Belfast Shipyard Cranes

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

Each tile ships in a kraft box, tied with cream ribbon, with a handwritten note from the studio if you'd like to add one.

Three or five different vistas, hung together — a chapter of places you've been, or want to go.

The two cranes are named Samson and Goliath. Goliath, built in 1969, stands 96 metres tall; Samson, built in 1974, stands 106 metres. Both belong to the Harland & Wolff shipyard on Queen's Island in Belfast and are painted the yard's distinctive yellow.

Northern Ireland's Historic Environment Division scheduled both cranes as protected monuments in 1995. They were recognised as industrial heritage of national significance, among the largest gantry cranes in the world, and the most visible surviving symbol of Belfast's shipbuilding past.

Goliath was completed in 1969 and Samson in 1974. Both were built by the German engineering firm Krupp for Harland & Wolff, who had been building ships on the Queen's Island site since 1853. The cranes' bright yellow paint and H&W lettering have become the colour of the Belfast skyline.

The cranes stand on Queen's Island in Belfast Harbour, east of the city centre, where the River Lagan flows into Belfast Lough. The Titanic Belfast museum and the Maritime Mile walkway sit directly across the river from them, within a few hundred metres of the cranes' base.

No. RMS Titanic was launched in 1911 from Slipway 3 at Harland & Wolff, more than half a century before either crane was built. Samson and Goliath span the later Building Dock, where the heavier ships of the post-war and oil-tanker era were assembled.

The cranes remain part of a working industrial yard and are not open to the public. The closest legal vantage is the Titanic Quarter, with Titanic Belfast and the SS Nomadic both within a few hundred metres. Tour boats on the Lagan pass directly beneath them.

It's been a meaningful gift for many of our customers with Belfast roots. Samson and Goliath are how the city draws itself — the first shape on the skyline coming in by ferry from Stranraer, the last shape leaving. A Medium framed in dark oak carries the weight of the subject well.

The piece reads well in Industrial-modern, Maximalist, and Mountain-modern interiors. The yellow holds against brick, against deep navy, against unfinished steel. Customers have also placed it alongside other harbour and shipyard pieces in dedicated maritime walls.

Yes. The piece sits cleanly in industrial-modern and steel-and-brick interiors, where the yellow becomes a focal point rather than competing with the room's other textures. It also works in jewel-tone Maximalist rooms where saturated colour is already part of the language.

A single Large reads as a focal piece above a standard three-seat sofa. For longer walls, a 4-tile Mural lets the cranes anchor the full sweep of the room. A 9-tile Mural is the choice for a double-height entry or a stairwell.

Yes. We recommend ordering the Dura Satin or Matte finish for any room where the tile will see steam or splash. Both finishes hold the colour as faithfully as the Glossy and resist scratching from normal cleaning.

A soft microfibre cloth and clean water are all the surface needs. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic under high heat and pressure, so the image cannot be scratched off by normal cleaning. Avoid abrasive scouring pads and harsh solvents.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original to the studio. The Belfast Shipyard Cranes are part of our atlas of working harbours and industrial landmarks. There is no licensing or third-party imagery in the line.