Presbyterian Church

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A free-standing Presbyterian Church in the Classical style with pedimented gable, built c.1830 and remodelled in 1877 to designs by Young and MacKenzie, and again in 1963. Located to the south side of Scarva Street in Banbridge town centre. Rectangular plan with projecting porch to front and two-storey gabled return to rear; abutted to southeast by a single-storey porch leading to minister’s room housed in a large modern extension to southeast.

Pitched natural slate roof with raised stone kneelers. Cast-iron ogee rainwater goods on projecting eaves. Walling is ashlar sandstone, band rusticated to ground floor and porch at northeast elevation. Windows are round and segmental-headed lattice leaded-and-stained glass casements in moulded surrounds to ground floor and moulded and lugged surrounds with keyblock to gallery to front; plain mouldings in side walls.

The principal elevation faces northeast and comprises a 1963 facade. Symmetrically arranged with three openings to each floor, having dividing and corner giant order pilasters surmounted by plain moulded entablature and pedimented gable. To centre of gable is a Burning Bush and banner reading “ARDENS SED VIRENS”. To centre at ground floor is a projecting gabled porch with decorative kneeler stones and round-headed window to left and right cheek. Porch is accessed via a set of splayed granite steps and contains a modern double-leaf four-panelled timber door with over-sized fanlight and label mould.

The southeast elevation has three evenly-spaced windows at each floor; abutted at far left by the single-storey porch with modern four-panelled door accessed via a set of masonry steps.

The southwest (rear) elevation has gabled return to centre which is abutted to left and right by single-storey extensions and has a round-headed window to southeast and northwest elevations.

The northwest elevation is three-evenly spaced windows wide at each floor; to left is a recessed modern six-panelled timber door accessed via ramp with modern metal handrail.

Setting

Set back from the road with central tarmac entrance flanked by lawned banks. Scarva Street to northeast has a variety of mid-twentieth terraced housing. To rear is a small graveyard with a variety of headstones dating from the mid-nineteenth century. To northeast is a large two-storey modern extension, in similar style as the church.

Roof: Natural slate
Walling: stone/render
Windows: Lead
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

Scarva Street Presbyterian Church was constructed in the early 1830s and has undergone several phases of remodelling in the ensuing years.

The ‘Presbyterian Meeting House’ is shown as a simple rectangle on the first edition OS map of 1833. By 1860 a ‘Nat[ional] Sch[ool]’ had been added to the site and this had been extended by the time of the fourth edition of 1903-18. The Townland Valuation (1828-40) valued the meeting house at £28. Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64) increased the valuation of the ‘Presbyterian Church and National School House’ to £58. No further changes were made in Annual Revisions.

As Banbridge began to develop and grow due to the success of linen trading in the area, the need arose for a Presbyterian place of worship. A meeting house was erected in 1716 on the banks of the Bann at the Old Meeting House Green and served the congregation for over a hundred years. An early minister, Rev Henry Jackson (1743-90), was said to be a relative of American President, General Jackson. (Kirkpatrick) The Rev James Davis was appointed to Banbridge in 1814 and in the 1820s he opposed Dr Cooke in the subscription controversy and became the leader of a liberal faction. When Dr Cooke triumphed at the 1828 Synod, Mr Davis was appointed to draw up a Remonstrance, a historic document which gave its name to ‘The Remonstrant Synod of Ulster’ or the Unitarians. Mr Davis was one of seventeen ministers who separated from the Synod of Ulster in 1830, the first Remonstrant Synod taking place that year. (Linn)

The orthodox section of the congregation worshipped in the old Market House for a time and then began to build a new church in Scarva Street, having been the recipients of a gift from the Marquess of Downshire. The Marquess had subscribed £300 towards the new Episcopal church and gave £120 to Presbyterians for a meeting house in 1929. (Morning Post) The new minister, Mr Robert Anderson, was ordained in the partially completed church on 22nd June 1830. Temporary seats had to be provided for the occasion. (Linn) The formal opening of the new building, which had cost £1200, was on 27th March 1832 when the Rev Dr Cooke preached and a collection was taken to assist with the debts arising from its construction. (Belfast Newsletter; Linn) OS Memoirs record the orthodox Presbyterian meeting house as “ a whinstone building corniced with granite. In length it is 65 feet and in breadth 47 feet. It was erected in 1829 and cost 1,000 pounds which was defrayed by subscription. It has a good gallery and is well provided with seats and contains accommodation for 650 persons. The average attendance is 250” (OS Memoirs)

The congregation built a school-room in 1857 ‘without architect or contractor’ at a cost of about £560. A further £600 were expended in 1907 when two classrooms were added and a heating system. (Linn) In 1871 alterations and repairs to the church were made under the supervision of Robert Cochrane. “The whole has been enclosed by a handsome wrought-iron railing on cut-stone base, ornamental wrought-iron entrance gate and wicket, with hollow wrought-iron pillars filled with scroll-work, surmounted by gas standards. The iron work was designed by Mr R Cochrane, CE in keeping with the Italian style of the church and school-house. Mr Hugh McMullan is the contractor.” (Irish Builder)

Further extensive alterations were made by Young & Mackenzie in 1878-9 and Brett dates the present interior to this period (Brett; www.dia.ie) The seats were modernised, a platform with movable desk was substituted for the pulpit and the plaster ceiling was replaced by recessed panelling. (Bassett’s Directory) The contractor was John Harkness. (Boyd)

