Urney Presbyterian Church,

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Detached Presbyterian Church, built c.1750, located to the south side of Bellspark Road, Strabane. T-shaped plan facing north with chancel to east and minister’s room at south.

Roofs are fibre cement asbestos slated, blue/black clay ridge tiles; flat stone verges; cast-iron profile rainwater goods; walls are roughcast rendered partially projecting roughcast rendered plinth at south (remains of previous structure before renovation); smooth rendered pilasters with base at corners; smooth rendered eaves band and projecting plinth. Replacement windows are pointed-arched-headed leaded stained glass windows with narrow margin lights within pointed-arched-headed moulded architraves and projecting stone cills, unless otherwise stated.

Principal faced north and is centrally abutted by double height transept; exposed section contains window at each side.

Left (east) gable contains chancel windows (larger) with leaded stained glass and margin lights.

South (nave) elevation is abutted by single-storey minister’s room off-centre to left; exposed section at right contains two windows; single window at left. (All windows on rear elevation do not have moulded architrave.)

Right (west) gable is detailed as left (east) gable.

North transept is detailed as main block and contains principal entrance doors at north; single window at each cheek. Entrance comprises replacement square-headed double-leaf herringbone timber sheeted doors within pointed-arched-headed opening with chamfered moulded architrave and fixed masonry date-panel above, reading; ‘AD. 1654.’ Entrance accessed by concrete steps at left and ramp at right, both with replacement cast-metal handrail.

Single-storey minister’s room has pitched fibre cement tiled roof; blue/black clay ridge tiles and plain timber bargeboard; walls are roughcast rendered and windows are replacement timber casements with masonry cills. South gable is abutted by single-storey lean-to extension; left cheek contains vertically sheeted timber door; right cheek contains single window. Extension contains vertically sheeted timber door at west; other elevations are blank.

The church is set back from the road with gravel forecourt and car park to south; national school built c.1850, located within the church boundary to the east of the church. Access from the road is via square plan roughcast rendered piers and plinth walls with segmental coping. A secondary vehicular entrance and pedestrian access is located to the north of the church; (the vehicular access now has steps due to new road levels); both contain cast-iron gates supported on roughcast rendered piers with pyramidal caps; remainder of site bound by roughcast rendered walling with segmental coping.

Roof Fibre cement tile
Walling Roughcast render
Windows Pointed-arched-headed leaded stained glass windows with narrow margin lights, architraves and projecting stone
cills
RWG Cast-iron

Historical information

Construction on the meetinghouse was begun in 1745, according to Haire and Maxwell (2005).

The congregation dates from 1645. A central site for a new meeting house was sought after a meeting house at Peacock Bank meetinghouse proved unsatisfactory after sixteen years of use. A deed was signed 3rd October 1740 for a site at the north end of John Semple’s farm. “This land was leased by John Piggot of the City of Dublin and controlled by the Bishop of Derry. The congregation of Urney agreed to pay 6s 0d per year, paid quarterly and free of all taxes. It is not known exactly what year in the 1740s that construction began and…the congregation met on site to lay out the position of the present meetinghouse [but] construction of the present meetinghouse was in progress from 1745 until 1749.” The Rev. Andrew Alexander was ordained on the 31st August 1749. (Haire, etc., p.18-19).

A church is shown on the first edition of 1832-3, captioned “Meeting House,” and is T-shape in plan It appears unchanged on the 1855 map, captioned “Presbyterian Meeting House.” The 1905 OS map shows a minister’s room and store added to the south elevation and the church is captioned “Urney Presbyterian.”

The Townland Valuation records the church as the “Presbyterian Meeting House,” and values it at £5 11s. Measurements for the church are also given in the fieldbook. Griffith’s Valuation of 1857 records the “Presbyterian Congregation Meeting House” under exemptions, the church is valued at £12.10, and revised to £14 (date of revision not given). The minister is listed as the Rev. John McConaghy.

The Valuation Revisions do not show any change to the church’s valuation, besides that the church is leased from Andrew F. & Thomas J. Knox.

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/6/9/1 -First Edition OS Map (1832-33)
2. PRONI OS/6/6/9/2 -Second Edition OS Map (1855)
3. PRONI OS/6/6/9/3 -Third Edition OS Map (1905)
4. PRONI VAL/1/B/642 Townland Valuation (1820-1840)
5. PRONI VAL/2B/6/44 Griffith’s Valuation (1857)
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/42/20A-G Valuation Revisions (1860-1924)

Secondary Sources

1. Haire, William and Craig Maxwell. “The Life and Times of Urney Presbyterian Church.” Strabane: Self-published, 2005.
2. Rowan, Alistair. “North West Ulster: Londonderry, Donegal, Fermanagh, and Tyrone.” Buildings of Ireland Series. Dublin: Penguin Books, 1979.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

Presbyterian Church, built c. 1750, located to the south side of Bellspark Road, Strabane. The church retains a lot of original detailing and fabric, both externally and internally and has strong historical associations with a congregation that dates from 1645. This church is a relatively rare example of a t-plan meeting house surviving in recognisable form. There have ben some alterations that have produced a more nineteenth century appearance than an eighteenth century, but the cbhurch remains an important historic building in the local area.