee in barges to be lifted into position. The entrance to the path is tunnelled through a basalt outcrop and is known as ‘Wise’s Eye’. Two of the promontories were named in his honour: Deane's Head and Berkeley's Point.
The first section of the Gobbins path opened in August 1902 in time for a visit to Northern Ireland by the British Association. On 20 August a special train carried members of the Association, who had elected Wise as Chairman for the visit, to Ballycarry, from where they were taken to the path. An advertisement proclaimed “New cliff path along the Gobbins Cliffs, with its ravines, bore caves, natural aquariums etc, has no parallel in Europe as a marine cliff walk” . Sightseers would travel by scheduled services or special excursion trains and alight at the stations of Whitehead or Ballycarry, before travelling to the Gobbins by jaunting car or charabanc.
The Gobbins Path was an extremely successful tourist attraction, as popular as the Giants Causeway, and Wise planned to continue it over a full length of 3¼ miles to a northern exit at Heddle's Port. An extension was opened in 1906, but then Wise fell ill. In August 1906 Bowman Malcolm
reported to the Board that the full scheme would be too expensive, so he was authorised to proceed only to the 'Seven Sisters Caves' and to postpone any further work. After Wise left the company this final extension was opened in 1908, with a spectacular suspension bridge spanning the mouths of the Seven Sisters. The railings and bridges were last painted in 1936 and The Gobbins Path was closed in 1940 during World War 2. It was re-opened in 1951 by the Ulster Transport Authority
(UTA), with admission of 1 shilling for adults and 6d for children. A number of the bridges were strengthened by the UTA, but the path was afflicted by landslips and maintenance problems which forced its closure in 1961.
In the latter part of his career with the BNCR, from 1896 to 1906, Wise lived in Silverstream House, Greenisland, County Antrim where in his spare time he kept poultry. The house, now demolished, is near the site of Belfast High School. During this time he worshipped at Whiteabbey Presbyterian Church where the church records show that he occupied pew 46 and paid a yearly stipend of £3 10s.
In 1896 Wise took as an apprentice his nephew Freeman Wills Crofts
, aged 17, who worked for the BNCR until 1929. In 1919, during an absence from work due to a long illness, Crofts wrote his first detective novel, The Cask (1920), which established him as a new master of detective fiction. Crofts gave up his railway career to write full-time, producing a book almost every year for thirty years.
. There was little improvement in his condition and he died there on 5 May 1909, in sight of one of his best buildings, Portrush railway station
.
He was buried in the City Cemetery, Belfast. Many of his peers from the railway companies of Ulster attended, including his long-time colleague Bowman Malcolm, Locomotive Engineer of the BNCR.
Wise was survived by his son James Berkeley Wise who was also a railway engineer, and by his wife Leah, who was buried beside him on 27 April 1922.
Berkeley Dean Wise was an outstanding civil engineer. In his obituary, the Railway Engineer journal said: ‘His designs were both original and
artistic, and he always strove to make the stations under his charge as attractive as possible. He was a great lover of the beauties of nature, and he will perhaps be best remembered as one who made several of the beauty spots of a beautiful country easily accessible without in the least marring their natural charms. His kindly disposition and gentle manners made him deservedly popular.’
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
civil engineer
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
who made a significant impact on the development of railways and tourism, particularly in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
.
Early years
Berkeley Deane Wise was born on 2 October 1855 in Berkeley Forest, New RossNew Ross
New Ross is a town located in southwest County Wexford, in the southeast of Ireland. In 2006 it had a population of 7,709 people, making it the third largest town in the county after Wexford and Enniscorthy.-History:...
, County Wexford
County Wexford
County Wexford is a county in Ireland. It is part of the South-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Wexford. In pre-Norman times it was part of the Kingdom of Uí Cheinnselaig, whose capital was at Ferns. Wexford County Council is the local...
, the son of James Lawrence Wise, solicitor, and Elizabeth Deane. The family moved to 26 Waterloo Road in Dublin, where Wise was brought up. He went to school in England before entering Trinity College Dublin in 1871, but he did not proceed to a degree.
Engineering career
Midland Great Western Railway
The Midland Great Western Railway was the third largest Irish gauge railway company in Ireland. It was incorporated in 1845 and absorbed into the Great Southern Railway in 1924. It served part of Leinster, County Cavan in Ulster and much of Connaught...
of Ireland, during which time he was the Resident Engineer on the construction of the Navan and Kingscourt Railway.
