Newcastle Presbyterian Church,

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Single storey gothic style Presbyterian church of c.1890-1900 with four storey tower. The church is set on the E side of Main Street, at the intersection of Bryansford Gardens.

The church is constructed in light coloured rock faced sandstone with smooth finished sandstone as dressings to openings. It is roughly rectangular in plan with the front gable and tower to Main Street. To the rear (W) is a large gabled church hall, built 1910. The entrance is located on the ground floor of the E side of the tower and is slightly off centre. It sits within a ground floor bay which is flush with the buttresses to the edge of the tower.

The entrance consists of pointed arch double timber panelled doors set within a chamfered recess with moulding with recess and label moulding over the opening. Directly above the opening there is a panel which looks as if it was originally inscribed or was intended to be inscribed. Above the entrance this face of the tower the buttresses stretch to the second floor of the tower. The buttress to the left (S) is of the normal ‘square’ (back set) type with off sets, but that to the right is canted and is actually a stairwell projection with a hipped roof and small slit windows following the rise of the stair. Thick base to buttresses.

Between the buttresses at first floor level is a pointed arch window set in chamfered reveal with a small slit window above this to second floor level. The first and second floor windows are repeated on the S face of the tower, with the slit window only repeated on the W face. To the uppermost (belfry) level of the tower are twinned ‘pointed arch’ openings with cusping set in chamfered reveals and louvered. The openings have label moulding over and the pair are set with a slightly recessed panel with carved tracery to the spandrel area above the openings. These belfry openings are repeated to all sides of the tower. Above them is a projecting course, above which the tower is topped with castellations and tall corner pinnacles. The S face of the tower has a broad pointed arch window to ground floor with three lights and sandstone mullions.

The front gable to the right (N) of the E face of the tower. It has a large pointed arch window with Perpendicular-like sandstone tracery set with a large slightly projecting bay. This bay is buttressed. The outer edge of the gable proper (to the N) has a slightly shallower pitch to the roof line and is buttressed. In the narrow (N facing) wall between the large gabled bay and the rest of the gable proper there is a small single storey lean-to with segmental arch headed doorway with timber sheeted door.

The N facade has five fairly large pointed arch windows set is chamfered reveals, with a smaller roundel window to the far right. There are buttresses between the windows with the buttress to the far right merging into a short wall which spans to a small single storey flat roofed building which appears to actually project from the exposed section of the E façade of the hallway to the rear. This short stretch of walling (which appears to be the front wall of a porch section) has a timber doorway. The E façade of the small single storey flat roofed section has a semicircular arched window with course beneath.

The S façade of the church has three pointed arch windows, as N, to the right with buttresses between. To the left of these is a roundel window. To the left of this there is a small single storey gabled projection with small flat roofed porches attached to both is E and W faces. The gable of the projection has a three light window with sandstone mullions. To its S face the small porch to the E has a pointed arch doorway with timber sheeted door set in a chamfered recess with label moulding over. To its E face there is a small pointed arch window with a buttress to the left. The small porch to the W has a flat arch doorway, with plain sheeted door, to its S face with two narrow windows (with frames recently inserted) to the W face.

Exposed section to the rear gable of the church proved difficult to view, however, it does have a broad pointed arch window with tracery, set at a high level.

Attached to the rear (W) of the church is a fairly large single storey gabled hall. The hall closely matches the materials used and styling of the church. To its S gable there is a left of centre projecting gabled porch. To the E face of the porch there is a flat arch doorway with panelled timber double doors. To the gable there are two windows, that to the left four light with sandstone mullion and transom and that to the right a smaller two light window with sandstone transom. A flat roofed section projects from the W side of the porch and stretches beyond the gable of the hall itself. The N façade of this flat roofed section has a partly glazed door.

High in the S gable of the hall is a roundel window with a tiny slit opening above. To the W façade of the hall are five large mullioned and transomed windows. Beneath the window to the far right is a small flat roofed projection. The N gable of the hall has a neighbouring single storey flat roofed garage attached. The exposed upper section of the gable is rendered.

All gabled sections of the roof of the church and the hall have natural slate with high parapets to gables. The hall has two low monopitched roof dormers to the W each with three light windows. There is a tall sandstone chimney stack to the small exposed section of the parapet of the rear cable of the church. The church roof and the hall roof have slight overhangs to eaves with exposed rafter ends.

Low wall around church and hall in matching sandstone with decorative cast iron railings.

Historical information

This church appears to date from around c.1890-1900, replacing an earlier church dating from c.1840-50 and shown on the OS map of 1859. The hall to the rear was added in 1910.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI OS/6/3/49/2 OS maps 1st rev. 1859, Down 49.

Secondary sources
1 P.J. Rankin, 'Historic Buildings, Groups of Buildings, Areas of Architectural Importance in the Mourne Area of South Down', (Belfast UAHS 1975), p.72.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
I. Quality and survival of Interior

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Single storey gothic Presbyterian church of c.1890-1900 with four storey tower, all in rock faced sandstone. Attached to the rear there is a matching single storey gabled hall of 1910.