St. Mark’s Church (C of. I.)

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Detached double-height Church of Ireland, built c.1820, located to the east side of Newtownsaville Road. Rectangular nave with chancel to east; canted transept to north-east abutted by lean-to vestry to west; square-plan four-stage tower to west gable.

Roofs are pitched natural slate, blue/black clay ridge tiles; stone verges, replacement square uPVC rainwater goods supported on stone projecting eaves course; Walls are roughly coursed squared-and-snecked rubble with stugged finish sandstone quoins; replacement uPVC windows with lattice glazing within gothic plain projecting chamfered surrounds; projecting masonry cill and stone voussoirs over, unless otherwise stated.

Principal elevation faces west and is centrally abutted by four-stage tower; exposed section to right is blank; exposed section to left is abutted by stone stairwell aligned east-west (also abutting north side of tower). Stair accesses timber sheeted door at first floor level within square-headed chamfered surround.

Tower, stage one, at south, contains gothic chamfered sandstone opening containing double-leaf vertically sheeted timber doors with decorative strap hinges; blind opening over; at west, single gothic y-tracery fixed window; at north, single fixed y-tracery window. Stage-two, contains at south, west and east, single square-headed tripartite window within projecting chamfered surround and hood mould with label-stops; belfry stage contains gothic louvred belfry opening at each elevation; with hood mould and label-stops over; tower terminates with crenellated parapet with central loophole above dentilled string course.

North elevation (nave) is abutted by canted transept to left, a late Victorian addition. Intersecting angle contains gabled vestry; exposed section is blank. Canted transept, chancel and vestry are detailed as nave with corbel table, square profile cast-iron gutter and round downpipe. Walls are detailed as nave with splayed plinth. Windows are gothic metal frame windows with lattice glazing and stained glass margin lights. Transept contains single window to each cheek; abutted at right by gabled vestry containing gothic vertically sheeted timber door in stepped chamfered sandstone surround; west elevation contains paired gothic windows with chamfered mullion and stepped chamfered sandstone surround.

West gable is abutted by chancel; east elevation contains central geometric tracery window with leaded lattice stained glass and margin lights; within stepped chamfered surround; hood mould with label-stops and stone voussoirs over. South elevation contains paired gothic tracery windows. North elevation is abutted by canted transept.

Setting

Set on elevated site within churchyard containing nineteenth- and twentieth-century grave markers. Site bound to road by coursed squared-and-snecked rubble wall with saddle-back coping, accessed through alcoved entrance consisting of square piers with pyramidal coping supporting pair of replacement cast-metal gates.

Roof Natural slate
Walling stone
Windows stained-glass lattice
RWG uPVC & cast-iron

Historical information

A church appears on the first OS map of 1833 and again on the 1854 map, the plan remaining unchanged between these two dates. By the time of the third map in 1906 it appears to have undergone some changes in plan, with the addition of a transept to the north elevation. In the Townland Valuation Records of 1835 the church is valued at £6 7s 0d and is exempt. A Reverend Henry Burke is recorded as occupying a house and offices nearby. In Griffith’s Valuation the church is leased from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and is listed as a “Church and Graveyard” valued at £7 15s 0d. The dimensions are given – the church is 48 feet long by 24 feet broad by 16 feet high. The tower is 12½ feet long by 12½ feet broad by 35 feet high. In the Annual Revision Records the church and graveyard are valued at £11 15s 0d throughout the period covered by the records. There are several changes of incumbent in the nearby associated property.

The church appears in the OS Memoirs; “Newtown Saville is an inconsiderable village in the townland of Tamlaght…The church and Glebe House are situated close to the village in the townland Dunbiggan. The former will contain about 200 persons, but 180 comfortably” (p.32) “Townlands have been sold off at the northern end of the parish for a perpetual cure, the church and Glebe House for which are built in this townland…The church is small and plain.” (p.45)

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/6/51/1-3 – Ordnance Survey Maps (1833, 1854, 1906)
2. PRONI VAL/1/A/6/51 – Townland Valuation Map
3. PRONI VAL/1/B/62 A-I – Townland Valuation Records (1828-40)
4. PRONI VAL/2/A/6/51B – Griffith’s Valuation Map
5. PRONI VAL/2/B/6/2B – Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64)
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/36/8/A-F – Annual Revision Records (1860-1923)
7. Day, A and McWilliams, P eds. ‘OS Memoirs of Ireland, Parishes of County Tyrone I, 1821, 1823, 1833-36, Vol 5’ Institute of Irish Studies, 19900

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

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

Evaluation

Detached double-height Church of Ireland, built c.1840, located to the east side of Newtownsaville Road. A modestly-scaled and well-conceived design with nicely detailed stonework, the building's presence is enhanced by the tower with crenellated parapet. The location and form of the later transept is unusual and of note, as is the roof structure of the Victorian additions. The church is a good example of ecclesiastical architecture of the time.