Stained glass windows were inserted in 1900 and alterations made to accommodate an organ in 1920. These alterations were supervised by William Wright Larmor, who was at the time engineer to Banbridge District Council and assistant county surveyor for County Down and was also a member of the congregation. (www.dia.ie; Boyd) A photograph survives which shows the interior of the church prior to the installation of the organ. (Dillon)

In the First General Revaluation (1933/4) the church was revalued at £140. The heating was by low pressure hot water and the seating accommodation was sufficient for about 500. The church hall, which was used as a Sunday School, comprised a main hall and two ‘good-sized’ rooms with a ‘good’ basement under the class rooms. The hall was heated by high pressure hot water. The church was said to be ‘well built and in good condition’. The plan shows the school with porch, cellar and lavatories to the rear and the church with porch to the front and organ and vestry to the rear. In 1943 the school buildings were requisitioned by the War Department but the use made of them is not recorded.

The Banbridge Chronicle of 8th February 1963 carried a photograph of work in progress on the ‘modern Georgian front’ designed by Mr Morris H Ferguson ARIBA which entailed the removal of the original facade. The changes to the building were disliked by Brett who commented on the ‘perfectly horrible new porch’ and judged the new facade to be ‘grotesque’. (Brett) A new church organ and new church furniture were also dedicated in the 1960s. (Banbridge Chronicle)

A renovation scheme began towards the end of summer 1973 and the congregation, with the support of the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society was able to have the church front restored. The main contractors were Messrs John Sinton Ltd, Tandragee and the cost was in the region of £18,000. The architect was Robert McKinstry B.ARCH, ARIBA, an old boy of Banbridge Academy who was a leading member of the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society. A service of thanksgiving for the completion of the work took place on Sunday 12th May 1974. Five new stained glass windows were fitted to the front of the church, the gifts of the Ervine family, the PWA, the Young Wives’ Group, the Girls’ Auxiliary and the Boys’ Brigade. Messrs Alexander Greer Ltd (Stonetex) of Lurgan manufactured and fixed the architectural cast stone. (Banbridge Chronicle) The Ionic columns used in the restoration had once flanked the doorway to the old GNR goods office in Belfast’s Great Victoria Street. (www.dia.ie)

The building was listed in 1977. In 1978 a choir room was built to the rear of the church and in 1985 a large extension to the church hall to designs by R J Thompson of Loughbrickland. The church railings and gate piers were replaced c1993 and in 2000 the entrance porch shown on the first survey image was replaced to designs by Whittaker and Watt. New stonework to the facade has included a carved representation of the Presbyterian motif of a burning bush. (HB file)

The church has flourished throughout the 20th century and at about 550 families today, is the largest congregation in Iveagh presbytery. (Kirkpatrick)

References:
Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/3/27/1 First Edition OS Map 1833
2. PRONI OS/6/3/27/2 Second Edition OS map 1860
3. PRONI OS/6/3/27/3 Third Edition OS Map (c1900)
4. PRONI OS/6/3/27/4 Fourth Edition OS Map 1903-18
5. PRONI VAL/1/B/348A Townland Valuation (1828-40)
6. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/64C Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64)
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/6A-H Annual Revisions (1864-1929)
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/8A-C Annual Revisions (1899-1930)
9. PRONI VAL/12/F/4/1/1 Annual Revisions (1930-35)
10. PRONI VAL/3/C/4/4 First General Revaluation (1936-57)
11. PRONI VAL/3/D/4/2/B/19 First General Revaluation (1933-57)
12. Morning Post 16th September 1929
13. Belfast Newsletter 6th April 1832
14. Irish Builder December 15th 1871
15. Bassett’s Directory 1886
16. Banbridge Chronicle 8th February 1963
17. Banbridge Chronicle 30th July 1965
18. Banbridge Chronicle 10th May 1974
19. Belfast Newsletter Friday August 29th, 1976
20. Banbridge Chronicle 19th June 1980

Secondary Sources
1. “A History of Congregations in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland 1610-1982” authorised by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Belfast: Presbyterian Historical Society of Ireland, 1982 (available at www.presbyterianhistoryireland.com)
2. Boyd, Rev T “Scarva Street Congregation 1830-1930” Banbridge Chronicle, 1930
3. Day, A. And P. McWilliams, eds. “OS Memoirs of Ireland, Parishes of County Down III, 1833-8, Vol. 12.” Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies, 1992.
4. Dillon, A “Images of Ireland, Banbridge”Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, 1997
5. Kirkpatrick, L “Presbyterians in Ireland” Booklink, 2006
6. Linn, Captain R “A History of Banbridge” (edited by W S Kerr) Banbridge Chronicle Press, 1935
7. www.dia.ie

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
H-. Alterations detracting from building
I. Quality and survival of Interior

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

A free-standing Presbyterian Church in the Classical style with pedimented gable, built c.1830 and remodelled in 1877 to designs by Young and MacKenzie, and again in 1963. The 1963 refurbishment involved the removal of a classical stone frontage, affecting its historic character. The relatively intact late-Victorian interior dating from the 1877 restoration by Young and MacKenzie is of good quality and detailing. A large modern extension has been built to southeast that compromises the north-easterly aspect of the church. The small graveyard to rear, with headstones dating from the mid-nineteenth century, adds to its interest although the setting has been compromised by the modern manse. A good example of work by prominent local architects.