St. Aidan's Church of Ireland Church

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A stone Board of First Fruits Church of Ireland, located to the north side of Belfast Road, Glenavy. Built c.1810, destroyed by fire 1938 and 're-built' 1939 by D.W. Boyd. The church is rectangular on plan with adjoined three stage western tower and flanking single-storey annexes; chancel (slightly lower) at east abutted by transept at north and vestry at south.

Roof is pitched natural slate roof with grey ridge tiles. Rainwater goods are replacement half round gutters on projecting eaves course; cast iron downpipes. Walling is roughly coursed rubble stone over slightly battered plinth; diagonal buttresses with off-sets to north transept and chancel; crennellated parapet with four corner pinnacles to three stage tower. Nave windows are lattice glazed Y-tracery set in chamfered stepped ashlar sandstone reveals; intersecting arrangement to transept north gable; reticulated curvilinear stained glass arrangement to chancel east gable; pointed arched headed lattice windows to remainder.

Principal entrance gable faces west and is abutted at centre by three stage tower divided by moulded string course and single-storey perpendicular gabled annexe at left and right. Exposed section contains single pointed arched lattice windows set in chamfered stepped ashlar sandstone reveals.

Tower first stage contains principal entrance at west, double leaf timber panelled entrance door surmounted by sandstone inscribed panel which reads, ‘CHURCH OF ST AIDANS/ DESTROYED/BY FIRE A.D.1938/REBUILT A.D.1939’, set in pointed arched painted ashlar surround; entrance surmounted by blind oculus with moulded surround; north and south elevations are abutted by single storey gabled (ridge parallel with elevation) annexes with raised masonry verges; surmounted by blind oculus. Second stage contains a central clock to north, west and south; blind lunette at east, each surmounted by semi circular ovolo label mould. Third stage contains pointed arched headed louvered opening to belfry at all sides set in stepped ashlar sandstone reveals; third stage surmounted by crennellated parapet and decorative crocket enriched pinnacles with crop.

Single-storey annexes each contain triple pointed arched lattice glazed window contained within chamfered stepped ashlar sandstone reveals and surmounted by square headed ovolo label mould.

North elevation is abutted at left by double height north transept with pitched roof; single nave window to exposed section at right. Transept contains central intersecting tracery window to north gable; single Y-tracery window at east and west.

East elevation is abutted by slightly lower chancel with pitched roof. Chancel east gable contains reticulated curvilinear tracery window. Internal angle between chancel and north transept is abutted by lean-to extension with similar detailing. Extension abutted at north by single-storey flat roof extension (boiler house) at basement level, accessed by steps from north. Chancel abutted at south by single-storey vestry with hipped roof containing two modern windows at east and accessed by single leaf square headed timber panelled entrance door at west.
South elevation is three windows wide.

Setting:

The church is set on a large cemetery site accessed through a decorative timber lych-gate at south dated 1943, dedicated in memory of Archdeacon Charles Watson a former Rector of the Parish. The Lych-gate has pitched rosemary tile roof and decorative bargeboards; abutted at sides by roughcast rendered wall with bolection coping. The graveyard comprises a range of plain stone grave markers and decorative burial grounds enclosed by cast-iron railings. The earliest grave marker can be deciphered to read ‘HERE LIETH/THE BODY OF MARTHA/HURDMAN DAUGHTER/TO GEORGE HURDMEN/WHO DIED 3 DAY OF/MARCH 1740/AGED 19 YEARS’.

The church grounds are accessed from the Belfast Road at the north side of Glenavy town centre through an alcoved entrance comprising cast metal gates mounted on paired painted square ashlar pillars with casement moulding, pyramidal caps and stop chamfers separated by modern mild steel railings supported on random rubble plinth wall with segmental coping. Out piers are abutted by roughcast rendered rubble walling with soldier coping at left and right. A long narrow tree lined driveway leads to a car park and lych-gate access located to the south of the cemetery. Church hall at south-west is of no interest.

Roof: Pitched natural slate
Walling: Roughly coursed random rubble
Windows: Lattice glazed tracery windows
RWG: Cast-iron and replacement metal

Historical information

St. Aidan’s Church (known locally as the Church of the Dwarf) was first recorded on the first Ordnance Survey map of 1832-3 as ‘Church,’ and was depicted as a single oblong building.

The 1835 Ordnance Survey Memoir recorded that this Church was erected in 1812 at the cost of £1,220. The writer elaborates that £450 of this amount was supplied by the Board of First Fruits, whilst the remaining sum was raised by ‘presentment and subscription.’ The Church was described as ‘a plain building [which] within the last few years has had an addition of a square turret, the corners of which are ornamented and consequently from a distance gives it the appearance of a handsome building.’ At that time there were 47 seats in the aisle and 15 in the gallery allowing the church to accommodate 364 parishioners. A second account of St. Aidan’s Church tells us that the church possessed a ‘good clock with three dials’ and could accommodate 400 persons in 1835. This second record gives a fuller account of how the funds for the church were raised. Of the £1,220 required, £500 was a gift from the Board of First Fruits, whilst a further £250 was lent by the organisation. Further, £150 was ‘presented at the Vestry,’ the Marquis of Hertford supplied £300 and the remaining £20 was supplied by the Countess of Longford. On 20th October 1894 the Lisburn Standard printed a short history of St. Aidan’s Church recording that the church had been built in 1812 by the Rev. Edward Cupples who was the Incumbent minister.

