St Paul's Church

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A freestanding, double-height, smooth rendered church with a stone bell-cote, with 17th century origins, located to the south of Garvagh on the west side of Main Street. Rectangular on plan and comprising a central nave lit with large Y-tracery windows; a timber gallery to the west and a chancel to the east. A modern single storey entrance porch is abutted to the west gable and a single-storey pitched roof vestry to the north east corner.

Re-slated pitched roof with angled pierced terracotta ridge tiles; coping stones and kneeler to gables; cross finial to west gable; east gable contains small stone and smooth rendered bell-cote, pierced with Gothic opening and single bronze bell. Advancing chancel to west gable with lower level pitched roof as above having plain terracotta ridge tiles. Square cast-iron rainwater goods to moulded projecting eaves, some square uPVC downpipes. Walling is smooth rendered and painted, with a recessed plinth. Replacement timber framed leaded-lattice windows with painted stone Y-tracery; stained glass windows to chancel and western gable; hood moulding and painted stone sills.

East gable abutted by advancing chancel which contains interlocking Y-traceried stained glass window; vestry abuts to right cheek of chancel and main gable.

South elevation has three evenly spaced lattice windows of plain glass with Y-tracery.

West gable is lit by a window to centre and topped with rendered stone bell-cote opening having blind rope moulded roundel and trefoil motif to apex. Advancing shallow pitched entrance porch (c2007) in the style of the main church, with three windows and a timber sheeted double-leaf door to left cheek.

North gable as the south except for abutting single-storey pitched vestry to the left-side. North gable contains advancing chimney with clay pots to centre; low-level mono-pitched structure is offset to the north west. Left cheek is blank but features low-level projecting abutment to left side with low, timber sheeted door to right cheek; right side contains timber sheeted, square headed door with plain ashlar stone surrounds. Right cheek has central square-headed lattice window.

Setting

The church is set within a small graveyard,located directly to the western side of Main Street. Enclosed by a coursed stone rubble wall to the north and south with saddleback coping stones and ashlar stone archway in the north wall, providing access to the adjacent church hall. The west side is bounded by a roughcast wall and metal fence. The eastern side having a stone dwarf-wall containing decorative cast iron railings, squared ashlar-stone piers with pyramidal caps supporting cast-iron entrance gates. To the north east is Garvagh High School; across Main Street to the west is the Agivey River and to the south west is Garvagh Forest.

Roof: Replacement slate
Walling: Smooth rendered and painted
Windows: Replacement stained glass Latticed with masonry Y-tracery, some leaded-and-stained glass
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

St Paul’s Church is first shown captioned on the first edition OS map (1832-33) situated to the southern edge of Garvagh town, to the north of Ballinameen hamlet. As this map shows the building was sited on the eastern edge of the Demesne of Lord Garvagh (a descendant of the Canning family), a short distance from his seat at Garvagh House. The map depicts a small path leading from the western entrance of the church, through the northern boundary wall to the wooded demesne, leading directly to Garvagh House. The Church and graveyard are listed in Griffith’s Valuation (1856) at a value of £5 10s and were under the ownership of Lady Garvagh. The building was first captioned ‘St Paul’s Church’ on the third edition OS map (1903-04), in which a vestry had been erected to the north-east corner of the church. From this map it is also evident that the west wall of the graveyard was previously located further east than its current position. There were no further changes in value until the First General Revaluation (1935) which shows that the building and graveyard were purchased by the ‘Trustees of Garvagh Church’ following the departure of the Lord Garvagh from Ireland in 1920 and the subsequent dissolution of his estate.

Garvagh was established as a private Plantation settlement during the mid 17th century, when George Canning, an Agent of the Ironmongers’ Company of London, obtained a grant for and settled in Garvagh. The town was initially developed by his son Paul Canning who erected a ‘chapel of ease’ on this site in 1659 for the use of his family. In the following decades the church became used by the inhabitants and became the Parish Church of Errigal. The existing church has 17th century origins (a stone above the entrance is dated ‘1670') but it is thought that this was the first of a number of rebuilds (OS Memoirs 1830-39; Patterson).

Work was carried out to the building in 1806 and the roof was repaired and re-slated in 1836 at a cost of £70. During this period the OS Memoirs (1830-39) described the church, which included a gallery to the west and was capable of seating 200 persons, as being ‘in good repair’. Patterson (1996) notes that the seating was replaced in 1898 and in 1908 the roof and gallery were replaced by W. Blair and Reid, at a cost of £480. The oak communion table dates from this period, as does the eastern window of ‘cathedral glass’; donated by Isabella Clinton as a memorial to her grandfather Dr John Cochrane (Patterson).

The author of the major works ‘A Map and Memoir of Londonderry’ and the ‘Statistical Survey of Londonderry’ Rev. G.V. Sampson was the rector of the Parish during the early 19th century.

Field evidence shows the entrance door was replaced in 1907, at a cost of £7; during the mid to late 20th century, the small vestry was expanded to the east and the chancel constructed. The building continues to function as the Parish Church of Errigal and Desertoghill. In recent years an entrance porch has been added to the western gable and a wet-dash and painted finish has been applied to the exterior (HB File).

References

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/5/18/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey map (1832-33)
2. PRONI OS/6/5/18/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey map (1849-53)
3. PRONI OS/6/5/18/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey map (1904-5)
4. PRONI OS/6/5/218/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey map (1924-33)
5. PRONI VAL/2/B/5/6A – Griffith’s Valuation (1856)
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/12A – Annual Revisions (1860-63)
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/12B – Annual Revisions (1864-80)
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/12C – Annual Revisions (1881-89)
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/12F – Annual Revisions (1911-30)
10. PRONI VAL/3/B/6/1 – First General Revaluations (1935)
11. PRONI VAL/4/B/5/5 – Second General Revaluations (1956-72)

12. HB File (HB03.01.001)

Secondary Sources

1. Patterson, Rev R.W. ‘Garvagh; A Town and Two Parishes’ Garvagh Historical Society, Coleraine (1996) 2. Curl, James.S. ‘The Londonderry Plantation 1609-1914’ Phillimore & Co, Chichester (1986) 3. Sampson, Rev. George, Vaughan ‘A Memoir; Explanatory of the Survey of the Survey of the County of Londonderry’ G&W Nicol, London (1814) 4. ‘Ordnance Survey Memoirs; The Parishes of Co. Londonderry, VIII [Vol. 27] - Desertoghill, Errigal, Killelagh and Kilrea , 1830-39’Institute of Irish Studies, Queen’s University, Belfast (1994
5. Lewis, Samuel ‘A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland’ S. Lewis & Co, London (1837)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

A free-standing, double-height church of 17th century origins, rectangular on plan with timber gallery to west and central nave lighted by three Y-traceried replacement lattice windows to each side. The parish church of both Errigal and Desertoghill the building is located to the south end of the town of Garvagh and sited within a small churchyard. Of historical interest as‘a chapel of ease’ for the Agent of the Ironmongers’ Company, Paul Canning. Despite some replacement fabric, the church makes an important contribution to the architectural character of Garvagh. The church with a plain bell-cote is characterised by simple proportions and lack of ornamentation.

General comments

Listing Criteria R - Age; S - Authenticity and T - Historic Importance also apply..