Dr. Adam Clarke Memorial Methodist Church

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A free-standing Gothic basalt stone Methodist church with engaged bell tower and chancel; built 1886 to designs by Thomas Elliot and located at the junction of Eglinton Street and Causeway Street in Portrush town centre. Rectangular plan with engaged bell-tower at northwest, five-sided chancel to east and projecting gabled porch to north and south.

Pitched natural slate roof with blue/black angled ridge tiles, raised sandstone verges, finials and kneelers to gable; square ashlar chimneystack to east gable. Cast-iron ogee rainwater goods on moulded sandstone eaves. Walling is squared uncoursed rock-faced basalt stone with sandstone dressings; sandstone string-course to impost level at north and south; buttresses with sandstone offsets and quoins. Windows are mid-twentieth-century round-headed leaded windows with coloured glass, in moulded sandstone reveals with blocked surrounds and chamfered sills, surmounted by hood moulds. Round-headed leaded window with oculus over to chancel. Geometric rose window to west.

North-facing front has three windows divided by buttresses lighting nave. Projecting gabled porch at right has round-headed double-leaf timber-sheeted doors with cast-iron strap hinges in a moulded sandstone reveal with blocked surround surmounted by hood mould having carved stops. Door is surmounted by an oculus with stone dedication plaque inscribed “IN MEMORY/OF/DR ADAM CLARKE,/ THE LEARNED COMMENTATOR,/ BORN IN THE YEAR 1760,/ DIED IN 1832./ “GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST,/ PEACE ON EARTH,/ AND GOOD WILL/ TOWARD MEN.” Door accessed via a concrete ramp with modern metal handrails. Left cheek of porch lit by a window with hood mould having carved stops.

The east gable is abutted by the chancel with hipped roof surmounted by metal filigree; two oculus stone panels to gable over. Chancel has a window to three sides with hood mould and carved stops.

The south elevation has three windows divided by buttresses lighting nave. At left is a timber-sheeted door in a chamfered sandstone reveal with blocked surround and shouldered head; with oculus over and accessed via two stone steps. To right is the projecting gabled porch, opening to west with a timber-sheeted door in a chamfered sandstone reveal with blocked surround and shouldered head, accessed via a stone step. Right cheek is blank. Gable of porch has a window with hood mould and carved stops; oculus to apex of gable covered with pierced metal vent.

The west elevation has engaged bell tower rising from gable at left. Tower has stone spire topped by carved finial; belfry stage rises to gablets with central oculus and contains round-headed louvered openings with hood moulds and carved stops. Gable has a large four-paned geometric rose window with hood mould and carved stops; stone oculus to apex of gable.

Setting:

Prominently sited to the south end of Main Street, at the junction of Causeway Street and Eglinton Street. Set back from the street to front with lawn and concrete pathway leading to entrance porch. To west is a modern metal railing enclosing steps to undercroft, accessed via modern metal door. To left side of entrance within the grounds of the church is an ashlar stone obelisk on a corniced pedestal and stepped plinth, dedicated to Adam Clarke. Bounded to three sides by plinth wall topped by fleur-de-lis head railings. To south, fronting onto Eglinton Street, is a two-storey roughcast rendered early-twentieth century church hall.

Roof: Natural slate
Walling: Squared uncoursed rock-faced basalt stone
Windows: Mid-twentieth-century round-headed leaded windows with coloured glass
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

The Adam Clarke Memorial Church, Portrush was dedicated in September 1887 and constructed on the site of an earlier church and school house dating from 1832. A memorial obelisk to Dr Adam Clarke that currently stands in front of the church, was erected in 1857 on a hill behind the church and was moved in 1910, being first shown in its current position on the fourth edition OS map of 1921-31. (McDonald and Anderson; Belfast Newsletter; Moulden)

Adam Clarke (c1760-1832), a native of Moybeg near Maghera, was living near Flowerfield House in Portstewart in 1779 when he was converted by a Methodist envangelist. He began to preach in the local area and was subsequently invited to England by John Wesley, becoming the youngest man to be received into ‘Full Connexion’ at the Methodist Conference in 1783. By 1790 he was superintendent in Dublin, the most senior position in Ireland. Returning to Britain he was three times president of the Methodist conference in Britain. A very highly regarded preacher, he was also one of the foremost scholars of his day, in particular an expert in classical and biblical languages. He was involved in the preparation of Bibles in Near Eastern languages and worked on deciphering the Rosetta stone. Among his numerous works was an eight-volume Commentary on the Bible which was widely used and showed a level of scientific detachment which was unusual for the time. (Moulden; Dictionary of Irish Biography)

On his retirement, he decided to return to Portstewart and conceived of a project to establish six schools in the Coleraine area where the need was felt among the poor. A school was begun in Portrush in 1831 in temporary accommodation and following Dr Clarke’s request of the local landlord Lord Mark Kerr, a piece of land was granted on which a new school-house and chapel could be built. The chapel/school was begun in Spring 1832 and despite illness, Dr Clarke visited it in June of that year, the only one of his proposed schools he was able to visit before his death in September. (Moulden)

