First Presbyterian Church

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A symmetrical classically-styled stucco Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church, built c.1800 and located to the west side of Rampart Street in Dromore town centre. Lateral rectangular plan with full-height gabled projection to rear; single-storey modern annexe to east.

Pitched natural slate roof with blue/black angled ridge tiles. Plastic rainwater goods on bracketted eaves. Walling is a ruled-and-lined stucco on plinth with raised quoins and double rusticated pilasters rising to broken-bed pedimented central gable. Windows are a variety of timber-framed sash and leaded-and-stained glass; segmental-headed openings to facade and pointed-headed to other elevations. Central entrance bay dominated by large Venetian window; left and right bays with segmental-headed 1/1 windows with coloured glass margin panes and panelled aprons in a moulded architrave with painted sills. Leaded-and-stained glass windows to north and west elevations.

The principal elevation faces south comprising gabled central entrance bay; Venetian window over double-leaf three-panelled timber door with segmental-headed transom light in moulded surround surmounted by a segmental-headed canopy on carved consoles. Left and right bays each with window over double-leaf three-panelled timber door in lugged moulded surround.

The west gable has a window to centre at gallery level and a square-headed window to ground floor left.

The north elevation has full-height gabled projection to centre, two large windows at either side.

The east gable has a window to centre at gallery level; abutted at ground floor by the modern annexe which is symmetrically arranged to south with modern six-panelled timber door flanked by 1/1 segmental-headed windows with margin panes. Three windows to rear elevation.

Setting

Set on an elevated site to the west of Rampart Street, surrounded by mainly twentieth-century housing developments. Tarmacadam entrance and adjoining raised car-park to south with modern church hall. Surrounded to all sides by graveyard with earliest headstone dating from 1840. Views to north of Banbridge Road Presbyterian Church (HB17/15/028) and Dromore Primary School.

Roof: Natural slate
Walling: stucco
Windows: timber/ leaded-and-stained glass
RWG: uPVC

Historical information

The Non-Subscribing Presbyterian congregation in Dromore was formed in the early-18th century as a result of a split in the congregation of First Dromore Presbyterian Church; however the congregation did not construct the current church on Rampart Street until c. 1800. The church first appears on the first edition of the Ordnance Survey maps in 1833 where it was depicted as a rectangular-shaped building and captioned ‘Arian Meeting Ho[use].’ The contemporary Townland Valuations valued the meeting house at £14 14s., whilst the Ordnance Survey Memoirs described the structure as a ‘plain, stone building 69 feet long and 34 feet broad ... the inside is plainly fitted up with pews and there is a gallery. The accommodation is for 1,000 people, the average attendance 500.’ The memoir writer noted that the construction cost was defrayed by subscription although the total cost of the meeting house is not known (Ordnance Survey Memoirs, pp 74-75).

There was no discernible alteration to the meeting house on the second edition of the Ordnance Survey map in 1859, although the contemporary Griffith’s Valuation revalued the building, which included a sexton’s house, at £25. The value of the church was increased to £33 between 1885 and 1900, possibly due to the erection of a Sunday school on the church grounds. There was no discernible alteration to the layout of the church on the later editions of the Ordnance Survey maps (1903; 1919-20) or to the value of the site by the end of the Annual Revisions in 1930.

Kirkpatrick states that the first Presbyterian meeting house in Dromore was erected about 1600 and was a thatched building, however the current church website and Clarke note that the first congregation was established in 1660 and the first meeting house not constructed until c. 1670 (prior to this date the congregation met in local houses and barns); initially the congregation adhered to an orthodox Presbyterian form of worship. In 1724 Alexander Colville, the son of a former minister, was selected by the congregation as their preacher; however Colville did not subscribe to the Westminster Confession and upon arriving at Dromore reaffirmed the congregation as a non-subscribing church. The congregation was divided over the decision of whether to subscribe to the Westminster Confession and as a result the congregation split c. 1725. The majority left the current church and formed the First Presbyterian Church (Non-Subscribing) congregation whilst the minority continued to worship at the original site and practiced an orthodox Presbyterianism with adherence to the General Synod of Ulster (Kirkpatrick, p. 230; Clarke, p. 95).