Shortly after its construction the Church was valued at £24. 7s. in the Townland Valuation of c.1830. The Valuation recorded the church as a 1a class building and recorded its dimensions as 66ft by 37ft and 19ft tall. The 50 ft steeple atop the Church was also recorded as 1a and valued at £2. 18s.

The layout of the Church appears slightly altered by the period of the second Ordnance Survey map in 1858 in which it is now recorded as ‘Church’ and ‘Graveyard.’ In 1894 the Lisburn Standard stated that the transept was added to the Church in 1863 by the Rev. Edward Johnston Smith. Griffith’s Valuation (1859) notes the value of the Church increased to £26. 10s. The value of the Church was not changed between 1869 and 1929 when the Annual Revisions ended. The third and fourth editions of the Ordnance Survey Maps for Glenavy show no discernable alteration to the church although it had by then been recorded as ‘St. Aidan’s Church.

Kelly states that St. Aidan’s was built to replace an earlier smaller structure which had dated from 1644 and was torn down in 1812 to accommodate the growing congregation. It is believed that there had been a Church settlement on this site from medieval times, and Kelly repeats a tradition that it was St. Patrick who built the first Church at Glenavy. Kelly records that the Church was completed in 1814 and this is confirmed on the church’s website. In 1855 the church was renovated and extensively repaired which perhaps explains why the church design altered slightly between the first and second Ordnance Survey maps. In 1887 when Parish Boundaries were altered, St. Aidan’s Church found itself within the newly created Parish of Stoneyford.

The Church was destroyed on Christmas Eve 1938 when severe frost damaged its heating system resulting in fire engulfing the building. The church was speedily repaired incorporating new woodwork and was consecrated on 28th October 1939 (Kelly, p. 55). The Church was reconstructed by Belfast architect D. W. Boyd (Belfast Newsletter, 28th October, 1939). As a result of the extensive fire damage there are no surviving original features in the interior of the church.

The original Lych Gate was erected c.1885 but was destroyed when trees fell upon it during a storm. It was replaced on 1st August 1943 when the Lord Bishop of Down dedicated a Lych Gate in memory of Archdeacon Charles Watson who was a former Rector of the Parish. It was also dedicated to the memory of Sergeant – Pilot Colin Vernon Finlay, an R.A.F. pilot who was shot down over Malta in May 1942 (The Lisburn Herald, 7 August, 1943). The adjoining graveyard holds many former parishioners, the oldest gravestones dating from c.1740.

In October 2009 the floor of the church was excavated in order to install cables as wells as a new drainage system and a toilet. A new central heating system and a small single-height vestibule were also added (NIEA File).

References:

Primary Sources
1. PRONI VAL/1/A/1/59 – Field Map c.1830
2. PRONI VAL/1/B/171 – Townland Valuation
3. PRONI OS/6/1/59/1 – First Edition OS Map 1832-33
4. PRONI OS/6/1/59/2 – Second Edition OS Map 1858
5. PRONI OS/6/1/59/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1901-1902
6. PRONI OS/6/1/59/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1920-1921
7. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/58 – Griffith’s Valuation 1859
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/8/4 A – Annual Revisions 1869-1881
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/8/4 B – Annual Revisions 1881-1894
10. PRONI VAL/12/B/8/4 C – Annual Revisions 1894-1911
11. PRONI VAL/12/B/8/4 D – Annual Revisions 1912-1929
12. The Irish Builder, Vol. 81, 4 Mar 1939, p. 173 – Dictionary of Irish Architects http://www.dia.ie/
13. The Belfast Newsletter (1939)
14. The Lisburn Standard (1894)
15. The Lisburn Herald (1943)

Secondary Sources

1. Kelly, D., ‘Lisburn’s rich church heritage: Churches and places of worship in the Lisburn city area’ Lisburn: Impression Print and Design, 2009.
2. NIEA File – HB19/01/005

Online Resources

1. Glenavy History: http://www.glenavyhistory.com/ (Genealogy website).
2. St. Aidan’s Church Website: http://www.lisburn.com/churches/Lisburn-churches/glenavy-st-aidans.html

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

Well proportioned and detailed Church of Ireland church , located to the north side of Belfast Road, Glenavy and constructed on the site of a medieval parish church and possibly also a pre-Norman church. The church is a simple Board of First Fruits hall and tower type with modification, built c.1810, destroyed by fire 1938 and 're-built' 1939, by D.W. Boyd. It appears that the majority of the interior fabric was lost at this time. The church is rectangular on plan with adjoined three stage western tower and flanking single-storey annexes; chancel (slightly lower) at east abutted by transept at north and vestry at south. The church over looks the adjacent graveyard and is acessed by a long narrow tree lined driveway and lych-gate access located to the south of the cemetery. An important building in both architectural and social terms, not only important for the local Church of Ireland congregation, but also of interest to the wider community.

General comments

Included in Glenavy Area of Village Character