Ballycairn Presbyterian Church

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A double height stone Presbyterian Church, dated 1926, located to the west side of Ballylesson Road, Lisburn. Rectangular on plan with attached single-storey extension at west, built c.1975.

Roof is pitched natural slate with crenellated clay ridge tiles; small copper belvedere at centre of ridge; skewing coping to east principal gable surmounted at eaves and centre by decorative stone pinnacles; painted cast-iron gutters on projecting cornice. Walling is coursed rockfaced rubble stone with red sandstone stepped quoins and chamfered plinth; angle buttresses with off-sets to north, east and south elevations. Double chamfered mullion windows contain lattice glazed leaded lights and transom lights contained within chamfered sandstone reveals and sill (di-partite at east and west, tri-partite at north and south).

Principal entrance (gable) faces east comprising two timber panelled sliding doors recessed within four centre arched chamfered ashlar surround, hood mould with label stops and stepped chamfered quoins, doors surmounted by lattice glazed leaded fanlight. Entrance is accessed via seven steps retained either side by stone plinth wall and cast-metal handrails. A tri-partite tracery window with cusped lights is aligned directly above. Entrance is flanked by di-partite window at each side, each surmounted by lattice glazed quatrefoil contained within ashlar surround and hood mould with label stops. Date-stone to left angle buttress reads; ‘THIS STONE WAS LAID BY/LADY McCULLAGH/WHITEABBEY/4TH APRIL 1925’. Two date-stones above plinth at left of principal entrance read; ‘THIS STONE WAS LAID BY/M.L. McMORDIE C.B.E,/BELFAST,/4TH APRIL 1925’ and ‘THIS STONE WAS LAID BY/W.MOORE KNOX ESQ./BELFAST/4TH APRIL, 1925. Two date stones above plinth at right of principal entrance read; ‘THIS STONE WAS LAID BY/ H.C. MONTGOMERY/ IN MEMORY OF HIS BROTHER/ T.W. MONTGOMERY/4TH APRIL, 1925.’ Date-stone to right angle buttress reads; ‘THIS STONE WAS LAID BY/THE LADY MAYORESS OF BELFAST/LADY TURNER/4TH APRIL 1925’.

South elevation is five windows wide, (that at east is a single chamfered mullion window), each divided by angle buttresses with off-sets, (no buttress to west corner).

West gable is abutted by lower single-storey extension with pitched roof, built c.1975. Exposed section is blank.

North elevation is detailed as south.

Extension roof is artificial slate, metal rainwater goods, timber fascia and eaves boards; walls are stretcher bond grey brick; windows are timber casement with projecting concrete sills. West gable contains central modern entrance door and sidelight surmounted by slated hipped canopy and window to attic; window at left and right. Entrance is accessed by concrete ramp and mild steel handrail. South elevation contains three equally spaced windows; north elevation contains door at right, two windows at left.

Setting:

The church is set adjacent to a large cemetery accessed at east via concave coursed rockfaced rubble stone walls with chamfered ashlar sandstone coping and painted cast-iron railings; central piers of similar construction have square pyramidal caps (that at right contains no.43) and support double-leaf painted cast-iron gates. Church hall at north built c.1969 is not of special interest.

Roof: Pitched natural slate
Walling: Coursed random rubble basalt with red sandstone dressings
Windows: Double chamfered mullion windows, lattice leaded lights with plain and stained glass
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

Ballycairn Presbyterian Church was constructed 1925-26 replacing a previous church which had been situated to the south in the townland of Ballycarn. The original church for the Ballycairn congregation had been constructed c. 1830 and was paid for by the parish and public contributions; it measured 60ft by 40ft and could hold 400 people although the average attendance only numbers 200. The Ordnance Survey Memoirs described this church as ‘a fine meeting house of the plainest architecture and situated in the centre of a small plantation’ (Ordnance Survey Memoirs Co. Down II, Vol. 7, pp 56-60). The first edition of the Ordnance Survey maps (1834) depicts the original ‘Meeting House’ as an oblong building situated less than half a mile to the east of Drumbo which also possessed a Meeting House at that time. The second edition of the Ordnance Survey maps tell us that a graveyard to the east and an outbuilding to the north of the building had been constructed by 1858; Griffith’s Valuation (1861) records that this outbuilding was a Sexton’s House and that the entire site was valued at £23 10s. and was let by Robert Batt, occupant of Purdysburn House. The later editions of the Ordnance Survey maps shows no alteration to the church site which continued to be used until its demolition in 1920 in close proximity to Drumbo Presbyterian.

