St Colman’s RC Church

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A cruciform granite built church in English Gothic Revival style with one centrally placed west tower over the entrance. An unusual feature is that the transepts are each two bays in width. Orientation is roughly E-W, i.e. liturgically correct.

The tower has three stages and corner buttress paired at right angles to each other. The walling is squared granite set to a most unusual pattern of irregular large and small stones creating diagonal rows. The body of the wall has raised pointing which is rounded and convex rather than struck so that it does not give a hard line. All openings, buttresses, coping etc. are fully dressed and flush pointed. Buttresses to the exposed corners have three stages with pitched copings to each stage. The first stage of the tower contains the entrance, on its west face. The doors are paired and sheeted and varnished; the stone jambs are cusped at the top and the arris of the lintel stone has a stopped chamfer. All are set within an outer Gothic arch in the tympanum at the centre of which is a blind quatrefoil. The arch is moulded and has a label mould with cubical stops. Its extrados is formed by a relieving arch in rubble stonework. This format is common to all doorways and all lancet windows. The jambs are flanked by single engaged colonettes with undecorated Romanesque capitals, cushioned base and chamfered plinth. On north and south walls there are single lancet windows with splayed reveals.

The second stage has paired lights on west face, each with a trefoil head. Set above, and on the centre line of, the pair is a single quatrefoil. All have standard dressings. Only on the west face is this stage marked by a stringcourse. This is absent on the N and S faces where there are two small quatrefoil lights and no other dressings. The third stage is marked by a stringcourse on all sides, which just clears the ridge of the main roof. On all four façades there is a pair of bell vents with trefoil heads and a quatrefoil opening centred above; all set within a Gothic arch with standard detailing. The parapet is marked by a projecting cornice mould and is stepped. The central panel to each face is decorated with a blind Gothic arch. The coping oversails the parapet walls. There are corner pinnacles with pyramidal caps and iron cross finials; each external face of the pinnacles is decorated with a blind Gothic arch.

The nave and transept roofs are pitched and covered in Welsh slate with blue clay ridges. Rainwater goods are cast iron to an unusual chamfered box section, downpipes are square. There is a projecting chamfered eaves course on projecting chamfered brackets. The gable is coped to front with projecting cross gable kneelers.

The nave has two stage buttresses between each of the windows with a pitched coping at first stage and gabled coping to the second; windows are single lancets as the tower.

Transepts are similarly detailed to the nave; there is an entrance door in the last bay of the west wall at each end, set in an advanced gabled porch. The doorway has a cusped head set within a moulded arch and dressings similar to main door in the tower. The end walls of both transepts (to N+S) have paired gables, each coped with a stone cross finial; there are three buttresses similar to the nave but single stage with gabled coping. A modern wet dash render flue rises up west wall of north transept terminating in a red clay chimney pot just above eaves level.

Each gable is over a six-part rose window of plate tracery within a circular moulding. Below each rose window are two lancet lights of standard detailing. On the east wall all windows have plate tracery and dressings as standard.

The rear (east) walls of both transepts are advanced, with a double gabled façade and central single stage buttress. Each gable contains a paired lancet window with quatrefoil over in Gothic ashlar surround.

The sanctuary gable has a granite cross finial and corner buttresses rising in three stages with over sailing pyramidal caps having branching iron finials and otherwise detailed as other buttresses. Large centred tracery window set high in wall- three Gothic headed lancets and cinquefoil window over in a Gothic headed opening with moulded label and square block label stops. High in each sidewall of the sanctuary is a cinquefoil window set in circular opening.

The Sacristy is against the north wall of the Sanctuary. It has a natural slate mono pitched roof and is lit by two plain lancet windows with no dressings. There is now a shallow pitched slate roofed extension with semicircular cast-iron rainwater goods bringing the complete group to three-quarters of the length of the transept up to cill level. Detailing is similar to the original Sacristy wall: the base is chamfered, arrises are stop-chamfered the moulded cap projects and three are five small rectangular headed stained glass windows (two with aluminium opening vents inserted). There are two stained timber sheeted doors set into North wall. At junction of rear transept wall and sanctuary wall, on north side is an ashlar granite chimney rising six courses above eaves level. The flue is capped with lead. Sitting between west wall of transept and north wall of nave in a small, flat roofed, modern boiler house with rendered walls and raised strap pointing to match joint lines of church.

Setting:
The
setting is without features of note. There is no planting and the graveyard is surrounded by a rubble granite wall approximately 1.5 m high capped with concrete. The entrance gates are modern and hung on ashlar gate piers, five courses high with canted plinth and cap.

Historical information

This church was designed by Belfast architects O’Neill and Byrne and opened in 1879. It superseded an earlier church on the same site which was erected 1811-18.

Primary Source:
1. R.S.J. Clarke (n.d.), Gravestone inscriptions, vol.10: barony of Mourne, p.3.

Secondary Source:
St Colman’s Church, Massforth, Upper Mourne: Centenary Souvenir 1879-1979.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

Substantial English Gothic Revival style church in a prominent setting and well built and detailed in the local granite. Unusual double bay width transepts and an interesting and complete interior.