Christ Church,

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Double-height Gothic Revival Church of Ireland, built 1868 to designs by Welland and Gillespie, located to the east side of Bell Road. Church consists of central nave with canted chancel to east; double gabled transept to north abutted to west by square tower; gabled outshoot to south and gabled vestry to south-east; single-storey gabled porch to west; recent flat-roofed boiler house to south-west at basement level.

Roof is pitched natural slate; raised sandstone verges with trefoil finial over corbelled kneelers; decorative square chimney-stack with trefoil perforations to south and west gables. Walls are roughly coursed rubble over stepped plinth with ashlar sandstone quoins and sill course; diagonal buttresses with offsets. Windows are pointed-arched-headed with sandstone tracery containing leaded lattice lights in stepped sandstone surround surmounted by hood mould with label stops and rubble voussoirs.

Principal gable faces west and contains circular rose window containing leaded stained glass surmounted by hood moulding and rubble voussoirs; blind chamfered pointed-arched-headed window to apex. Gable abutted at ground floor by porch; gabled half-dormer containing narrow window flanked by buttresses with gablets; cusped pointed-arched-headed entrance containing double-leaf vertically sheeted timber entrance doors within rebated sandstone surround flanked by colonettes and surmounted by hood moulding to north elevation.
North elevation consists of nave containing single window at right; abutted at left by double-gabled transept; each gable, separated by buttress with gablet, contains single window; blind chamfered pointed-arched-headed window to apex; single stained glass window to east elevation.

Elevation abutted to centre by two-stage tower; first stage contains pointed-arched-headed vertically-sheeted entrance door within cusped chamfered sandstone surround with decorative stop and hood moulding surmounted by narrow square-headed recess in sandstone surround; narrow window surmounted by recess (as north) to west elevation; moulded string course to belfry stage; colonettes to corners; pointed-arched-headed louvred opening surmounted by hood moulding to each elevation; surmounted by splay-footed spire with lucarnes and trefoil perforations.

East elevation is abutted by five-sided canted chancel; each cheek, separated by buttresses with offsets and gablet, contains reticulated bar tracery leaded stained glass window surmounted by hood moulding.

South elevation consists of two-window-wide nave at left; abutted at centre by gabled outshoot containing single leaded stained glass window; small chamfered pointed-arched-headed aperture to apex; abutted at right by gabled vestry containing single window small chamfered pointed-arched-headed aperture to apex; narrow square-headed window to low level; west elevation contains square-headed vertically sheeted entrance door surmounted by pointed-arched-headed spandrel, supported on corbels, containing plain glazed oculus; hood moulding.

Access to boiler house via concrete steps enclosed within concrete retaining wall to south-west.

Set within rural churchyard with mature trees to west. Site bounded to road at west by rubble walling with rubble coping; access through pair of square sandstone pillars on splayed plinth surmounted by gabled mansard coping with carved quatrefoil motif supporting pair of painted decorative iron gates. Secondary pedestrian access to north-east through pair of plain sandstone pillars supporting cast-iron gate.

Roof Natural slate
Walling Squared-and-snecked rock-faced rubble with sandstone quoins
Windows Cusped pointed-arched-headed leaded stained glass in stepped sandstone surrounds
RWG Replacement cast-iron gutters and square downpipes; decorative fleur-de-lys ties

Historical information

Annual valuation revisions record the addition in 1868 of ‘Church (in progress) and land’ listed as exempt and valued at £50. It is shown on the third edition OS map of 1905, captioned ‘Christ Church’.

Rowan dates the church to 1864-6 and states the architects to be Welland & Gillespie. It has a stained glass window to the south of 1894 ‘Suffer the little Children’ by A.L. Moore. There is a monument taken from the old church dedicated to William Maxwell (1789), this is a draped urn in marble with bay leaf garland. (p.504)

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/12/B/42/20A-G -Valuation Revisions (1860-1924)
5. PRONI VAL/12/D/6/9B -Valuation Revisions Map (1882-1903)

Secondary Sources

1. Rowan, Alistair. “North West Ulster: Londonderry, Donegal, Fermanagh, and Tyrone.” Buildings of Ireland Series. Dublin: Penguin Books, 1979.
2. Williams, Jeremy. “Architecture in Ireland, 1837-1921: A Companion Guide.” Dublin: Irish Academic Press Ltd, 1994.

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

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

Evaluation

This Gothic Revival Church of Ireland Church, built 1868 to designs by Welland and Gillespie is richly detailed and beautifully crafted and includes ornate composite tracery and fine stonework carvings. The composition has been further enhanced by the later addition of leaded stained glass windows. The building has been restored in recent years, revealing the original character of the façade. This church, by celebrated local architects, is an important aspect of the built heritage of the Strabane area and social interest for the local community.