Chapels, gates, walls and railings

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

An extensive walled cemetery containing 19th and 20th century memorials, with twin chapels in Gothic Revival style flanking its main entrance gateway.

Main entrance gateway faces west: comprises a pair of square piers with double gates of wrought iron, flanked each side by a small pedestrian gate and a smaller square pier, with a low wall surmounted by railings extending beyond, terminating in another small pier which abuts a chapel. Piers are of squared rock faced basalt in regular courses, with moulded concrete capstones and a concrete weathering to an offset plinth; flanking walls of snecked coursed basalt; gates and railings of wrought ironwork, with Gothic cusping to upper rail and scrolling finials, but otherwise plain in treatment.

Flanking the main entrance gateway are twin chapels with gables facing the road: identical in size and style except for gable finials, and handed in plan; each chapel comprising a rectangular gabled single cell with a small flat roofed vestry to one side.

Chapel to north: main entrance faces east. East elevation a tall gable with a wide central doorway; rectangular ledged timber double doors with radially glazed Gothic fanlight over, with later plywood panel affixed immediately above doors; modern steel bolts to doors. Walling is snecked coursed rock faced basalt with later reticulated pointing; sandstone quoins to extremities; sandstone weathering to projecting plinth; sandstone kneelers carrying moulded sandstone gable copings; fleur-de-lys finial in sandstone to apex of gable above quatrefoil sandstone panel (possibly a louvered opening now closed up) in circular sandstone surround. Doors set in Gothic arched surround with stop chamfers. Concrete step.

South elevation contains two Gothic arched windows to right with Gothic arched doorway to left; stop chamfered sandstone surrounds; Bangor blue slates in regular courses, between gable upstands; moulded cast iron gutter; painted wooden fascia over projecting rafter ends. Small gablet motif to each skew corbel. Windows of leaded glazing in wooden frames with plate glass storm glazing. Rectangular cast iron downpipe. Rectangular ledged timber door, painted black, with later ply panel affixed to lower portion; Gothic fanlight containing translucent glass. Walling as previous. Some rot to eaves fascia.

West elevation: end gable of similar walling to previous; finial as previous; recessed circular stone panel in moulded stone surround high in gable; large central Gothic arched window with stop chamfered sandstone surround containing glass bricks, later insert. Sandstone weathering to projecting plinth, level with front screen wall. Set back to left hand extremity, a boundary pier abutting west elevation; set back behind boundary pier a flat roofed vestry projecting to west; plain side wall of basalt; smooth cement rendered coping.

North elevation similar to south with two windows as previous, but glazed with wired glass; bottom rail of frame of left hand window rotted and partly missing. Rectangular cast iron downpipe to left hand end. To right of windows a small flat roofed projecting vestry, with one Gothic arched window now blocked up with plyboard. Walling as main chapel, with sandstone quoins to extremities. Smooth cement rendered coping to parapet. Circular cast iron downpipe, partly missing, and circular cast iron soil pipe to east side of vestry.

Chapel to north: identical in design, size, and layout to other chapel except plan is handed, with vestry on south side. Main entrance faces east. East elevation a tall gable with a wide central doorway. Double doors, rectangular timber ledged with Gothic fanlight with radially glazed panes around a small Gothic arched pane; plain glass; fanlight obscured on inside by wooden panelling. Walling of coursed snecked rock faced basalt with later reticulated pointing; sandstone quoins and sandstone weathering to projecting plinth; sandstone kneelers carrying moulded sandstone gable copings; sandstone Celtic cross finial to apex of gable above circular panel with moulded sandstone surround, presumably containing quatrefoil motif but later closed over. Three concrete steps.

South elevation has two windows to right of a projecting flat roofed vestry. Roof of main chapel: Bangor blue slates in regular courses between gable upstands; small gablet motif to each skew corbel. Moulded cast iron gutter; painted wooden fascia over projecting rafter ends; part of fascia rotting, and part missing to right of rectangular cast iron downpipe. Windows are fixed lights with leaded glazing in rectangular and lozenge patterning; moulded wooden frames; stop chamfered sandstone surrounds. Right hand window has broken panes and damage to leading. Cill of left hand window fractured, with crack in wall plane stepping down to fracture in weathering of plinth. Vestry to left: walling as main chapel; later flat roof of asphalt on overhanging wooden fascia and soffit. One window in south face of vestry: Gothic in form, of fixed glazing as previous windows, but divided into two panes by a transom; translucent upper pane over wired glass lower pane; bottom rail of frame badly rotted. East side of vestry has circular cast iron soil pipe, and also circular cast iron downpipe with curved polygonal hopper; lower section of downpipe missing. Some stonework of plinth missing from corner of vestry with main chapel.

West elevation: end gable of similar walling to entrance gable; finial as previous; recessed circular sandstone panel in moulded stone surround high in gable; large central Gothic arched window with stop chamfered sandstone surround containing glass bricks, later insert. Sandstone weathering to projecting plinth, level with front screen wall.

North elevation contains two Gothic arched windows to left with Gothic arched doorway to right; stop chamfered sandstone surrounds. Roof slated as south elevation. Moulded cast iron gutter with painted wooden fascia over projecting rafter ends; rectangular cast iron downpipe. Windows as on south side; broken panes to left hand window. Door ledged timber with Gothic arched head; modern metal handle.

Boundary walling to each side of gateway and chapels in same stone as screen wall. Abutting extremities of chapels, square pier as previous with low base wall as previous extending to a square pier; beyond that low wall extends to each side along front boundary; railings plain with foliated finial to end railings. Boundary wall to left is on the level; to right it steps down slope of hill. Mature hedges against inner face of boundary railings. At left hand extremity of front boundary is a square pier, as previous to gate screen.

Rubble greystone walling, with rough stone copings, returns to form north boundary of older part of cemetery, with breaks for cross paths. East boundary is formed by similar walling, continuous. South boundary similar, with gateway at eastern end; square piers of coursed rock faced greystone; rough copings; plain ironwork gate. Front boundary walls and railings terminate at right hand side with a pedestrian gateway of two square piers as previous with wrought iron gate as previous. Beyond gateway to right is boundary walling and end pier as previous but with railings removed, enclosing grassed area to front of former cemetery offices, now toilets: two-storey gabled building of coursed snecked basalt with later raised cement rendered dressings; windows to first floor of front facade are segmental headed timber sliding sash, vertically hung, with horns; windows to ground floor of front facade are Gothic arched timber fixed lights with lower panes blocked by cement render, dry dashed with black stone chippings.

Setting: the cemetery stands to the north of the town on the edge of the built-up area alongside a main road with its main entrance facing a post-war housing estate; open grassed land to the rear. Slight fall from north to south within cemetery, with tarmac paths and numerous mature trees and shrubs; tarmac area around chapels with flower beds between them, divided by central entrance driveway; modern concrete kerbing to flower beds. Cemetery contains the Smiley Burial Place (HB06/11/006) axially placed to east of the northern chapel; otherwise no memorials of special interest.

Historical information

Designed in 1903 by W.J. Gilliland, architect of Belfast. The chapel to the north was designated as Church of Ireland and the chapel to the south as Roman Catholic as indicated on later revisions of the 1903 OS map.

References - Primary

1. Belfast News-Letter, 17 December 1903 (contract advertised).
2. OS Map 1921, Co Antrim 35.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

These Gothic Revival chapels are late in date and are of little architectural merit. The original interiors have been lost.