First Dromara Presbyterian Church

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A symmetrical double-height Presbyterian Church, dated 1826, composed on lateral rectangular plan with early proportions, full height stair-bay projections to each side, located on the north side of Kinallen village, near Dromara, Co. Down. Substantial modern hall extended by modern two-storey link block to north.

Hipped natural slate roof with angled clay ridge and hip tiles. Cast-iron rainwater goods. Unpainted rendered walling rising to a shallow parapet, having a series of three ball finials to side elevations. Windows are timber sash with simple horns, 8/12 square-headed to ground floor, 12/8 semi-circular headed to gallery with interlocking glazing bars. Replacement stained glass windows to secondary elevations. Painted masonry cills throughout.

Symmetrical principal elevation faces south, and is five windows wide, extending to either side to enclose full-height stair bays, which are blank. Ground floor has three square-headed openings flanking two windows; each has a double-leaf timber 10-panelled door with three paned sidelight and five-paned transom. Central datestone reading ‘REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY / TO KEEP IT HOLY / ERECTED BY SUBSCRIPTION / A.D. 1826 / WILLIAM CRAIG / PASTOR’.

East elevation has projecting stair-bay to right, having parapet surmounted by ball finials; there is a metal-framed bell-frame, with bell, to south elevation; there are no openings, and the door has been infilled and rendered over. To its left is a square-headed stained and leaded glass window (c.1988) to ground floor, and a round-headed gallery window directly over.

The rear elevation is abutted by the link block, of no interest. To its left is a double-height round-headed window, stained and leaded, partially obscured by protective board. Square-headed windows to left and right.

The west elevation is detailed as east, however, the stair bay retains its entrance to south side, via a replacement double-leaf timber sheeted door accessed via five concrete steps with metal handrail.

Setting

The church is set on a steep hill overlooking the village of Kinallen. To rear, extending to west, is a large church hall, of no interest. Tarmac hardstandings to all sides, accessed at west via a pair of modern steel gates. The original steeply sloping entrance avenue is set directly on axis with the central door opening, and is accessed from the road below by a pair of replacement steel gates over two stone steps, supported on original roughcast rendered square piers with shallow pyramidal stone caps. The avenue is bounded by rubble stone walls further enclosing a burial ground to either side; rendered boundary walls throughout.

Roof: Natural slate
Walling: Render
Windows: timber
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

The first Presbyterian congregation in Dromara was formed in the early 18th century and met in a small thatched building that was built in 1735; the original Meeting House was in a state of ruin by 1826 when the current building was constructed at a cost of £2,000. The Ordnance Survey Memoirs (1830s) described Dromara Presbyterian Meeting House as a ‘large, plain, rectangular building in good repair [measuring] 85ft by 69ft.’ The funds to construct the church were raised by private subscriptions and the church could accommodate a congregation of 1,200 (Ordnance Survey Memoirs, pp 66-67).

The Townland Valuations (c. 1830) valued the church and its sextons house at £34 4s. 9d; at that time there was also a National Schoolhouse which was located to the north entrance of the church along the Banbridge-Dromara Road and can be seen from the first edition of the Ordnance Survey map in 1833. By Griffith’s Valuation in 1861 the church, sexton’s house and the national schoolhouse were jointly valued at £42; this value was maintained until the end of the Annual Revisions in 1923.

Clarke and Kirkpatrick state that the Presbyterian congregation of Dromara was established in 1713; originally this assembly formed part of the congregation of Dromore, however it was not until 1735 that the first meeting house was erected. A stone incorporated into the masonry of the current church, inscribed with the date 1735, is the sole remnant of the original meeting house. The current church was completed in 1826 and above the entrance to the building reads the inscription: ‘Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy: erected by subscription A. D. 1826’ (Clarke, p. 30; Kirkpatrick, p. 232).

From 1795 to 1858 Marybrook farm in the townland of Kinallen was utilised as the manse for the early ministers of the church; in 1858 a new manse was built in Tullyniskey (HB17/14/005) at a cost of £600 (McClelland). Kirkpatrick states that during the Irish Famine the local population was decimated through starvation, disease and emigration; the reduction in the size of the congregation resulted in the closure of the church gallery which has not been used for seating since the famine. The gallery was renovated in 1980 when it was adapted in order to display historical artefacts associated with the church (Kirkpatrick).

A major upheaval within the congregation occurred in 1874 when a majority of the congregation renounced their connection with the General Synod and decided to split from First Dromara Presbyterian Church; the majority originally attempted to retain control of the church but were forced to vacate the site after legal proceedings were initiated (Killen). As a result of this split the Reformed Presbyterian Church was formed on the Ardtanagh Road and the membership of the original church was reduced to only 55 families. There was little change to the church during the early-to-mid twentieth century, however in the early 1970s extensive renovations to the building were made whilst a church hall (now replaced with a modern edifice) was added in 1974 (McClelland).

The Archaeological Survey of County Down described First Dromara Presbyterian Church as ‘perhaps the most striking example in the province of a simple barn or hall church’ (p. 313). First Dromara Presbyterian Church was listed in 1976 and continues to be used as a place of worship; in recent years membership of the church has increased by over 50%, the current membership stands at around 200 families. The manse in the townland of Tullyniskey was sold in 1989 and a modern replacement occupied in 1990. In 1994 major renovations were carried out when new heating and electrical installations were fitted and in 2000 the current church hall and rooms that abut the south side of the church were constructed. (Kirkpatrick; Lisburn.com website).

References

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/3/28/1 – First edition Ordnance Survey map 1833
2. PRONI OS/6/3/28/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey map 1859
3. PRONI OS/6/3/28/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey map 1903
4. PRONI OS/6/3/28/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey map 1903-1920
5. PRONI VAL/1/A/3/28 – Townland Valuation map 1833
6. PRONI VAL/1/B/341 – Townland Valuation c. 1830
7. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/36 – Griffith’s Valuation 1861
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/2A – Annual Revisions 1864-1875
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/2B – Annual Revisions 1876-1883
10. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/2C – Annual Revisions 1884-1894
11. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/2D – Annual Revisions 1895-1908
12. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/2E – Annual Revisions 1909-1923
13. Ordnance Survey Memoirs, Co. Down III Vol. 12 (1834)
14. First Survey Record – HB17/11/010 (1969)
15. Ordnance Survey map – 230-10 (1975)

Secondary Sources

1. ‘An Archaeological Survey of County Down’ Belfast: H. M. S. O., 1966.
2. Killen, W. E., ‘History of congregations of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland and biographical notices of eminent ministers and laymen’ Belfast: Hugh Adair, 1886.
3. Kirkpatrick, L., ‘Presbyterians in Ireland: An illustrated history’ Booklink, 2006.
4. McClelland, A., ‘A short history of First Dromara Presbyterian Church: 1713-1963’ Belfast: Howard Publications, 1963.

Online Resources

1. Lisburn.com website - http://lisburn.com/churches/Lisburn-churches/first-dromara-presbyterian-church.html

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
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

Dromara First Presbyterian Church is a symmetrical early nineteenth century double-height Presbyterian barn church, dated 1826. The church is arranged on a lateral symmetrical plan and has austere classical proportions, with minimal ornament. The setting survives despite alterations, which include a large church hall and tarmac hardstandings, with a straight axial avenue leading from the village and flanked by burial grounds. The interior fabric of the church survives, with a fine woodgrained curvilinear gallery. The church is a good example of the type.