S.S. John R.C. Church, Springhill Road, Moneymore, Magherafelt

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A 9 bay long hall church with projecting chancel and tall brick tower.

The “west” front, in reality NW, has principal entrance centred in gable, with projecting redbrick walls to carrying inclined canopy. Side walls splayed inwards with pair of timber doors with 3 raised and fielded panels each. Over 4 small square windows forming a fanlight. On the gable above tripartite square headed windows, centre one taller. Gable finished in roughcast rendering. The NE long wall of 9 bays has 9 square headed narrow tall lancets with recessed panels above and below. Towards the SE end a low flat roofed brick structure envelopes 4 bays and continues round the chancel to form sacristy accommodation and secondary entrance. Wall roughcast. The SE has a narrow redbrick chancel projecting from a roughcast gable with the flat roofed sacristy block encloses it. Chancel gable windowless and sacristies have 3 square headed windows on each side. A further low brick structure projects from chancel gable. Vertical windows on side walls of chancel. Roof slated, flat roofs asphalted.

The SW wall is dominated by a tall redbrick tower with octagonal belfry. Sides of tower have tall recesses on each. Recesses, tiled and having small slit windows. At lower portions decorative panels with symbols depicted.

The church is sited on the hillside above Springhill Road and overlooking Moneymore to the NW and with a magnificent view of the rolling agricultural landscape towards Cookstown. The site is carved out of the slope with large graveyard.

Historical information

The church is within the Catholic parish of Ardtrea and the O.S. Memoirs records “a plain substantial house built of white limestone. it is 80 feet long, 40 feet wide and capable of accommodating 500 persons. It was built in 1831 at an expense of 250 pounds of which the Drapers’ Company contributed 50 pounds”. The church was almost rebuilt in mid 1950s when the walls were taken down to a height of 1200mm and the whole rebuilt. After the canonisation of Oliver Plunkett the decorative panels around the tower were added.
W.J. Booth may have given advice on the church of 1831.

References

Primary Sources
1. O.S. Map 1832 Londonderry sh. 46.
2. O.S. Map Londonderry 109-5 1:2500.
3. O.S. Memoirs of Ireland, Parishes of Co Londonderry I, 1830, 1834, 1836 p. 7.
4. Notes, 1st Survey, E.H.S. Hill Street, Belfast
5. Curl J.S. The Londonderry Plantation 1609-1914 p. 205

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

An 1831 Catholic church almost rebuilt in 1950s with a lofty square red brick tower set in the nave wall of roughcast rendering on a prominent site.