First Comber Presbyterian Church hall

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Single storey gabled hall, with Classical style gable, built in c.1841 as a school, but now used as part of a church hall. The building is situated to the rear of the First Comber Presbyterian Church, on the NW side of High Street. The original school was rectangular, but an extension was added to the SW side in c.1865 and this now links to a large modern hall further to the SW. Because of the gradual extending of the hall, and its close proximity to the church, the site is now somewhat cluttered.

The building is now entered on the SW side, where, roughly to the centre of the façade there is a doorway with modern panelled and glazed double doors. To the immediate left of this doorway there abuts the single storey, gabled, 1860s extension (see below). To the right of the doorway is a small modern looking window with modern frame. This façade is finished in painted lined render.

The SW gable has a Classical feel and is mainly in sandstone. To the centre is what was the original entrance door, but this is now blocked with the opening itself rendered. The door surround has survived, however, and this consists of a simple moulded border with pediment. To the immediate left and the immediate right of the former doorway is a tall semicircular headed window with Georgian paned sash frame (6 over 6 with two panes to arch). To the outer side of each of this is a plain pilaster, then, to the very outer edges of the gable, another pilaster. The panel between both sets of pilasters is rendered. The façade is topped with a plain frieze and parapet with a pediment. With the tympanum of the pediment is a date stone which is now badly worn but appears to read ‘1841’.

The long NE façade backs into the garden of a neighbouring house. It is in sandstone rubble and has two windows to the centre as the gable. To the left of these windows is a window-like recess (as if there once was an opening here), whilst to the far right, brick dressings suggest there may once have been a large roundel window to this side.

The NW gable is difficult to see, however it too appears to be mainly in sandstone rubble, with a window as before only smaller.

The gabled roof is covered in natural slate. PVC rw goods.

The extension to the SW is finished in lined render and painted render and has three windows as gable of original building. Between the first and second windows (from left) is a projecting ‘foundation stone’ with raised letters thereon, now badly worn. These appear to read ‘Erected 186[?9], Rev. I.M. Killen D.D., Pastor’. To the NW façade there are three similar windows (this façade could not be seen clearly from the outside, however). To the SW this section joins to a large relatively recent extension, which was modernised and extended itself recently.

Historical information

The original part of this building appears to date from 1841. It was built as a National School and appears to have superseded original premises to the west of the neighbouring Presbyterian church, which had been used since the school’s foundation in 1831. During the later 1860s [?1869] an extension was added to the SE, largely paid for by a Mr. William Simms of Belfast. The school closed in 1938, after the building of the much larger primary school off Darragh Road.

After this, the premises were taken over by neighbouring First Comber Presbyterian Church (which had had a hand in the foundation of the former school), and used as a hall and offices. The new larger hall extension was added to the SW some time in the mid 1900s [?c.1950], which was itself completely refurbished and extended in 1998.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI OS/1/3/10 OS map, 1st ed. 1834, Down 10.
2 ‘Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland Vol.7: Parishes of County Down II’, ed. Angelique Day and Patrick McWilliams (QUB1991), p.28.
3 PRONI MIC/1P/58 Comber 1st Presbyterian Church records 1845-70.
4 PRONI OS/6/3/10/3 OS map, 1st rev. 1858, Down 10.
5 George Henry Bassett ‘County Down Guide and Directory’ (Dublin 1886), pp.303-305.
6 PRONI OS/2/3/10 OS map, 2nd ed. 1901, Down 10.

Secondary sources
1 Norman Nevin ‘The Story of Comber’ (c.1980) [typescript in Comber library]. [Nevin gives the impression that the above building was the original (1831) premises for Comber National School, however, this building is not shown on the OS map of 1834 and its date stone implies that it was built in 1841.]

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Single storey church hall, originally built as a school in 1841, but much extended and altered over the years. The original portion of this hall is the small rectangular gabled building to the north east side, with the Classical gable. The portion to the south west façade was added in c.1869 and the large modern looking section to the far south west added c.1950s. The classical gable of the original building still survives, but the former doorway is now blocked.