Former Church School

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Greatly extended former single storey school house of c.1867, on the W side of Main Street, Millisle.

The original section of this building is the rubble built gabled rectangular portion to the S.

The (‘front’) E gable of this section is buttressed and has a similarly buttressed lean to (former porch) projection. The N and S facades of the projection are now blank, with the former main entrance on the N facade now blocked.

To the E facade there are two groups of three ‘joined’ pointed arch windows with yellow brick dressings which form piers between windows (giving a colonnade effect). Modern timber frames to windows. Central buttress between the two groups of windows. All buttresses have sandstone ‘quoins’. Above the lean to projection (to the main gable) is a larger joined group of three windows, much as previous, but with stained glass. Above this group (to the gable apex) is a small yellow brick dressed roundel with ‘Millisle Baptist Church 1985’ inscribed in centre.

The S elevation appears to have been extended westwards and now sports a large gabled section at the E (left) end with a ‘triangular’ arch headed doorway (with modern glazed door) to the ground floor of the gabled section and a modern window (with similar arch head) directly above. The rest of the facade to the right (E) has five tall-ish ‘triangular’ or flat arch headed windows with modern frames and patterned glass. Buttress to left side was presumably shifted when this facade was extended. All openings on this facade have light coloured brick surrounds. This (largely) original section has a steeply pitched roof with asbestos free slates and stone parapet (to the E) with cast iron finial.

The large modern extensions to the N facade were added in c.1985 and have effectively doubled the size of the building as a whole. Though modern, a decent attempt has been made to blend these new extensions with the old, especially where the front (E) facade is concerned, where a squat ‘tower’ section (with pyramidal roof) has been attached to the immediate right of the original gable with a rubble faced section to the right of this, with windows and dressings much in keeping with the original.

The N and rear facade of the recent extensions are more functional however, sporting limestone chip and rough cast render respectively and largely plain window openings.

Historical information

This building was originally Millisle National School, built with financial help from the locally prominent Carmichael family and opened in January 1867. The school closed in 1959, when the new primary school was opened on Abbey Road. The building appears to have remained vacant until c.1984/5 when it was extended, and converted into a Baptist church, with a hall and church offices in the newly built section to the north.

References- Secondary sources
1 Grace Seymour 'Echoes of Millisle and district' (Rathfriland ?c.1983), pp.24, 37-38.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Rubble built gabled school house with brick and sandstone dressings, probably dating from c.1880-90, now greatly extended and modernised losing all architectural worth.