The church is one of the few Methodist churches in Ireland to have a bell. The bell was given to the chapel/school by Dr Clarke who had received it from the Duke of Newcastle and had formerly been in the possession of the Russian Imperial family. It was manufactured in Amsterdam in 1681 and now hangs in the vestibule of the church. (Moulden)

The Clarke Memorial Church was used on weekdays as a school and for worship on Sundays. Other denominations also used it for worship before their respective churches were built in the town and the Presbyterian minister Rev Jonathan Simpson was ordained there in 1842. (McDonald and Anderson)

In October 1857 the foundation stone of an obelisk to the memory of Dr Adam Clarke was laid on a small hill behind the church. It was originally intended that a life-size statue of Dr Clarke should stand at the foot of the monument but this plan was not realised. The obelisk was completed in 1859. (Belfast Newsletter)

By the early 1880s Portrush was one of the most popular bathing resorts in Ireland and its population swelled enormously during the summer months. The Rev Dr John Ker was appointed superintendent to the Coleraine circuit in 1884 and drew attention to the inadequate provision for Methodists in Portrush, as the chapel could only accommodate 100 people. The foundation stone of the new church, dedicated to the memory of Dr Adam Clarke, was laid by the Duke of Abercorn on 29th September 1886 and Dr Ker left Portrush soon afterwards on a fundraising mission to the USA and Canada where he successfully raised the necessary funds. (Belfast Newsletter) The architect of the new church was Thomas Elliott of Enniskillen, the designer of several Methodist and Episcopal churches in the west of Ulster. The contractor was J McClay of Strabane who used local basalt with Ballycastle sandstone dressings. (www.dia.ie; Belfast Newsletter; www.stonedatabase.com)

The church was dedicated on 29th September 1887 and was described in the local press as “an entirely beautiful church, which is a decided ornament to the town and worthy of the celebrated divine whose memory it commemorates”. (Moulden) When opened the church had no pulpit but instead a raised platform with a reading desk and seats around the chancel. (Moulden) The church enters valuation records in 1888 at a valuation of £50 and cost £1600 to build, in contrast to the earlier chapel which was valued at £12 and cost £170. (Valuation records)

The lecture hall to the rear of the church was opened on 29th September 1931 at a cost of £3,000. The contractor was Hugh McAlister and the architect A J Clarke, town surveyor. The design intentionally incorporated two shops in order to raise revenue through the rents. Repairs and renovations took place to the church in the late 1930s and 1970s and in 1975 eleven windows were dedicated as memorials to members of the congregation. The font was dedicated in 1979 and in the 1980s it was found necessary to remove the bell from the spire due to deterioration in the stonework. The bell now hangs in the vestibule of the church and its recorded sound is heard on Sundays. (Moulden)

The church was listed in 1977 and re-roofed in 1989. Internal alterations took place in the mid 1990s with a new foyer and toilets to the side entrance. A new memorial window also dates from this period. (HB file)

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/1/2/1 First Edition OS Map 1831-2
2. PRONI OS/6/1/2/2 Second Edition OS map 1853
3. PRONI OS/6/1/2/3 Third Edition OS Map 1906
4. PRONI OS/6/1/2/4 Fourth Edition OS Map 1921-31
5. PRONI OS/6/1/2/5 Fifth Edition OS Map 1946-50
6. PRONI OS/8/42/1-2 – Town Plans of Portrush (1895-6)
7. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/30B – Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64)
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/6/2A-E – Annual Revisions (1859-1895)
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/4/22A-D Annual Revisions (1895-1930)
10. PRONI VAL/3/C/1/30 First General Revaluation 1933-57
11. PRONI VAL/3/D/1/15/A/33 First General Revaluation 1933-57
12. HB File – 03/010/029
13. Belfast Newsletter 24th October 1857
14. Belfast Newsletter 30th September 1886
15. Beflast Newsletter 30th September 1887

Secondary Sources

1. Girvan, W D “Historic Buildings, Groups of Buildings, Areas of Architectural Importance in North Antrim including the towns of Portrush, Ballymoney and Bushmills” Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1975
2. McDonald, T and Anderson, R “Memories in Focus: NE Ulster from old photographs 1850-1950 Volumes 1 to 4” 1981-83
3. McGuire, J and Quinn, J, eds “Dictionary of Irish Biography” Cambridge: Cambridge University Press and Royal Irish Academy, 2009
4. Moulden “Methodism in Portrush” Clarke Memorial Methodist Church, c1987
5. www.dia.ie
6. www.stonedatabase.com

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

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

Evaluation

A free-standing Gothic basalt stone Methodist church with engaged bell tower and chancel; built 1886 to designs by Thomas Elliot and located at the junction of Eglinton Street and Causeway Street in Portrush town centre. Retaining its original proportions and much of its architectural detailing, including good quality carved stonework, this is a fine example of a mid-Victorian Gothic church, prominently situated at the heart of Portrush town centre. The church is an important example of the deliberate move away from the more simple vernacular structures of early Methodism, and the attempt during the mid-nineteenth-century to establish an appropriate Methodist style, one that expressed principles of architectural dignity and proportion. A landmark building in the town, Adam Clarke Memorial Church is of important local interest and social importance. It's interest is enhanced by the fine memorial obelisk to Dr Clarke and the good quality gates and railings.

General comments

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