Custom House Square is central to a lot of Belfast's history down through the years. The Farset River which gave the city its name as Béal Feirste, the "Mouth of the Sandy River", runs under it and empties into the Lagan just beyond the building which gives it its name "The Custom House" which was erected here in the middle of the 19th century… As such it reflects Belfast’s origins as a maritime trading town, and its development as an industrial and commercial powerhouse in the 19th century under the British Empire.
It’s one of the many buildings in Belfast (including Queens University) designed by Charles Lanyon. But McHugh’s Bar across the square which dates from the 17th century, reflects another dimension in Belfast’s origins as a port. Both it and DuBarry’s Bar that used to sit beside it, were “houses of ill repute” frequented by sailors.
So Custom House Square was a space where people from all levels of Belfast society could meet.
The statue on the steps leading to the Custom House is called “The Speaker” and was sculpted by Gareth Knowles in 2005. It reflects the fact that the steps of the Custom House were used as the equivalent of London’s speakers corner with different political speakers and evangelists, attracting varying sizes of crowds gathering, represented by the bronze footprints in front of the statue… Given the paucity of footprints, this particular Speaker doesn't seem to have been that popular. Among those speakers were the Superintendents and other staff members of Belfast Central Mission who held services here most Sunday afternoons from the very beginning of the mission, when they adjourned from here to St. George's Hall for their evening meeting, right through to the beginnings of the troubles. In the 60's and 70's these meetings could become quite contentious with interventions from a certain Ian Paisley who would regularly heckle the then Superintendent Eric Gallagher.
It continues to host political and other protest rallies as well as concerts and festivals which, like the mission of old, are housed in temporary tents.
St. Paul famously debated philosophers in the public square in Athens… Although in his later letter to the Corinthians he seems to question whether his earlier approach was correct… The question remains as to how should the church engage effectively in the public square today?
But as I prepared for last Sunday's walk and thought about some of the earlier services on those steps, I was drawn to another Biblical story: that of Jacob running away from his brother Esau and going to sleep with his head on a stone but dreaming of a staircase ascending to heaven with angels going up and down it. He awoke and said that the place where he was seemed like the gate of heaven and the House of God... or Beth-El as it then became. This was a major turning point for Jacob who was, frankly a bit of a con artist...
But as I prepared for last Sunday's walk and thought about some of the earlier services on those steps, I was drawn to another Biblical story: that of Jacob running away from his brother Esau and going to sleep with his head on a stone but dreaming of a staircase ascending to heaven with angels going up and down it. He awoke and said that the place where he was seemed like the gate of heaven and the House of God... or Beth-El as it then became. This was a major turning point for Jacob who was, frankly a bit of a con artist...
And it reminded me of the effect of the early mission on the lives of many "dubious characters" in this city, not least one of the earliest and most influential converts of that the Mission made through its work at the Custom House Steps. Billy Spence a huge drunken barge-man from the Shankill who terrified the police... But after one sermon he heard at the Custom House Steps he went away and committed his life to Christ, and became a dedicated worker for the mission until, when he died in the late 1930’s his coffin followed by an enormous crowd of mourners, was carried by members of the local police. Thinking about all that prompted this poem:
A stairway resting on the earth,
with its top not quite reaching to heaven,
and earthy angels, messengers of God,
standing on it as the voice of the LORD.
A stairway resting on the earth,
with its top not quite reaching to heaven,
and earthy angels, messengers of God,
standing on it as the voice of the LORD.
Where is the public square today?
The open air pulpit for preacher or politician?
Where can people happen upon the
gate of heaven and the house of God?
Aggressive voices are amplified
across the city and in anti-social media;
public spaces used for secular celebrations.
But surely the LORD is still in this place
if only we would stop running away,
awake from our unsettled slumber,
lifting our head from the pillow
to see beyond the material world.
The open air pulpit for preacher or politician?
Where can people happen upon the
gate of heaven and the house of God?
Aggressive voices are amplified
across the city and in anti-social media;
public spaces used for secular celebrations.
But surely the LORD is still in this place
if only we would stop running away,
awake from our unsettled slumber,
lifting our head from the pillow
to see beyond the material world.
David A. Campton 2025
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