placenamesBelmont
An Cnoc Álainn
Belmont’s schools and literary associations reflect the growth of an east Belfast district once characterised by large houses and open grounds.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- An Cnoc Álainn · Irish · main form · validated name
- Belmont · English · main form
Place & story
The school behind Belmont Tower
Belmont Tower began as a school around 1890, following Robert Ferguson’s donation towards a memorial to his wife. Its Gothic Revival design combined Scrabo sandstone with contrasting stone details and a clock tower above the entrance. A preservation trust formed in 1999 to save the former school and acquired it in 2001. Restoration followed, with the building formally reopened in 2004 and renamed Belmont Tower the next year. Its tower remains a distinctive marker at the road junction. [2]
Campbell College and its wartime role
Campbell College opened in 1894 through the legacy of linen merchant Henry James Campbell. Its red-brick Victorian buildings stand within extensive woodland grounds. During the Second World War the school buildings became a hospital: classrooms held medical equipment, changing rooms became operating theatres and Nissen huts in the grounds served as wards. The college received its Royal Charter in 1951, adding another stage to the history of an institution that had already experienced substantial wartime disruption. [3] [4]
Lewis’s childhood at Little Lea
C. S. Lewis’s family moved to Little Lea on Circular Road in 1905. His mother taught him French and Latin, while local teacher Annie Harper covered other subjects. The house’s attics, gardens and his father’s books became important parts of his remembered childhood. His early imaginary world of Boxen took shape there. His mother’s death in 1908 ended this period of home education, after which he went to boarding school in England and briefly returned to attend Campbell College. [5]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Down
- Barony
- Castlereagh Lower
- Civil parish
- Holywood
- Coordinates
- 54.59531, -5.86462 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 130043 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Belmont. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Former School Building, Belmont Tower, record MNA187427 · National Trust Heritage Records, citing Historic Environment Division HB26/14/001
- The Campbell Story · Campbell College
- Year 8 Induction: Top 10 facts about Campbell College · Campbell College
- Surprised by Belfast, part 1: Little Lea, 5 March 2016 · Sandy Smith, C. S. Lewis Institute
- Belmont Tower, Belfast illustration: based on a Former Belmont Primary School, Belfast (1) by Albert Bridge. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0. Additional reference: Former Belmont Primary School, Belfast(2), clock detail by Albert Bridge, CC BY-SA2.0.
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2019-10-08. How this page was prepared.