Ballywatt Presbyterian Church

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A free-standing blackstone Presbyterian Church with square tower, dated 1895 and built to designs by Vincent Craig; located to the west side of Ballywatt Road east of Coleraine. Rectangular plan with transepts to east and west, side-aisle to east, chancel to north, and egaged square entrance tower with stairwell extension to southeast corner.

Rosemary tiled pitched roof with rounded ridge tiles, raised sandstone verges and finial to gable; paired polygonal chimneystacks to north gable. Cast-iron half-round rainwater goods on bracketted stone eaves. Walling is random squared rock-faced blackstone with red sandstone dressings; diagonal buttresses having sandstone offsets to gables; chamfered sandstone string course at plinth level. Windows are coloured leaded lattice lancets in chamfered sandstone blocked surrounds with chamfered sills (unless otherwise stated); transepts have paired cusped lancets with multi-foil oculus over.

East-facing front has three lancets to side aisle, flanked by tower at left and transept at right. Tower is polygonal to upper section with rectangular windows to each facet; rising to shaped parapet and squat spire topped by weathervane. At ground floor is a windbreak porch with sandstone gable between buttresses and topped by finial; inscribed datestone in a cusped moulding to apex reads “BALLYWATT/CHURCH/1750/ REBUILT/1895”. Entrance comprises replacement pointed-headed timber-sheeted doors in a chamfered reveal with moulded head, accessed by three stone steps with modern metal handrails. South elevation of tower is abutted by the stairwell extension which hs decorative half-hipped timbering detail and is lit by central three-light leaded-and-stained glass window; bipartite window over.

The south gable has window comprising three staged cusped lancets (central is lower); multi-foil oculus over surmounted by relieving arch; narrow opening to apex of gable.

The east elevation has four leaded lancets and transept at left.

The north gable is abutted by the five-sided chancel, with buttresses and stained glass lancets to all but east face, which is abutted by a small square castellated vestry. Vestry is flush with east elevation and detailed as main church with pyramidal roof topped by terracotta finial. East elevation and right cheek both with rectangular windows; east elevation also with pointed-headed timber-sheeted door in chamfered sandstone blocked surround, accessed by two stone steps.

Setting:
Situated on a large site to the west side of Ballywatt Road, surrounded by farmland and bounded to road at east by roughcast rendered wall with roll-top coping. The site also incorporates Moore Memorial Hall (HB03/05/015B) which is situated to north. To west is a mid-twentieth century cement rendered single-storey hall (of little interest). Site also incorporates cemetery with headstones dating from the late nineteenth-century, some tombs with ornate Victorian cast-iron railings. Entrance at east from Ballywatt Road comprises original square red ashlar sandstone piers with tall polygonal caps on chamfered pedestal, supporting original cast-iron gates. Modern cattle-grid to entrance.

Roof: Rmary clay tiles
Walling: Random squared rock-faced blackstone
Windows: Coloured leaded lattice lancets
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

Ballywatt Presbyterian Church, constructed in 1895 in architect Vincent Craig’s preferred Art Nouveau style, replaced an earlier church that previously stood upon the same site. The first edition of the Ordnance Survey maps for the parish of Ballyrashane records that in 1831-32 a Presbyterian ‘Meeting Ho[use],’ a rectangular shaped building, occupied the same position as the current structure. The Townland Valuations (c. 1830) valued the meeting house at £12 7s. but did not give any further detail regarding the dimensions of the original church. The contemporary Ordnance Survey Memoirs described the original church building as a ‘Seceding Meeting House ... a substantial well-built house 66ft long by 34 ft wide and two storeys high and would accommodate about 800 persons.’ The memoir writer noted that the first church was constructed in the year 1830, although the interior was not completed until 1832; the entire enterprise costing a total of £590, predominantly raised through subscription (Ordnance Survey memoirs, pp 47-48).

By the second edition of the Ordnance Survey map in 1855 there had been very little discernible alteration to the layout of the church; however Griffith’s Valuation, conducted in 1856 recorded that the value of the building had been altered to £10, whilst an adjoining sessions house was valued at 15 shillings; there was no subsequent change to the value of the site by the end of the Annual revisions in 1930, despite the construction of the current church in 1895 and the erection of the adjoining church hall (HB03/05/015B) in 1910. It was not until 1935 that the valuation sources took into account the rebuilding of the church; in that year the First General revaluation of property in Northern Ireland increased the value of the building to £100; a second revaluation took place in 1956, by the end of the scheme in 1972 the value of the church stood slightly higher at £120.

