St John’s School,

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A single-storey T-shaped building with hipped roofs surmounted by a bell turret. Main front elevation faces south while there are twin entrances in the rear return facing to east and west.

South elevation: symmetrical, containing six windows regularly spaced; roof of Bangor blue slates in regular courses, with decorative iron finial to each end of the main ridge. Two gabled vents to roof, slated, symmetrically arranged: timber front with arched opening but some timber louvres missing; decorative ironwork finial to apex of each gablet. Central lantern on main ridge, of square plan, comprising four shaped timber posts with arched openings, standing on a base with battered faces and carrying a steep pyramidal roof; base and roof both slated as previous to main roof but incorporating some courses of fish-scale slates; bell hanging within belfry.
Bracketed eaves to roof but guttering now missing.
Wall of lime-rendered and whitened limestone rubble, with render missing below cill level to reveal original stonework; black painted base; projecting red brick string courses at cill and transom level, painted; cills of red sandstone, painted; ventilation hole below one cill lies open, with grill missing. Stone plaque of shield shape set in centre of wall above upper string course, inscribed "Erected A.D. 1872. Rev John Landy P.P." Windows are currently boarded up so that pane divisions cannot be seen; comprises a pair of two-pane timber fixed lights surmounted by a common bottom-hung top vent which opens in; set in raised segmental arched brick block dressings, painted.

West end of front block: one bay wide, containing a pair of coupled windows, as previous. Wall is smooth cement rendered, lined and blocked; string courses and dressings as previous but coated with smooth render; cills of red sandstone.

Rear of front block, on west side of return: roof slated as previous, without vents; walling as previous to south front, incorporating a projecting chimney breast, which projects through roof as a red brick stack, of battered profile up to mid point; plain brick string courses to chimney and corbel courses at top; one original stub pot. One window, as previous to south front, with similar brick dressings and sandstone cill.

West elevation of rear return: roof slated as previous to front block, but lower ridge height; similar eaves, but no guttering; one short chimney on ridge, red brick with plain string course and corbel courses, two original stub pots; walling similar to south front without string courses; contains two windows, as previous, and one doorway in corner with front block. Dressings to windows as previous, but with raised render to the reveals of the one to the south which also has a concrete cill; cill to south is of sandstone. Doorway boarded up, set in raised segmental arched brick block dressings, painted.

North end of return: of similar roofing and walling to west side, with addition of a rough projecting limestone rubble plinth. Two windows, as previous to south front, but with flush red brick block dressings, painted over, and with raised smooth render to reveals; concrete cills. Part of a cast iron downpipe is attached to the wall.

East elevation of rear return: similar to west elevation except doorway contains a rectangular timber sheeted door surmounted by a boarded up segmental arched fanlight, with security grille attached. Ventilation hole below one cill lies open, with grill missing.

Rear of front block, on east side of return is similar to rear on west side of return, except a ventilation hole lies open under cill, with grill missing; east end of front block is similar to west end.

SETTING: The building stands within the built-up area of the town facing onto a lane off the main road but set back from it within its own grounds. Grounds entirely surfaced in concrete. Front boundary formed by a hedge on a low rubble stone plinth wall, with an open pedestrian gateway in the centre, and an open vehicular entrance to one end. Rendered boundary walls to each side, with a graveyard to one side and a former church on the other side; rubble wall to rear boundary.
Attached to the rear return are two link walls, one rendered, the other of concrete blockwork, connecting with a gabled single storey outbuilding which has dry dash rendered walls, corrugated iron roof, and PVC guttering, damaged; some openings boarded up; others contain sheeted timber doors.

A modern rendered house stands adjacent to the church, reached by a gateway off the yard at rear.

Historical information

Built as a school in 1872, as inscribed on a stone shield on the building, but used in the past as a community hall.

References – Primary Sources
1. Inscription on building.

Secondary Sources
1. UAHS, Glens of Antrim (Belfast, 1971), p 19.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
H-. Alterations detracting from building
I. Quality and survival of Interior

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

This is a Victorian school of distinctive proportioned style which retains most of its original exterior and interior features and its original character, but it has fallen into disrepair.