Groomsport Presbyterian Church

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A double-height rendered Presbyterian church with later sandstone tower, main body dated 1841, tower dated 1863, located to the south side of Main Street, Groomsport. The church is rectangular-on-plan with later tower with quadrant stair tower, now abutted by a twentieth-century extension to right and a large modern extension to the rear.

Pitched grey/black tiled roof with lead-capped kneelers to north (road-facing) gable. uPVC rainwater goods on timber eaves board. Walling is painted ruled-and lined render over rendered plinth, with the exception of the tower and front extensions, which are rock-faced sandstone over projecting sandstone plinth. Round-headed windows in chamfered sandstone reveals to north front, with Romanesque hood mouldings; lancet-headed windows with painted masonry sills and plain reveals to remainder. All windows have modern leaded glazing with stained glass central panels, unless otherwise stated.

North (entrance) gable is dominated by the three-stage sandstone tower (each stage slightly instepped) with pinnacles and balustraded parapet, abutted by a full-height vestry extension to right and a Celtic-Revival stair tower to left. The exposed section of the original gable (at left) has rendered quoins and a string course at eaves level. Tower has round-headed entrance to north, set in a deep-splayed ashlar sandstone opening with Romanesque hood moulding. Door is double-leaf panelled timber with fixed tympanum. Second stage has a round-headed window with hood moulding surmounted by a clock; belfry stage has a pair of round-headed louvred openings to each face, each with linked hood-moulds. To right of tower the vestry extension has a single round-headed window with hood moulding. To left the stair tower has a semi-conical roof and a single square-headed window.

East and west elevations are each four windows wide.

Rear elevation is completely abutted by the modern extension of no interest.

Setting
The church is built into a bank, with tarmac car park to front, and lawns to sides and rear. The site is bounded by buildings to either side and is bounded to the road by a boundary wall; central section consists of wrought-iron railings on a sandstone plinth wall with wrought-iron double access gates. Remainder is cast-concrete; car park is accessed by a pair of mild-steel gates. The entrance is accessed by a number of concrete steps with mild-steel railings.

Roof: Concrete tiles
Walling: Rendered
Windows: Stained glass
RWG: uPVC

Historical information

Groomsport Presbyterian church bears the date 1841 and has undergone several phases of alteration.

On the second edition OS map (1858) it is shown captioned as a rectangular structure, reflecting its simple classical hall appearance at this stage. In Griffith’s Valuation of 1863 it is listed as a ‘Presbyterian Church, National Schoolhouse and yard’ valued at £28.

According to the ‘History of Congregations’, Presbyterians in Groomsport initially had difficulty in obtaining a site for a church because their separation from Bangor congregation was opposed by the local landlord, J.W. Maxwell. A site was eventually secured in 1841 from a Presbyterian, the widow of Rev. Henry Reid Andrews, who was willing to sell. (History of Congregations, p.517)

Services were held in a house at No. 17 Main St. while the minister Isaac Mack collected funds for the erection of the church and schools. In 1863 he obtained further funds for the tower and stair turret, bell and clock. The tower is dated 1863 and bears an inscription to the effect that it and the clock were the gift of William McMurray of London whose ancestors lived in the town. In 1898 Young & Mackenzie built a gallery for the church. (Lyttle, p.39, Patton, p.139, www.dia.ie)

The church was extended several times in the second half of the twentieth century, initially in the 1950s, by means of an extension to the right side of the tower. This was a single storey at first, later raised to double storey height in 1971 when the main church was extended by one bay to the rear and a church hall was added containing a new vestry. (Patton, p.139, Information supplied by current minister)

In 1991 a vestibule was inserted at the front of the church and the gallery and box pews were replaced. An extension was added to the church hall in 2007. (Information supplied by current minister)

References:
Primary Sources

1.PRONI OS/6/3/2/2 – Second Edition OS map 1858
2.PRONI OS/6/3/2/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1901
3.PRONI OS/6/3/2/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1919-26
4.PRONI OS/6/3/2/5 – Fifth Edition OS Map 1939
5.PRONI VAL/2/B/3/2 – Griffith’s Valuation Map (1863)
6.PRONI Printed Griffith’s Valuation, Union of Newtownards (1856-64)
7.PRONI VAL/12/B/23/7A-K – Annual Revisions (1866-99)
8.PRONI VAL/12/B/23/8A-C – Annual Revisions (1894-1923)

Secondary Sources

1.“A History of Congregations in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland 1610-1982” authorised by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Belfast: Presbyterian Historical Society of Ireland, 1982
2.Information supplied by current Minister
3.Lyttle, W.G. “The Bangor Season, What’s to be Seen and How to See It” Belfast: Appletree Press, Facsimile edition of original published in 1885
4.Patton, M, “Bangor, An Historical Gazetteer” Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1999
5.www.dia.ie – Dictionary of Irish Architects online

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Groomsport Presbyterian Church is a plain double-height rendered structure, begun in 1841, now dominated by a mid-nineteenth-century tower fronting the original, rather sober classically-styled hall church behind. The evolution of the building is evident, with original gable detailing and datestone remaining within the tower, and it bears distinct signs of alterations throughout. The modern extension at the rear competes with the original church in scale and massing and it has been modernised internally, including the removal of historic box pews and the complete replacement of the original gallery, as well as the remodelling of the area around the pulpit, although some features of interest survive. Its interest has been seriously compromised by the recent alterations and additions and it no longer meets the statutory tests as a building of special architectural and historic interest.