Rankin tells us that Drumbo Presbyterian Church was constructed c. 1790 and could accommodate all the Presbyterian members of the Parish; however a schism occurred c. 1830 over the appointment of a new Minister resulting in the construction of a new meeting house in the neighbouring townland of Ballycarn. This splinter church was led by the Rev. Adam Montgomery who was minister at Ballycarn from 1830 until his death in 1888. By 1882 the congregation at Drumbo had constructed a new church building; Ballycairn found its congregation shrinking due to its close proximity to this new church, the original reasons for the split fifty years ago having been forgotten. To stimulate growth in his reducing congregation the Rev. G. Duncan, who had succeeded Montgomery, built a second hall in the neighbouring townland of Ballylesson in 1905. However the meeting house at Ballycarn continued to diminish and was falling into a state of disrepair; in 1920 the church was finally demolished. Duncan’s successor, the Rev. Samuel James Clarke constructed the current Ballycairn Presbyterian Church in the Townland of Ballycowan in 1925-26. During its construction a marble memorial which had been erected in 1893 to the memory of the Rev. Montgomery was saved and installed in the vestibule of the new building (Rankin, pp 107-109). Five date stones were laid on the 4th April 1925 by important local figures, including one by Lady Turner, the Lady Mayoress of Belfast, and T. W. Montgomery, the son of the Rev. Adam Montgomery and one of the builders of the church. The original manse of the earlier church (HB 19/23/053) was constructed between 1891 and 1901; it is not clear when it fell out of this use and became a private dwelling, although it certainly retained its use as a residence for the incumbent minister until the construction of the new church in 1925-26. The current manse to Ballycairn Presbyterian Church is located at the site of the existing church.

Ballycairn Presbyterian Church was first opened in 1926; significantly in 1929 a Mrs Mary Montgomery, daughter-in-law of the founding minister, was appointed as the first woman elder ever to be elected in Ireland. Later additions to the church included the construction of a church hall (named the ‘Montgomery Hall’) in 1969 and the addition of the western extension c. 1975 which added a choir and minister’s rooms (Kelly, p. 146). Ballycairn Presbyterian Church continues to be used as a place of worship. The original meeting house in the townland of Ballycarn has been demolished and a modern dwelling built over it, although a portion of the original graveyard has survived (Rankin, p. 109).

References

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/3/9/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1834
2. PRONI OS/6/3/9/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1858
3. PRONI OS/6/3/9/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1901-02
4. PRONI OS/6/3/9/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1920-21
5. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/25A – Griffith’s Valuation 1861
6. Ordnance Survey Memoirs Co. Down II, Vol. 7, pp 56-60

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. Rankin, J. Fred, ‘The Heritage of Drumbo’ Ballycairn Presbyterian Church, 1982.

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
S. Authenticity
R. Age

Evaluation

A double height basalt and sandstone Presbyterian church with some Gothic Revival influence, built 1925-26 and located to the west side of Ballylesson Road, Lisburn. Rectangular on plan with single-storey extension added to the rear west gable c.1975. A well conceived building with particularly good stone detailing and impressive interior with many surviving original features; the setting is enhanced by the stone walling and decorative cast iron gates marking its entrance from the road. Date stones inscribed with the names of important local people are set within the principal facade, including Lady Dixon, benefactor to the city of Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park. Important from a social perspective for the local community and of historic significance given its association with Mary Montgomery, Ireland’s first woman elder to be elected to the Presbyterian church.
This building replaces a previous church for the Ballycairn congregation, which was set due south on the same road. The manse (HB19.23.053, now a private dwelling) to this earlier church, built c.1896, survives.

General comments

This record was completed without access to original source material held by the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.
Previoulsy recorded as HB19/23/047