PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH SCHOOL

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Detached symmetrical single-bay two-storey gable-fronted Tudor Gothic Revival former Presbyterian Hall, built 1884 to the designs of Young & Mackenzie. Rectangular on plan facing southeast with two-storey extension to rear, built c.1970. Located on a corner site at the junction of Carlisle Road and Grove Place adjacent to Carlisle Presbyterian Church (HB01/19/059A). Now in use as a church hall.

Pitched natural slate roof with roll-moulded terracotta ridge tiles and set behind slightly raised front gable having sandstone coping, kneeler stone with finials and finial to apex. Moulded cast-iron guttering to sandstone ashlar eaves course and cast-iron downpipes. Uncoursed rubble schist walling and projecting plinth course with sandstone plinth trim and flush sandstone quoins. The left half of the southwest side elevation is cement rendered. Tudor-arched window openings with chamfered flush sandstone ashlar surrounds, splayed flush sills and multi-pane steel casement windows, square-headed to the ground floor on both side elevations.

Gabled front elevation is two windows wide with three buttresses and cusped timber louvred oculus to the apex.

Southwest side elevation is five windows wide with a steel pedestrian walkway connected to the adjacent church at first floor level. First floor windows have arched heads and ground floor windows have square heads. Square-headed door opening to the left bay with replacement hardwood panelled door.

Gabled rear elevation with triangular-plan two-storey rendered extension and (possibly) flat roof having uPVC windows and a single hardwood door. (Roof not visible at time of survey)

Northeast side elevation is five windows wide with a flush sandstone platband below first floor sill level.

Setting:
Located on a corner site with its northeast side elevation fronting directly onto Grove Place and concrete front paved area enclosed by rubble schist wall having cement coping and decorative cast-iron railings. To the east of the front area is a pair of matching iron gates hung on decorative sandstone piers with gothic panels and iron finials with a further matching pedestrian gate hung on the front elevation.

Roof Natural slate
RWG Cast-iron
Walling Rubble schist / sandstone ashlar
Windows Multi-pane steel windows

Historical information

Carlisle Road Presbyterian Church Hall, a Tudor Gothic Style hall located at the corner of Grove Place and the Carlisle Road, was constructed in 1884 as a schoolhouse and lecture hall for the congregation of Londonderry’s fourth Presbyterian Church. Carlisle Road Presbyterian Church was constructed in 1877-79 to accommodate a growing congregation that had originally worshipped at a disused theatre on Artillery Street (HB01/19/065). The new church was designed in 1877 by Young & Mackenzie, a Belfast-based partnership. The Dictionary of Irish Architects described Young & Mackenzie as ‘the most successful architectural practice in Belfast [which] had become the leading architects for the Presbyterian Church in the North-East and had already received some of the most important commercial commissions in [Belfast].’ The DIA states that Young & Mackenzie carried out most of its work in the North-East of the province and the firm was very active in Derry having designed commercial premises on Foyle Street, a second Presbyterian Church on Clooney Terrace, Professor’s houses at Magee University and one of the city’s largest shirt factories on Patrick Street (DIA).

Young & Mackenzie also designed the adjoining schoolhouse and lecture hall as part of its plans of 1877 but it was not until 1884 that the building was constructed. The completed schoolhouse and hall was initially valued at £50 and was constructed of locally-quarried materials including Derry Schist and Barony Glen sandstone (NSD). The combined cost of the church and its adjoining hall was estimated at over £10,000. The entrance gates and railings to the site were constructed in 1890 by local architect William Barker who predominantly carried out work for the Presbyterian Church in his early career. The construction of the gate piers and railings was carried out by the building firm of John Shannon (Short History of Carlisle Road Presbyterian; Derry Standard; DIA) The c. 1873-1910 Annual Revisions Town Plan depicted the schoolhouse and lecture hall along its current rectangular layout suggesting that no significant alteration has been made to the structure of the church since its completion in 1884.

The hall adjoining the church was utilised as a schoolhouse for primary education and remained in this use until the 1990s. Throughout its history the hall was also used as a venue for social events, lectures and for additional religious services. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) the combined value of the church and its hall was increased to £480. The value of the buildings was further increased to £784 by the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72). During the Northern Ireland Troubles both the church and its hall received minor damage following the explosion of a bomb outside the buildings in 1973. The hall was subsequently repaired and was listed in 1979 along with its church. The hall continued to be utilised as a primary school until 1995 when it was closed and its pupils relocated to the Fountain Primary School. From 1995 the building has been solely used as the church hall to Carlisle Road Presbyterian. In 1998 the hall underwent an extensive renovation which modernised the building and resulted in the addition of a new kitchen and toilet block. The steel fire escape was installed between the church and church hall in 2008 and, following an outbreak of dry rot, the church hall was completely renovated in summer 2013 when the existing walls were dry lined, a new wooden floor installed and a suspended ceiling added (NIEA HB Records; Carlisle Road Presbyterian Church website).

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/5/20/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1853)
2. PRONI VAL/12/E/157/1/15 – Annual Revisions Town Plan (c. 1873-1910)
3. PRONI VAL/12/B/32/11A-11ZD – Annual Revisions (1860-1897)
4. PRONI VAL/12/B/33/1A-1B – Annual Revisions (1897-1929)
5. PRONI VAL/3/C/6/10 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
6. PRONI VAL/4/B/5/14 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
7. Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Londonderry (1837)
8. Derry Standard (5 May 1890)
9. Ulster Town Directories (1843-1943)
10. First Survey Record – HB01/19/059B (1970)
11. First Survey Image – HB01/19/059B (No Date)
12. NIEA HB Records – HB01/19/059B

Secondary Sources
1. ‘Short History of Carlisle Road Presbyterian Church: 1838-1938’ Londonderry: Carlisle Road Presbyterian Church, 1938.
2. Baillie, W. D., ‘A history of congregations in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland: 1610-1982’ Belfast: Presbyterian Historical Society, 1982.
3. Calley, D., ‘City of Derry: An historical gazetteer to the buildings of Londonderry’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2013.
4. Ferguson, W. S; Rowan, A. J; Tracey, J. J., ‘List of historic buildings, groups of buildings, areas of architectural importance in and near the city of Derry’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1970.
5. Kirkpatrick, L., ‘Presbyterians in Ireland: An illustrated history’ Booklink, 2006.
6. Rowan, A. J., ‘The Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster’ London: Yale University Press, 2003.

Online Resources
1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie/
2. Natural Stone Database - http://www.stonedatabase.com//buildings.cfm?bk=1953
3. Carlisle Road Presbyterian Church website - http://www.crpci.org.uk/

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
H-. Alterations detracting from building
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
T. Historic Importance
S. Authenticity
V. Authorship
Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Detached symmetrical two-storey gable-fronted Tudor Gothic Revival former schoolhouse and lecture hall which was designed for the congregation of Londonderry’s fourth Presbyterian church. It was built in 1884 to the designs of Young & Mackenzie, a successful Belfast-based partnership which became the leading architectural practice for the Presbyterian church in the North-East. Located on a corner site at the junction of Carlisle Road and Grove Place, the former schoolhouse has been in operation as a church hall since 1995 serving the adjacent Carlisle Presbyterian Church (HB01/19/059A) with which it has group value. Despite the loss of some internal historic detailing, much historic detailing remains to the exterior, complementing the adjacent church. The church hall continues to serve the local Presbyterian community and with the church stands as a prominent landmark in the centre of the city.