Baptist Church, West Street, Stewartstown, BT71 5HT

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

This is a detached single-storey Church, originally built in 1843, and re-built in 1878.
It is T-shaped in plan, with a single-storey flat-roofed extension to the rear South.

The front North elevation fronts onto West Street. With a projecting gabled bay with recessed side wings.
The projecting bay is gable ended to the front elevation. It is three bays in width, having two-storey long pointed-arched lancet windows to the sides and a pointed-arched door to the centre. The door is timber sheeted with a cut-stone surround. There is a carved stone drip moulding set on decorative corbled-stone label stops. There is a quatrefoil roundel window over the doorway. The roundel is surmounted by a cut-stone datestone. The datestone is inscribed ‘METHODIST CHURCH ERECTED 1843 REBUILT 1878’
There are two pointed-arched windows to each side wing. All windows are replacement uPVC; these have 'Y' tracery and are covered with metal grills.

The side West and East elevations are gable-ended, and have single pointed arched window to the centre. Windows are set on cut-stone sills.

The rear South elevation is partially obscured by returns. It has a pointed arched opening to the right.

External walls are ruled-and-lined render with quoin stones to edges. There are two-stage diagonal buttresses to the outer corners of the front elevation and front entrance projection. The roof is pitched with stone skews and kneelers to each gable-end. There is a cut-stone ‘urn-shaped’ finial to the apex of the front bay roof.
Rainwater goods are extruded aluminium.

Returns:
The single-storey flat-roofed return has an assortment of square-headed timber casement windows. There is a square-headed timber sheeted door to the West. Rainwater goods are replacement aluminum.

Setting:
The Methodist Church is located on the South side of West Street, to the West of Stewartstown. It is set back from the road behind a low rendered wall with cut-stone capping and wrought-iron railings with Fleur-de-Lil motifs. There are cut-stone pillars supporting a painted wrought-iron pedestrian entrance gate, one to the West and East. There is a graveled parking are to the West, which is access via a pillared vehicle entrance gate to the West.

Historical information

The plaque on the front of this Methodist Church states that it was built in 1843 and ‘rebuilt 1878’. The original building is shown on the OS map of 1857 as a rectangular structure set on an east-west axis. On the 1906 OS map the present T-shaped church is shown. Whether the church was actually completely ‘rebuilt’ in 1878 is difficult to say; it is possible that the original building was simply extended northwards and remodelled.

The hall is believed to be in use as a Baptist hall sine the 1990s.'

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI OS/6/6/39/2 OS map, Co Tyrone sheet 39, 1857
2 PRONI OS/6/6/39/3 OS map, Co Tyrone sheet 39, 1906
3 PRONI OS/6/6/39/4 OS map, Co Tyrone sheet 39, 1934-35

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

This is a simple late nineteenth century Methodist church that is now in use as a Baptist Hall. Though small in scale it is nonetheless well proportioned. The diagonal reducing buttresses add a decorative element to the façade.

The street setting is well preserved.

General comments

This Church is marked on the current OS maps as a Methodist Church, however it it now in use as a Baptist Hall, i.e. 'Stewartstown Baptist Hall.

The hall is believed to be in use as a Baptist hall sine the 1990s.'