First Presbyterian Church

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A Gothic Revival church with gabled roofs and a bellcote, on a rectangular plan with small side projections to front and rear.

Main entrance faces east. Entrance front two-storey, gabled, symmetrical, with buttresses, marking the extremities of central bay, side bays, and lateral end bays. Roofs of Bangor blue slates in regular courses; moulded gutters, looks like PVC; PVC downpipes, replacements, inappropriate. Walls rendered with dry dash of crushed stones; moulded string course across front at base; buttresses smooth cement rendered and lined, later finish, original sandstone revealed in kneelers on buttress to right hand side of entrance bay; dressings to openings similar later finish as buttresses, with mechanical and accentuatedly angular appearance to each ‘stone’, inappropriate. Entrance comprises two Gothic archways surmounted by drip moulding continuous over both; sliding doors of pitch pine ledged, below inscribed sandstone tympanum panels plain with wavy and scolloped moulding to bottom. One inset foundation stone in grey sandstone, dated 1900, flanking each entrance; above entrance, a sandstone inscription panel, supported by a three-light Gothic traceried window in four-centred archway, flanked each side by narrow Gothic lancet; above, apex of gable surmounted by bellcote with round-headed opening containing bell; square corbels below bellcote ornamented with four-lobed motifs. Concrete step across front, width of entrance bay. Left and right of entrance bay, outer bays containing two-storey Gothic lancet, upper window with cusped head to white painted timber frame, lower window rectangular with wavy lower edge to stone head. All windows tinted diamond pattern leading covered with storm proof outer sheet of plate glass. To left and right, beyond outer bays, side walls of projecting lateral bays containing stairways to gallery.

South-facing elevation: main body of church 5 windows wide with intermediate buttress, with narrow gabled projection to east end, one window wide, displaying diagonal buttresses, and wider gabled projection to west end, containing 3-light window with doorway below, and displaying angle buttresses; door ledged timber with Gothic fanlight set in Gothic arch; roof, rainwater goods and walls as previous.

West-facing elevation: wall finish dry dashed as previous; rainwater goods as previous, with angle buttresses to extremities; circular window at high level set in smooth cement rendered surround; storm proof glazing with horizontal framing member of metal. Three segmental-headed openings at ground floor, ie basement level due to fall of site: two doors, timber ledged with segmental heads; one window to right hand side, timber sliding sash, vertically hung, 2 over 2, with horns, with horizontal glazing bars and four types of translucent glass, one patterned, inappropriate; sandstone cill, smooth cement rendered surround.

North-facing elevation, handed version of south, but segmental-headed window to basement of end bay instead of doorway: timber sliding sash as previous, with translucent glass; sandstone cill level with ground.

Gateway: Entrance gateway of four cast iron Gothic finialed and panelled piers, original; iron gates of rectilinear pattern, replacements, two carriage gates in centre flanked by smaller pedestrian gates; short rectangular ironwork screens to each side, linking with smooth cement rendered piers and curved screen walls, dry dashed as church, with cement copings, which return at extremities across rest of front boundary.

The church stands surrounded by tarmac, now at higher level than original grounds; narrow border of grass to boundary on north and south sides. Single storey school buildings of no architectural merit stand detached behind church along rear boundary; mature trees stand to the front framing view from main road.

Historical information

Built in 1900-1 to the designs of Young and Mackenzie to replace an earlier church on the site; inscription panel states ‘Established in 1613, rebuilt 1901’.

References - Primary

1. Belfast Newsletter, 10 March, 1900.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
D. Plan Form
E. Spatial Organisation
H-. Alterations detracting from building
I. Quality and survival of Interior

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

A Gothic Revival church which retains its original exterior form, possesses an impressive galleried interior, and enjoys a largely unspoiled setting.