From October 1875 until December 1877 Wise was Assistant Engineer to the Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford Railway where he was engaged on a new tunnel 450 yards long at Bray Head.
In December 1877 he moved north to become the Chief Engineer to the Belfast and County Down Railway
Belfast and County Down Railway
The Belfast and County Down Railway was an Irish gauge railway in Ireland linking Belfast with County Down. It was built in the 19th century and absorbed into the Ulster Transport Authority in 1948...
(BCDR), where he stayed for 11 years, living at Salem Cottage on the Knock Road, Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
.
During this time he re-made most of the line and carried out extensive alterations to the Belfast Terminus at Queen's Quay including new signal gantries. Towards the end of his time on the BCDR, Wise prepared drawings, specifications and estimates for the Quoile Viaduct to carry the railway over the River Quoile
River Quoile
The Quoile is a river in County Down, Northern Ireland.-Route:The river begins its life as the Ballynahinch River which flows from west of the town of Ballynahinch to Annacloy where it is known as the Annacloy River...
.
Wise was committed to the safe operation of the railway, and introduced interlocking signals at most of the stations. He developed and patented the signalling staff system which bears his name and is described in patent 1030 of 1896. He also gave the BCDR its characteristic somersault signal.
Wise was elected as a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers
Institution of Civil Engineers
Founded on 2 January 1818, the Institution of Civil Engineers is an independent professional association, based in central London, representing civil engineering. Like its early membership, the majority of its current members are British engineers, but it also has members in more than 150...
in London on 4 December 1888, aged 33, and remained a member until his resignation through ill-health on 27 February 1907. Among those who proposed him were famous Ulster engineers Luke L Macassey and Bowman Malcolm
Bowman Malcolm
Bowman Malcom was an Irish railway engineer. He became Locomotive Superintendent of the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway at the age of 22 and later took on the additional role of Civil Engineer...
. He was elected a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers of Ireland
Institution of Engineers of Ireland
The Institution of Engineers of Ireland or the IEI, is the second oldest engineering society on the Islands of Great Britain and Ireland, and was established in 1835, the institution primarily represents members based in Ireland....
in 1880 and was its Vice President from 1904 to 1906.
Northern Counties
The pinnacle of Wise’s civil engineering career was his 18 years as Chief Engineer to the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway (BNCR). He was appointed to this position on 11 April 1888 at a salary of £400, and held it until 1906 when his health failed.Wise ensured that renewal of the BNCR track was carried out to a high standard. He specified steel bull head rails of 83 lb per yard laid on creosoted Baltic redwood. Wise was a strong advocate of good quality stone ballast, and he developed a quarry near Ballymoney where he installed the latest stone-breaking plant. Wise introduced the tablet signalling system and gave the BNCR its characteristic somersault signals. His resignalling of York Road Station, Belfast in 1897-98 was the largest installation in Ireland. From around 1900, Wise also pioneered the use of reinforced concrete for railway structures, such as the King’s Bridge in Whitehead.
Wise designed many of the stations of the BNCR (see List of Works). His first was Larne Harbour Station, built in 1890 to a budget of £3,000; it had a double faced platform, one side serving the broad gauge line from Belfast and the other the narrow gauge from Ballymena, and a clock with two minute hands showing both English and Irish time, which was 25 minutes later.
But perhaps Wise's most famous building is Portrush railway station
Portrush railway station
Portrush railway station is the terminus of the Northern Ireland Railways Coleraine-Portrush line serving the seaside town of Portrush, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.-History:The station, which is 67¾ miles from Belfast, was opened on 4 December 1855...
, which still stands. By 1891, the existing station was completely inadequate to deal with heavy summer traffic. Wise designed a mock Tudor building with black beams painted on white stucco, all on a red brick base. There was an elegant clock tower, some 50 feet high and three platforms 600 feet long, covered for the first 200 feet by a canopy supported by the girders known as the Belfast Truss. On the seaward side, Wise designed the Cafe and Restaurant for over 250 diners, with a balcony overlooking the Atlantic ocean. Portrush Station was built by contractor McLaughlin and Harvey, opening in the spring of 1893.
Wise gave the BNCR a distinctive architectural style of red brick buildings with large overhanging awnings and half-timbered gables. It owed much to the Old English style of architect Norman Shaw. Two wooden kiosks, designed by Wise, one from Portrush and one from Belfast York Road in a Swiss style, are preserved in the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum
Ulster Folk and Transport Museum
The Ulster Folk and Transport Museum is situated in Cultra, Northern Ireland, about east of the city of Belfast. It comprises two separate museums, the Folk Museum and the Transport Museum...
in Cultra.
