Drummaul Parish Church

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A 19th century church in Gothic Revival style comprising a nave, chancel and triple-gabled aisle with a square tower at the west end surmounted by an octagonal spire. Main entrance faces north in a gabled porch at west end of nave.

Walls of blackstone rubble with squared and coursed blackstone to angle buttresses at the west end and to the south aisle, with similar quality blackstone quoins to the tower base and to east end of nave; grey sandstone quoins to east end of chancel and to gabled projections on north and south side of chancel; projecting sandstone plinth all round building except front face of main porch.
Roofs of tiles, modern replacements for original slates.

North elevation comprises a nave with a chancel of lower roofline to the left, and a square tower, with spire, to the right. Four windows to main wall of nave, three to left of main entrance porch and one to right: three to left are Gothic arched lancets with grey sandstone dressings; raised surround with chamfered edge; projecting moulded hood; projecting chamfered cill. Central window is of stained glass, but currently boarded up due to recent damage by vandalism; flanking windows are two-light metal framed of diagonal pattern with clear glass and cusped tracery roundel.
Window to right of porch is a Gothic lancet with cusped head; dressings flush with main walling; tinted glazing of leaded quarries. End bay containing window to right projects slightly from main nave and has a crenellated sandstone parapet between angled two-stage buttresses; sandstone gabled weatherings to lower stage of buttresses with sandstone pinnacles surmounting upper stage. Cast iron gutter to nave, in poor condition, with painted asbestos downpipe to right, and cast iron downpipe to left discharging on to roof of vestry porch.

Projecting main entrance porch has a gabled front containing a Gothic doorway with plain sandstone colonnettes with moulded bell capitals; floriated stops to moulded label above; sandstone doorstep; ledged and braced Gothic headed door of diagonal pattern, with large scrolling iron hinges and original ironwork handle. Above doorway is a small Gothic headed window in apex of gable, containing tinted glazing of leaded quarries. Flagpole mounted in front of window. Chamfered sandstone coping to gable with notched sandstone kneelers surmounting two-stage buttresses to each side. To each side of main porch doorway is a wrought iron bootscraper. Angled cast iron gutters to each side wall of porch, carried on projecting rafters with notched ends, oversailing projecting sandstone eaves course. Cast iron downpipe of rectangular section to east side, fixed with a trefoil bracket; painted asbestos downpipe of circular section to west side. Small Gothic cusped headed window to each side wall, containing leaded quarries (the one in the west side currently boarded up as a result of vandalism).

Chancel has one window, to left of projecting vestry: a two-light Gothic window of diagonal metal glazing bars, with cusped heads, and quatrefoil tracery light, with projecting drip mould and cill as previous to nave.
Moulded cast iron gutter to chancel, with cast iron downpipe of rectangular section.

Projecting gabled vestry over right-hand end of chancel and left-hand extremity of nave. Small rectangular window in north gable and in east side of vestry; dressings flush with main walling; glazing of small quarries in diagonal metal glazing bars. Lean-to porch to right-hand side of vestry with doorway and window in west face; shouldered arched doorway contained a ledged timber door, with a Gothic arched fanlight above; translucent glazing to fanlight; modern metal handle to door. Above door is a scrolling iron lamp bracket. Short concrete ramp up to door, bordered by a plain black-painted steel handrail.
Moulded cast iron gutter to vestry and side porch.

East gable of nave is of low pitch; square sandstone chimney on apex of gable coping; small modern looking pot with wire cowl.

East gable of chancel is of steeper pitch than nave; contains a three-light stone traceried window with cusped circular tracery lights, all filled with stained glass, with wire mesh protective grilles attached; sandstone dressings flush with main walling, set in a basalt Gothic arch; High Victorian stylised foliated sandstone finial to apex of gable coping. South side of chancel blank; moulded cast iron gutter with cast iron downpipe discharging into similar gutter of lower organ chamber which projects toward south.

South elevation of church comprises the triple gabled south aisle with one bay of the nave set back to the left with the tower behind it, and the gable of the organ chamber to the right, with the chancel behind it. Organ chamber gable has one window, Gothic arched and metal lattice glazed as previous to entrance elevation of nave. Sandstone coping to gable; downpipe to left of window in gable and downpipe on east side wall appear to be of painted asbestos.

South aisle gables have sandstone copings with a short square chimney to the apex of the one to the east; modern pot and wire mesh cowl. Projecting sandstone hoppers, at the two valleys between gables, with asbestos downpipes painted. Each of the three aisle gables has a large three-light traceried stone window, of cusped and intersecting pattern; projecting moulded drip mouldings and projecting sandstone cill; window to west has metal lattice glazing; the other two contain stained glass with steel mesh protective grille over the one to the east. Below the window to the east is a low, flat-roofed, smooth cement rendered store with painted felt roof; doorway reached down concrete steps. East and west walls of aisle have a low parapet with sandstone coping; blank walling to east wall, with a painted asbestos downpipe from concealed gutter; one window in west wall, a Gothic lancet with projecting drip mould and cill as previous, containing stained glass; painted asbestos downpipe with rectangular moulded hopper, material uncertain.

