Hillhall Presbyterian Church

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Free-standing, gable-fronted rendered and stone hall and tower Arts and Crafts church, built 1902. T-plan, facing south with belfry entrance tower to the southeast, set back within its own grounds to the north of Hillhall Road, with multi-bay church hall attached to the rear, dated 2002. Large cemetery to the east, car parking area to the west and two-storey manse to the west.

Pitched natural slate roof with horizontal bands of green slate, roll-moulded terracotta ridge tiles and lead-lined timber louvred ventilation lantern to the centre. Lead valleys and ogee-moulded cast-iron guttering and cast-iron downpipes to chamfered stone eaves course. Single rendered chimneystack to the rear gable with terracotta pots. Rough-cast lime rendered walling with tapered buttresses flush to all gables and between all window openings to the nave. Slender cusped window openings executed in tooled limestone with splayed flush sills with Art Nouveau leaded glazing.

Double-height gabled front south elevation abutted by square-plan three-stage tower to east incorporating entrance below and belfry above. Raised stone coping to front gable with decorative apex stone and diaper work below. The gable rises from corner piers with decorative capstones flanking a large semi-circular limestone window opening containing five cusped lancets and leaded glazing resting on a splayed sill between piers. At ground level is a central squat buttress with offset having a cusped window opening to either side. The square-plan tower has a pyramidal natural slate roof broken by four corner panelled stone piers with decorative capstones, surmounted by lead pole and weather-vane. The sprocketed eaves to the pyramidal roof extend beyond the corner piers sheltering tripartite cusped stone belfry openings to all four sides with timber louvers and attached metal clock-face to south and east sides. To the base of the tower a shallow lead-lined entrance gable, flanked by buttress to left and plinth wall with offset to the right. Pointed-arched door opening in limestone ashlar with stop-moulded jambs and archivolt and hood moulding with decorative label stops. Pair of vertically-sheeted timber doors with iron furniture opening onto semi-circular area new stone paving to front bitmac area.

West side elevation has a lozenge-shaped limestone window opening to the right while nave has three window openings arranged in groups of three flanked by tapering buttresses. To the left is the west transept gable with terracotta fleur-de-lis finial and flush tapered buttresses giving a battered profile. To the gable is an oculus opening and five-light cusped stone window opening below with decorative naturalistic stained glass.

The rear elevation is abutted by single-storey multi-bay rendered church hall, dated 2002, with natural slate roof, buttresses and oculi emulating the Arts and Crafts elements of the church.

The east side elevation is detailed as per the west with the tower to the left.

The church sits on an elevated site with an expansive cemetery to the east containing many upstanding stone and marble grave-markers. Bitmac car park to the west, all enclosed to Hillhall Road by hedging with the principal entrance directly facing the front elevation having replacement steel gates on original sandstone piers, repeating the detail to the corner piers of the tower.

Roof Natural slate
Walling Rough-cast lime render / Bath limestone ashlar
Windows Bath limestone cusped openings with leaded glazing and storm glazing
RWG Cast-iron

Historical information

This congregation was the original Lisburn congregation, in existence since at least 1750, but does not appear to have had a meeting house until c1765 when the congregation moved to a site given to them by Mrs Law of Hillhall and consequently changed its name to Hillhall. (Kelly, p.157)

The meeting house of that time was earthen-floored and thatched and was renovated in 1826. The Townland Valuation (1828-40) records the renovated meeting house as slated and gives dimensions. It is valued at £9.12s, but the valuer notes that there are ‘none yet buried in the ground attached’. Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64) records this same building, giving it a valuation of £19, largely, it appears, because of the addition of stables.

The meeting house was rebuilt in 1876 and a church hall added in 1893, although neither this rebuilding nor the subsequent one are reflected in valuation records. (Kelly, p.157)

The present church was constructed in 1902 to designs by Vincent Craig. A pipe organ was installed in 1956. Wills John Hughes Murdoch (1890-1958), father of Dame Iris Murdoch, the novelist and philosopher, is thought to have been a member of this congregation. (Dixon, p.180; www.oxforddnb.com)

The large extension to the rear was constructed in 2002 (date on extension).

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/1/14/1 – First Edition OS Map 1833
2. PRONI OS/6/1/14/2 – Second Edition OS map 1858
3. PRONI OS/6/1/14/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1902-3
4. PRONI OS/6/1/14/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1919-20
5. PRONI VAL/1/B/333 – Townland Valuation (1828-40)
6. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/30 – Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64)
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/20/10A-F – Annual Revisions (1862-1923)

Secondary Sources

1. Dixon, H “An Introduction to Ulster Architecture” Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2008
2. Kelly, J A “Lisburn’s Rich Church Heritage, Churches and Places of Worship in the Lisburn City Area” 2009
3. www.oxforddnb.com – Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online

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

Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance
V. Authorship
W. Northern Ireland/International Interest
Z. Rarity

Evaluation

An exceptional rendered and stone hall and tower type Arts and Crafts church designed by the notable architect Vincent Craig. Including subtle details from the Art Nouveau movement this church retains most original internal and external fabric and detailing, and is testament to the assured ability of Craig. While the hall extension to the rear detracts from the integrity of the original design, the excellent detailing and its rural setting make this church one of the finest examples of its period in the province