Wise worked under Edward John Cotton
Edward John Cotton
Edward John Cotton was an English accountant who became manager of the Waterford and Kilkenny Railway and, subsequently, the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway where he was influential in developing tourism in the north of Ireland.-Biography:...
, General Manager of the BNCR, and together they developed the most prosperous railway in Ireland, showing a particular flair for the promotion of tourism. So as well as his normal work on the railway and its stations, Wise designed tea rooms, promenades, bandstands, footpaths and golf courses across the network.
Glenariff
Glenariff
Glenariff is a glen in the County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Like all glens in that area, it was shaped during the Ice Age by giant glaciers....
, one of the nine Glens of Antrim
Glens of Antrim
The Glens of Antrim , known locally as simply The Glens, is a region of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It comprises nine glens , that radiate from the Antrim Plateau to the coast. The Glens are an area of outstanding natural beauty and are a major tourist attraction in north Antrim...
, was described by William Makepeace Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray was an English novelist of the 19th century. He was famous for his satirical works, particularly Vanity Fair, a panoramic portrait of English society.-Biography:...
as 'Switzerland in Miniature'. In 1889 the BNCR leased the upper part of the Glen and Wise constructed paths and walkways so that tourists could see the spectacular waterfalls. They were brought down by jaunting car from the narrow gauge station at Parkmore. In places Wise cantilevered the path from sheer rock faces and built rustic shelters at strategic points, including one below the Ess-na-Larach waterfall which tourists could view through coloured glass. Two years later, Wise designed and constructed a tea room at the bottom of the glen, which survives as a restaurant; ever mindful of the needs of tourists, it incorporated a darkroom for photographers.
Wise constructed the Promenade in Whitehead
Whitehead, County Antrim
Whitehead is a small seaside town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, lying almost midway between the towns of Carrickfergus and Larne. It lies within the civil parishes of Island Magee and Templecorran, the barony of Belfast Lower, and is part of Carrickfergus Borough Council...
using railway sleepers and made a beach by importing sand by train from Portrush. A bandstand was built on the promenade and there were summer fireworks displays. In 1892 Wise also engineered a path that stretched 1¼ miles to the Blackhead promontory. The lower sections bordered the shore but blasting and cantilevering from the cliffs was necessary towards Blackhead. He designed Sunshine House, a refreshment room beside the path at Blackhead. The path can still be enjoyed today and there is a plaque to Wise’s achievement in the car park at Whitehead.
One of Wise’s most spectacular civil engineering masterpieces was the Gobbins Path
Gobbins Path
The Gobbins Path on the coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland was a popular tourist attraction in the early 20th century. Built by civil engineer Berkeley Deane Wise, it opened in stages between 1902 and 1908...
, which wound its way dramatically under the cliffs, over 250 feet high, on the Islandmagee
Islandmagee
Islandmagee is a peninsula on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, located between the towns of Larne and Carrickfergus. It is part of the Larne Borough Council area and is a sparsely populated rural community with a long history since the mesolithic period.As part of an...
coastline. It was designed to bring tourists to the area using, of course, the BNCR. Construction started in May 1901 and the design showed Wise’s typical design flair. The 2 mile path was cut precipitously into the cliffs, with tunnels and bridges, including two tubular bridges 70 feet long that connected the 'Man o'War Stack' to the main path. The bridges were built in Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
and floated to Islandmagee in barges to be lifted into position. The entrance to the path is tunnelled through a basalt outcrop and is known as ‘Wise’s Eye’. Two of the promontories were named in his honour: Deane's Head and Berkeley's Point.
The first section of the Gobbins path opened in August 1902 in time for a visit to Northern Ireland by the British Association. On 20 August a special train carried members of the Association, who had elected Wise as Chairman for the visit, to Ballycarry, from where they were taken to the path. An advertisement proclaimed “New cliff path along the Gobbins Cliffs, with its ravines, bore caves, natural aquariums etc, has no parallel in Europe as a marine cliff walk” . Sightseers would travel by scheduled services or special excursion trains and alight at the stations of Whitehead or Ballycarry, before travelling to the Gobbins by jaunting car or charabanc.
