St Mary's Church, Melmount Road, Strabane, Co Tyrone BT82 9EF

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Double height symmetrical modernist Roman Catholic Church built to designs by Patrick Haughey c.1970.
Design based on other Haughey designed church, St. Patricks, Dunamanagh, HB10.09.025.

Square plan church with rounded corners and single storey rectangular projecting porch to front elevation and continuous single storey outshot to rear elevation housing side entrances, side chapel and vestry.

Consists of loadbering external walls clad in brown concrete brick at ground level, with continuous anodised copper clad clerestorey at first floor level with rectangular windows. Roof consists of shallow pyramid.

There are nine windows and two corner windows on each elevation with splayed reveals and an asymmetrical arrangement of panes in clear embossed glass.

Front porch consists of two solid gable walls in brown concrete brick with a flat roof with deep soffit clad in anodised copper and recessed timber and glass entrance screen spanning its full length.

Internally there is a plain rectangular lobby with another full length timber and glass entrance screen providing access to the main church. There is flagstone flooring and copper panelled ceiling. There is a plaque on the wall RSUA Award of Merit dated 1971.

The church is set within a large tarmaced car park in the outskirts of Strabane.

There is a 2 -storey parochial house and a 2-storey parish office linked by single storey garages/parking units at the rear of the building in the same style as the church, possibly contemporary to the church.

Historical information

Double height symmetrical modernist Roman Catholic Church built to designs by Patrick Haughey c.1970.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Double height symmetrical modernist Roman Catholic Church built to designs by Patrick Haughey c.1970. This church was based on an earlier design by the same architect at St. Patricks, Dunamanagh, HB10.09.025. It is a well proportioned and detailed church but is not of the same quality as Haughey's more famous design St Theresa's at Sion Mills which is a listed building..

General comments

This building was surveyed in the First Survey but not listed. Only a Partial Survey was taken during the Second Survey as the building is not of sufficient interest to warrant a full Second Survey.