Ballywatt Presbyterian’s congregation can trace its origins to 1748 when members of the Ballyrashane congregation, along with members of nearby Roseyards and Derrykeighan, joined the Anti-Burgher Synod and formed a Seceder cause in the parish; however it was not until the 1830s that the first meeting house was built in the current townland (Kirkpatrick, pp 188-89).

Walker states that during the Victorian period Presbyterian Church design predominantly followed classical standards; however ‘in some quarters church architecture began to follow trends in other aspects of the arts.’ Ballywatt Presbyterian Church is an example of a church influenced by the internationally fashionable Art Nouveau movement preferred by Vincent Craig (Walker, p. 43). Craig (1869-1925), the younger brother of James Craig (first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland), established his first practise in Belfast in 1891; his design for Ballywatt Presbyterian Church stressed an aesthetic approach over functionalism, a preference also seen in his plan for Portstewart Presbyterian Church erected between 1903 and 1905 (HB03/09/001). The builder contracted to carry out Craig’s design was R. Young of Ballymoney (Dictionary of Irish Architects).

In 1972 Girvan described Ballywatt Presbyterian Church as ‘very much a town-style Gothic Church, looking oddly flamboyant’ amid a rural setting. The church was built with dark basalt and vivid red Scottish sandstone ‘which Craig liked,’ while red ruabon tiles were employed for the roof; of the interior Girvan wrote it was ‘noteworthy for its splendid wooden double-braced collar beam roof and gallery rose-window.’ The church hall (HB03/05/015B), located to the north of the building, was also designed by Vincent Craig in 1910; the hall was constructed of the same materials and carried out in a similar Art Nouveau style (Girvan, p. 6; p. 15).

Ballywatt Presbyterian Church was listed in 1976 and since that time has underwent a major restoration project undertaken by J. S. Dunlop who re-roofed the building in rosemary tiles, replaced the leadwork, and repointed the masonry whilst completely redecorating the interior (J. S. Dunlop website). Ballywatt continues to be utilised as a place of worship and in 2006 possessed a congregation of approximately 166 families (Kirkpatrick, p. 189).

References

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/1/6/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1831-32
2. PRONI OS/6/1/6/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1855
3. PRONI OS/6/1/6/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1904
4. PRONI OS/6/1/6/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1922-31
5. PRONI VAL/1/A/1/6 – Townland Valuation map c. 1830
6. PRONI VAL/1/B/137 – Townland Valuation c. 1830
7. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/30A – Griffith’s Valuation 1856
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/6/1A – Annual Revisions 1859-1863
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/6/1B – Annual Revisions 1864-1880
10. PRONI VAL/12/B/6/1C – Annual Revisions 1881-1889
11. PRONI VAL/12/B/4/4A – Annual Revisions 1889-1904
12. PRONI VAL/12/B/4/4B – Annual Revisions 1905-1918
13. PRONI VAL/12/B/4/4C – Annual Revisions 1919-1923
14. PRONI VAL/12/B/4/21C– Annual Revisions 1923-1930
15. PRONI VAL/3/B/1/10 – First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1935
16. PRONI VAL/4/B/1/26 – Second General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1956-72
17. Ordnance Survey Memoirs, Co. Londonderry, No. VI Vol. 22, (1835)
18. Lewis’ Topographical Dictionary (1837)
19. First Survey Record – HB03/05/015 (1972)
20. Ordnance Survey Map – 13-7 (1979)

Secondary Sources

1. Brett, C. E. B., ‘Buildings of County Antrim’ Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1996.
2. Girvan, W., ‘North Antrim: Historic buildings, groups of buildings, areas of architectural importance in North Antrim including towns of Portrush, Ballymoney and Bushmills’ Belfast, Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1972.
3. Kirkpatrick, L., ‘Presbyterians in Ireland: An illustrated history’ Booklink, 2006.
4. Walker, S., ‘Historic Ulster Churches’ Belfast, The Institute of Irish Studies, 2000.

Online Resources

1. Dictionary of Irish Architects website - http://www.dia.ie/
2. J. S. Dunlop Website - http://www.jsdunlop.co.uk/

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

A late-Victorian free-standing blackstone Presbyterian church with square entrance tower, dated 1895 and built to designs by Vincent Craig. Located to the west side of Ballywatt Road east of Coleraine. Architectural detailing is largely intact and apart from some minor alterations, this is a well-preserved example of a late-nineteenth century country church, with design elements typical of Vincent Craig’s style, including a large red-tiled roof and shaped parapet to tower. There is important group value with Moore Memorial Hall (HB03/05/015B), also designed by Craig, and both being a good example of the work of this prominent Ulster architect. Together they make an important group, being a distinctive landmark in the surrounding landscape and making a significant contribution to the architectural quality and character of the area. Ballywatt Presbyterian Church is of significant local interest and social importance to the local community

General comments

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