The Gobbins Path was an extremely successful tourist attraction, as popular as the Giants Causeway, and Wise planned to continue it over a full length of 3¼ miles to a northern exit at Heddle's Port. An extension was opened in 1906, but then Wise fell ill. In August 1906 Bowman Malcolm
Bowman Malcolm
Bowman Malcom was an Irish railway engineer. He became Locomotive Superintendent of the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway at the age of 22 and later took on the additional role of Civil Engineer...
reported to the Board that the full scheme would be too expensive, so he was authorised to proceed only to the 'Seven Sisters Caves' and to postpone any further work. After Wise left the company this final extension was opened in 1908, with a spectacular suspension bridge spanning the mouths of the Seven Sisters. The railings and bridges were last painted in 1936 and The Gobbins Path was closed in 1940 during World War 2. It was re-opened in 1951 by the Ulster Transport Authority
Ulster Transport Authority
The Ulster Transport Authority ran rail and bus transport in Northern Ireland from 1948 until 1966.-Formation and consolidation:The UTA was formed by the Transport Act 1948, which merged the Northern Ireland Road Transport Board and the Belfast and County Down Railway...
(UTA), with admission of 1 shilling for adults and 6d for children. A number of the bridges were strengthened by the UTA, but the path was afflicted by landslips and maintenance problems which forced its closure in 1961.
In the latter part of his career with the BNCR, from 1896 to 1906, Wise lived in Silverstream House, Greenisland, County Antrim where in his spare time he kept poultry. The house, now demolished, is near the site of Belfast High School. During this time he worshipped at Whiteabbey Presbyterian Church where the church records show that he occupied pew 46 and paid a yearly stipend of £3 10s.
In 1896 Wise took as an apprentice his nephew Freeman Wills Crofts
Freeman Wills Crofts
Freeman Wills Crofts was an Irish mystery author, one of the 'Big Four' of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.-Birth and education:Crofts was born at 26 Waterloo Road, Dublin, Ireland...
, aged 17, who worked for the BNCR until 1929. In 1919, during an absence from work due to a long illness, Crofts wrote his first detective novel, The Cask (1920), which established him as a new master of detective fiction. Crofts gave up his railway career to write full-time, producing a book almost every year for thirty years.
Later life
Following what was described as ‘a serious breakdown in health’, Wise moved in 1906 to live with his sister, Mrs Harding, at 18 Salisbury Terrace in PortrushPortrush
Portrush is a small seaside resort town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, on the County Londonderry border. The main part of the old town, including the railway station as well as most hotels, restaurants and bars, is built on a mile–long peninsula, Ramore Head, pointing north-northwest....
. There was little improvement in his condition and he died there on 5 May 1909, in sight of one of his best buildings, Portrush railway station
Portrush railway station
Portrush railway station is the terminus of the Northern Ireland Railways Coleraine-Portrush line serving the seaside town of Portrush, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.-History:The station, which is 67¾ miles from Belfast, was opened on 4 December 1855...
.
He was buried in the City Cemetery, Belfast. Many of his peers from the railway companies of Ulster attended, including his long-time colleague Bowman Malcolm, Locomotive Engineer of the BNCR.
Wise was survived by his son James Berkeley Wise who was also a railway engineer, and by his wife Leah, who was buried beside him on 27 April 1922.
Berkeley Dean Wise was an outstanding civil engineer. In his obituary, the Railway Engineer journal said: ‘His designs were both original and
artistic, and he always strove to make the stations under his charge as attractive as possible. He was a great lover of the beauties of nature, and he will perhaps be best remembered as one who made several of the beauty spots of a beautiful country easily accessible without in the least marring their natural charms. His kindly disposition and gentle manners made him deservedly popular.’
List of Works
- Dundrum Harbour, 1884.
- Larne Harbour Railway Station, 1890
- Glenarriff Paths, Bridges and Tearoom, 1889 & 1891.
- Whitehead Promenade and Blackhead Path, 1892.
- Portrush Railway Station, 1893.
- Ballymoney Railway Station, 1893.
- Greenisland Railway Station, 1893.
- Northern Counties Hotel, Portrush (alterations and additions), 1884 & 1892.
- Carrickfergus Railway Station, 1895.
- Whiteabbey Railway Station (down platform), 1896
- Jordanstown Railway Station (down platform), 1896
- Glynn Railway Station, 1896.
- Trooperslane Railway Station, 1896.
- York Road Station Belfast (Port Cochere, Clock Tower, Midland Hotel), 1894–1898
- Portstewart Tramway Terminus, 1899.
- Whitehead Station (extension), 1900.
- The Gobbins Path, Islandmagee, 1902.
- Laharna Hotel, Larne (alterations), 1905.
- Limavady Railway Station, 1906.
- Antrim Railway Station, 1902.
- Ballymena Railway Station, 1904.