Between c. 1725 and c. 1800 the Non-Subscribing congregation of Dromore met at a meeting house on Pound Street not far to the north of First Dromore Presbyterian on the Diamond Road. The current church was constructed c. 1800 (Brett states 1801 whilst the Ordnance Survey Memoirs note that the meeting house was erected in 1802). Nelson states that by 1834 the membership of the church stood at 1,750 (despite the Ordnance Survey Memoirs noting an average attendance of only 500); the congregation began to fall in accordance with the decrease in the rural population of Ireland after the famine of the late 1840s, although the congregation remained above 1,000 members well into the late-19th century. Brett suggests that the current external façade of the church was not constructed until c. 1840, partially explaining the increase in the value of the meeting house between the 1830s and Griffith’s Valuation in 1861 (Brett, p. 28; Nelson; Ordnance Survey Memoirs, pp 74-75).

Later alterations to the church include the erection of its manse in 1876 at a cost of £1,300 (HB17/15/035) and the construction of the Sunday Schoolroom within the church grounds c. 1885. During the early 20th century the membership of Dromore Non-Subscribing Church continued to fall; by 1949 there were only 312 members but by 1995 the membership remained steady at approximately 300. The modern church hall, located at the entrance to the church grounds, was erected prior to 1973 as it first appears on the current edition of the Ordnance Survey map in that year. Dromore First Non-Subscribing Church was listed in 1977 and continues to be used as a place of worship; in 2000 a new suite of rooms was added to the south-east gable of the church (McCormick; Nelson).

References

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/3/21/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey map 1833
2. PRONI OS/6/3/21/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey map 1859
3. PRONI OS/6/3/21/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey map 1903
4. PRONI OS/6/3/21/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey map 1919-20
5. PRONI VAL/1/D/3/13 – Townland Valuation map c. 1834
6. PRONI VAL/1/B/342 – Townland Valuations c. 1830
7. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/38A – Griffith’s Valuation 1861
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/21A – Annual Revisions 1864-1876
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/21B – Annual Revisions 1876-1885
10. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/21C – Annual Revisions 1885-1900
11. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/11A – Annual Revisions 1899-1910
12. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/11B – Annual Revisions 1911-1919
13. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/11C – Annual Revisions 1920-1930
14. Ordnance Survey Memoirs, Co. Down III, Vol. 12 (1834)
15. First Survey Record – HB 17/15/020 (1969)
16. Ordnance Survey map – 202-4SW (1973)

Secondary Sources

1. Brett, C. E. B., ‘Historic buildings, groups of buildings, areas of architectural importance in the towns and villages of Mid Down: Hillsborough, Dromore, Dromara, Ballynahinch, the Spa, Drumaness and Saintfield’ Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1974.
2. Clarke, R. S. J., ‘Graveyard Inscriptions Vol. 19: North-West Down’ Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation, 1983.
3. Kirkpatrick, L., ‘Presbyterians in Ireland: An illustrated history’ Booklink, 2006.
4. McCormick, A., ‘A record of Dromore: Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church’ Lisburn: Summit Printing, 2000.

Online Resources

1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie
2. Presbyterian Church in Ireland Website -
http://www.presbyterianireland.org/congregations/dromore1.html
3. Nelson, J. W., Article in Lisburn.com:
http://lisburn.com/churches/Lisburn-churches/first-presbyterian-ns-dromore.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

R. Age
S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance
W. Northern Ireland/International Interest
Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance

Evaluation

A symmetrical early nineteenth-century stucco Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church, built c.1800. A notable surviving example of the classical style of Presbyterian churches, with typical liturgical arrangement of three sided gallery and pulpit on long wall. This is a particularly well-preserved example; the original proportions and much of the architectural detailing survive, along with a typical nineteenth-century interior complete with box pews. This is one of the most notable surviving examples of its type in the country and an unusual survivor. The surrounding graveyard contains headstones dating from the early nineteenth-century. This is a fine example of a classically styled Presbyterian church, with much character and fabric surviving.

General comments

New listing criteria R, S t& T o be added when available. NO'R 03.10.13.