Glenmanus Reformed Presbyterian Church

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A double-height roughcast rendered Reformed Presbyterian Church with three-stage entrance tower and associated hall and manse; built 1899 and located at the junction of Glenmanus Road and Portstewart Road in Portrush town centre. Rectangular plan with apsidal end to west; square tower to northeast corner; modern single-storey flat-roof extension (of various heights) to south, and single-storey modern linking block connecting a double-height lecture hall (c.1900) to rear.

Pitched natural slate roof having terracotta ridge tiles and leaded hips to apsidal end. Cast-iron ogee rainwater goods on moulded eaves course. Walling is roughcast rendered with smooth rendered buttresses; dentilled raking eaves course to gable. Windows are round-headed coloured leaded lattice lights, some with secondary glazing, in smooth rendered surrounds with label moulds, keyblock and smooth rendered decorative bracket under sills (unless otherwise stated).

East gable is abutted at right by the three-stage entrance tower. Tower has clasping buttresses rising to square piers surmounted by ball finials, and connected by a curvilinear parapet. To belfry stage are round-headed louvered openings with block surround and archivolt punctuated by three keyblocks. Second stage has an oculus in a decorative moulded surround. Ground floor has window to north face; entrance at east is accessed via a set of four stone steps with plinth walls surmounted by original cast-iron railings; comprises a round-headed original timber-sheeted door in a blocked and chamfered surround, surmounted by hood mould with three fluted keyblocks. Door head is surmounted by a scrolled entablature, possibly originally bearing dedication plaque. Blind doorway to west face is identical, accessed via three stone steps. Gable has graded group of three windows with segmental pediments and continuous sill course. Below are two square-headed windows divided by a buttress, having moulded architraves with keyblock and decorative bracket under sills.

The south elevation has five evenly spaced windows divided by buttresses; to far left is the single-storey modern flat-roof extension, of various heights (of little interest).

The apsidal end to west is abutted to centre by the modern single-storey linking block connecting the hall; square-headed window at left.

The north elevation has four evenly spaced windows divided by buttresses; to left is the three-stage tower (described above).

Setting:

Set back from the road and located at the junction of Glenmanus Road and Portstewart Road, in a largely residential area south of Portstewart town centre. The site is bounded by a roughcast rendered wall with level coping stones; to northeast corner are a set of square smooth rendered gate piers with pointed caps, supporting steel gates; to north is a pedestrian steel gate supported on slender square piers with pointed caps. Rubble stone wall to south bounds church to neighbouring semi-detached houses. Lawned to front with concrete aggregate pathway to front entrance; polygonal flagstones to north entrance. Directly west of the church is roughcast rendered gabled hall, with flat-roof modern extension and entrance porch connecting the church to the hall.

Hall has pitched slated roof with blue/black angled ridge tiles and raised stone verges with ball finials to gables. Cast-iron ogee rainwater goods on moulded eaves course. Walling is roughcast render on a smooth rendered plinth with smooth rendered dressings. Windows are round-headed leaded-and-stained glass in smooth rendered surrounds with keyblock and stone sills. North elevation has four evenly spaced windows divided by lesenes. East gable is abutted by modern flat-roof extension at right; window and timber-sheeted door surmounted by an oversized leaded-and-stained glass round-headed transom light at left. Entrance door accessed via concrete ramp. The west gable has a window at left and right.

Manse to west of hall is two-storey with a gabled canted bay to east. In similar style as the church and lecture hall, the manse is roughcast rendered with smooth rendered dressings. Altered and refurbished in recent years. Replacement fabric includes red-brick chimneystack, uPVC glazing throughout and modern uPVC entrance door to east. Altered to west elevation to include a modern garage. Bounded to north by roughcast rendered wall with square rendered piers having pointed caps and supporting original ornate cast-iron gates. Tarmacadamed car-park to far west of site.

Roof: Natural slate
Walling: Roughcast render
Windows: Leaded-and-stained glass metal casements
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

Glenmanus Reformed Presbyterian Church, located to the south of Portrush on the Portstewart Road, was opened in 1899; however, construction of the late-Victorian church had been completed the previous year when the site was valued in the annual valuation of the area. The Annual Revisions record that the ‘Coventers’ church, and the contemporary church hall (formerly a schoolhouse and now connected by a latter extension), were valued at £50 and also included a sexton’s house and a stable block (the sexton’s house now taken down). The church was first depicted on the third edition of the Ordnance Survey map for the Portrush area which depicted the church, church hall and manse occupying their current layout; the sexton’s house is not distinguished on the map and it is not certain where the building was located prior to its demolition.