Bay of nave facing south set back to left of aisle is similar to the equivalent on the entrance elevation except only one pinnacle, over corner buttress.

West elevation of nave is symmetrical and comprises a tall square tower with a raking bay set back slightly to each side. Tower has a single Gothic lancet in base stage: cusped head with dressings flush with main walling, containing stained glass. Moulded cast iron gutter, with short returns back to each side, terminating to the left side with a rectangular section cast iron downpipe fixed with trefoil brackets. One window in each of the raking bays set back to each side: Gothic lancets with projecting drip moulds and cills as previous, containing stained glass. Raking sandstone crenellations to parapets with spikey pinnacles on angle buttresses to extremity.
Upper stage of tower has main walling of basalt rubble set back, with moulded octagonal buttresses of sandstone ashlar to corners; spikey sandstone pinnacles to buttresses.
One window opening in west face, with projecting drip mould as previous, containing timber louvres. The other three faces of the upper stage are similar to the west except the one to north has a large open-work metal clock face with gilded hands and numerals, mounted above the louvred opening, and the one to south has a rectangular ledged timber door set into the louvred opening, reached by a small ladder. The spire is entirely of ashlar sandstone, of octagonal plan on a stepped base; two stages of gabled stone lucarnes; ironwork weathercock to the top.

SETTING: The church stands facing the main road, set back from it within its own extensive churchyard. Area around church to front, rear, and west is gravelled; graveyard to east is grassed. Front boundary formed by a low basalt rubble wall with rough basalt rock copings. Main gateway to western end recessed beyond curving screen walls, with square greystone piers mounted with double gates of modern scrolling ironwork incorporating roundels of St Brigid's Cross pattern. Small pedestrian gateway in front boundary, to east of church has similar piers and ironwork.
Inside face of front boundary wall is rendered with a dry dash of blackstone chippings.
Boundary to west formed by a modern steel fence bordered by grass with concrete kerbs; boundary to graveyard to east and to south formed by a basalt rubble wall with basalt rock copings.
Standing to the rear of the church is a modern hall of gabled form with dry dash render to walls and synthetic slates to roof.
Standing close by to the east of the church is the O'Neill Vault (HB20/03/011) a sandstone tomb in a railinged enclosure; adjacent to it at its north-east corner is a rectangular stone roofed and smooth cement sided vault to the Kennedy family of Hollybrook c 1835, surmounted by two ornamented sandstone urns; entrance by an iron plated door in east side. Some distance to the south-east is another O'Neill plot, laid out as a terraced lawn surrounded by low iron railings: contains two memorial slabs of somewhat unusual form, comprised of shamrock-ornamented roundels set in rustic rock-like slabs, the one to the south to the memory of Rev William 1st Baron O'Neill, d. 1883; the one to the north of it to his wife Elizabeth Grace, d. 1905; both bear religious inscriptions on front and rear. None of the other memorials in the churchyard are of special note. A small portion of basalt rubble walling stands amongst the memorials at the east end of the churchyard, a relic of the predecessor of the present church; of very plain character and insignificant appearance.

Historical information

Built in 1831 at a cost of £1,800, £1,500 of which was lent to the parish by the Board of First Fruits, the other £300 being contributed by Lord O'Neill; side aisle added in 1868 attributed elsewhere to Welland & Gillespie, architects; chancel built 1872, paid for by the Rev William, First Baron O'Neill in memory of his son Arthur; chancel restored and enriched with tiling, paid for by Lady O'Neill in memory of her husband the Rev William O'Neill in 1883; baptistry tiled with a mosaic pavement in 1883, at expense of Hon Anne O'Neill, and the church wainscoted in 1883, at expense of Hon Robert O'Neill, both in memory of their father Rev William O'Neill; three stained glass windows added at west end in 1884, at expense of Lord and Lady O'Neill, as memorials to Rev William O'Neill.
The church was built to replace one dating from 1709, built at the east end of the churchyard, of which a small portion of walling still stands.

References – Primary Sources
1. OS Map 1829, Co Antrim 43 (appears as 'New Church').
2. Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland, Vol 19: Parishes of County Antrim VI, 1830, 1833, 1835-8 (Belfast, 1993), pp 34, 42, 80.
3. S. Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (London, 1837), Vol I, p 518; Vol II, p 484.

Secondary Sources
1. J.A. Pilson, History of the rise and progress of Belfast, and annals of the County Antrim (Belfast, 1846), p 164.
2. L. Ewart, Handbook of the United Diocese of Down and Connor and Dromore (Belfast, 1886), p 90.
3. H.A. Boyd, Drummaul Parish Church, Diocese of Connor: Historical Sketch (Ballycastle, 1943).
4. UAHS, Antrim and Ballymena (Belfast, 1969), p 25.

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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

This is a 19th century church in Gothic Revival style which exhibits the plan form, proportions, spatial organisation, structural forms, and decorative elements that are characteristic of the style and period. With the notable exception of its roof covering, it retains most of its original features both inside and out. It is a building of considerable local interest and some social interest and enjoys a pleasant setting.