Gilford Free Presbyterian Church

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Detached double-height Free Presbyterian Church, dated 1843, located on an elevated site to the north side of Dunbarton Street, Gilford. Rectangular-on-plan abutted at south by single-storey entrance porch with flat roof; abutted at north by lower two-storey extension, built c.2005.

Roof is pitched artificial slate with blue-black clay ridge tiles over corbelled eaves; raised verge with replacement concrete coping and kneelers to gables. Walling is replacement roughcast render with smooth quoins over smooth rendered projecting plinth. Windows are double height arched PVC casements set within recessed surround; all have stone sills, unless otherwise stated.

Principal gable faces south and is abutted at centre by porch; exposed section contains single window over marble plaque at left and right, datestone at centre reads ‘1843’. Entrance porch contains single window to south elevation; square-headed entrance door to west elevation.

West elevation could not be surveyed.

North gable is abutted by extension, of no interest.

East elevation contains three windows at left; at right, two square-headed windows at ground floor are each surmounted by round-arched-headed window at first floor.

Setting

The church is set on an elevated site bounded to Dunbarton Street at south by roughcast plinth wall with painted stone coping surmounted by wrought-iron railings; access through double-leaf wrought-iron gates supported on chamfered square piers surmounted by stone urns; stepped approach to principal entrance. Site bounded to east and west by adjacent buildings; bounded to north by rubble walling; vehicular access to carpark through double-leaf steel entrance gates to north-east of site. Modern single-storey hall to north of site.

Roof: artificial slate
Walling: Roughcast render
Windows: uPVC casements
RWG: Not seen

Historical information

The present building was constructed in 1843 (datestone) as a Methodist Church and is first shown, uncaptioned, on the second edition OS map of 1858. The building is listed in Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64) as a ‘Wesleyan Chapel and yard’ with the building valued at £15. No further changes are made to the valuation in records up to 1935.

The history of Gilford in the nineteenth century is inextricably linked with the fortunes of the spinning mill, one of the largest in Ireland in the 1840s and the driver of economic growth and social development in the nineteenth century. Hugh Dunbar was the descendant of a linen family, his grandfather having leased a property at Huntley from the Whyte’s of Loughbrickland, where Hugh was manufacturing thread and his hand-loom weavers produced linen cloth. In 1834 the competition from mill-spun yarns, produced by the new wet-spinning process was such that Dunbar was compelled to start his own spinning mill or go out of business. Dunbar chose Gilford as the centre of his new enterprise and the Dunbar McMaster & Co spinning mill opened in 1839. It was an immediate success and attracted large numbers of workers to the town. Between 1841 and 1851 the population more than quadrupled, from 643 to 2,814, contrasting strongly with other areas in Ireland at this period which were experiencing mass emigration due to famine conditions. (Cairns; Logan)

The Methodist chapel was the first church building to be constructed in Gilford and was built on land owned by the local mill proprietor Hugh Dunbar.

According to Walker, the church has also served as an Elim Pentecostal Church and since 1990 has been the home of the Free Presbyterian congregation of Gilford. NIEA files indicate that it was sold to the present owners in 1975.

References:
Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/3/26/1 First Edition OS Map 1834
2. PRONI OS/6/3/26/2 Second Edition OS map 1858
3. PRONI OS/6/3/26/3 Third Edition OS Map 1901-2
4. PRONI OS/6/3/26/4 Fourth Edition OS Map 1920-21
5. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/48E – Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/25A-H Annual Revisions (1864-1930)
7. PRONI VAL/12/F/4/2/5 – Annual Revisions (1930-35)

Secondary Sources
1. Cairns, A “The Church and Community of St John the Evangelist Gilford, Sesquicentennial 1850-2000” Lurgan: Inglewood Press, 2002
2. Logan, R A “A Window on the Past, A History of Gilford County Down” Banbridge Chronicle, (n.d.)
3. Walker, S “Historic Ulster Churches” Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies, 2000
4. NIEA file

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Detached double-height Free Presbyterian Church, dated 1843, located on an elevated site to the north side of Dunbarton Street, Gilford. Rectangular-on-plan abutted at south by single-storey entrance porch with flat roof; abutted at north by lower two-storey extension, built c.2005. The building has been completely refurbished externally, resulting in a total loss of original external detailing, including re-rendering using cement, replacement uPVC windows and re-roofing using artificial slates. There also appears to be significant loss of historic fabric internally. Although significant in the locale, extensive alterations have compromised its architectural and historic character and it is no longer of special interest.