The Reformed Presbyterian Church in Ireland, also known as the Covenanting Church, was established in the wake of the Revolution Settlement of 1690; a small minority of Presbyterians refused to subscribe to the new settlement which, they claimed, failed to recognise the dominant kingship of Jesus Christ. Covenanters in Ulster began to hold separate meetings and in 1763 a reformed Presbytery was established. The most northerly covenanting church, Glenmanus’ congregation was formed at the end of the 19th century; prior to its establishment, the few Dissenters in the area worshiped at Ballyclabber to the east of Coleraine.

Allen states that the Portrush congregation was formed by a Mr. Samuel Patton (1820-1900), a local businessman who resolved to ‘build a Covenanting Church in Portrush despite the fact that there were only a few members residing there. But he was a man of vision and determination.’ Patton originally attempted to erect the church on a plot in the centre of Portrush but was denied to secure a site from the Earl of Antrim. Determined, Patton constructed the current church on his own land in Glenmanus townland at his own expense; Patton’s resolve was such that the church was completed before the congregation was even organised. The new church was opened in June 1899 and initial concern was felt that the building would remain empty as the population of Portrush only numbered 1,800 at that time, with few covenanters; however within the first year attendance was high enough to move the Reformed Presbytery to upgrade the status of the site from a preaching station to a full congregation. Over one year after gifting Glenmanus Church to Portrush, Samuel Patton died on 3rd July 1900 (Allen).

In the early years of its history Glenmanus reformed Presbyterian Church possessed a small congregation; in 1914 there were 19 communicants, but this dipped to only nine during the 1920s. Originally sited in an isolated location in the outskirts of Portrush, Glenmanus’s future was assured by the construction of housing in the 1930s which boosted the local congregation to over 30 communicants. Later alterations to the church included the installation of a new heating system in 1957 and the renovation of the church interior and addition of a kitchen in 1963. The single-storey extension linking the church building to the western church hall was added during the ministry of the Rev. Donnelly (1987-1990) and included a classroom and toilet block.

Girvan, writing in 1972, described Glenmanus as ‘a curious church with pretensions to architectural refinement. It presents a forbidding appearance because of its unrelieved greyness ... a coat of paint could work a transformation;’ since that time the appearance of the building has not been dramatically altered (Girvan, p. 14). Glenmanus Reformed Presbyterian Church was listed in 1983 and since that time has witnessed further renovation work carried out in the late-1990s which included the replacement of the church hall roof and the redecoration of the hall; finally a new car park was provided for the congregation in 2000 (Allen).

References

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/5/3/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1830
2. PRONI OS/6/5/3/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map c. 1860
3. PRONI OS/6/5/3/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1904
4. PRONI OS/6/5/3/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1922-32
5. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/4D – Annual Revisions 1890-1898
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/4E – Annual Revisions 1899-1910
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/4F – Annual Revisions 1911-1929
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/4/22D – Annual Revisions 1925-1930
9. First Survey Record – HB03/11/001 (1973)
10. First Survey Image – HB03/07/005 (1973)

Secondary Sources

1. Allen, G., ‘The Covenanters in Ireland: A History of the Congregations’ Carryduff: Cameron Press, 2010.
2. Girvan, W. D., ‘Historic Building in North Antrim’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1972.

Online Resources

1. Glenmanus Reformed Presbyterian Church website - http://glenmanus.rpc.org/

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

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

Evaluation

A late Victorian roughcast rendered Reformed Presbyterian Church with three-stage entrance tower and associated hall and manse; built 1899 and located at the junction of Glenmanus Road and Portstewart Road in Portrush town centre. A well-preserved example of a nineteenth-century church, well proportioned and with some high quality detailing which can be associated with the Victorian period. The church also retains a simply detailed Victorian interior, typical of the style favoured by the Reformed movement. The adjoining hall and manse, contemporary with the church, add to the historic interest of the site. The church is of social importance and of local interest.

General comments

Listing Criteria R - Age and S - Authenticity also apply