Opposite the west end of Lagan Weir is the elegant Custom House, built by Charles Lanyon in Italianate style between 1854 and 1857; the writer Anthony Trollope once worked in the post office here. On the waterfront side, the pediment carries sculpted portrayals of Britannia, Neptune and Mercury. The Custom House steps were once a speakers' corner, a tradition memorialised in a bronze statue preaching to an invisible crowd. The building's interior is closed to the public.