St Patricks Church of Ireland

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Six-bay Gothic Revival church, orientated east/west, dating from 1893 to designs by S P Close, architect. Cruciform in plan with four stage bell tower at south west corner. Constructed in rock-faced Scrabo sandstone with stepped buttresses, natural slate roof and Perpendicular style window tracery. Church is located at the lower end of the Newtownards Road, at Ballymacarrett with hall to rear of site (NW) and low stone wall with railings to boundary with Newtownards Road.

Gabled and pitched roof with natural slate finish, terracotta ridge and lead valleys. Mix of cast-iron, uPVC and extruded aluminium rainwater goods. Ogee shaped cast-iron gutters on ovolo-shaped stone moulding with brackets to upper level. Sandstone chimney stack to north elevation, east end in three stages.

Principal elevation faces south. Walls in rock-faced Scrabo sandstone with smooth sandstone toothed quoins to corners. Entrance at base of four stage bell tower, located at south-west, with stepped stone gabled set-back buttresses with toothed quoin detail, to all stages. Ground floor stage has main entrance in equilateral arched opening with early English style archivolt, hood moulding and painted paired timber doors with strap hinges and timber boarded blind panel above. Second stage has large equilateral window with perpendicular tracery and third stage has clock set in circular moulding. Fourth stage to tower has pair of arched openings with louvres and decorated 'Y' shaped tracery to top, with shallow blind arcading behind and below; it is topped with moulded stone string course having small gargoyles set at angle at each end. Above the string course is shallow blind arcading with battlements; crocketted pinnacles to each corner and central pinnacle set at angle to centre. Middle part of S elevation split in to three bays, each having square-headed tripartite windows, separated by stone buttresses. Pitched roof above in natural slate with clerestory and three shallow four-centred arched windows with hood mouldings above. Gabled bay to south-east with two paired square-headed windows under single hood moulding at ground floor level, moulded stone string course above with equilateral arched window at upper level, with intersecting 'Y' tracery in Perpendicular style. The west face of this projecting gable has two square-headed window openings at low level and three lancet windows at high level (one to north truncated), all with hood mouldings. Decorated saddle-stone to apex of gable. Lean-to single storey abutment to east face of projecting gable, with paired timber doors in equilateral arched opening, smooth sandstone voussoirs and toothed quoins to architrave.

West elevation has bell tower to south-west corner, detailing as south elevation except with lancet arched windows to each stage diminishing in height to top stage. Gabled wall to south-east of tower having large equilateral arched window with perpendicular tracery and stepped three-stage buttresses to either side of window. Gable has three-block kneelers, moulded coping and decorated saddle-stone to apex. To north-west is lean-to gable end of north aisle with equilateral arched window opening, simple tracery and hood moulding. Diagonal buttress to north corner.

North elevation partly obscured by church hall. Detailing as on south elevation with single storey side aisle to middle with pitched natural slate roof and clerestory to nave wall beyond having three shallow four-centred arched windows with hood mouldings above. Gabled porch projects from gabled transept, with details as south elevation. To east end, stepping back from gable is smaller gable with infilled lancet window at lower level and smaller lancet window to upper level together with series of smaller returns containing boiler house. Sandstone chimney stack in three stages.

East elevation has lean-to at north end with single centrally placed lancet window. Projecting forward from this is a gable with centrally placed square-headed pair of windows with hood moulding and Gothic tracery with ogee profile. To the south of this is tall chancel gable with stepped buttresses and large equilateral arched window with perpendicular tracery. Buttress to south of window is set-back with matching buttress at 90 degrees on south elevation of chancel. Gable has kneelers, coping and decorated saddle-stone and three lancet windows to the south face. Gable to main nave visible at high level with same detailing. South transept gable has centrally placed equilateral arched window with Perpendicular tracery and smooth sandstone architrave. Lean-to porch to south end.

Materials:
Roof : Natural slate
RWG: Cast-iron; uPVC; Extruded metal
Walls : Sandstone
Windows: Tracery, some with stained glass

Six-bay single-storey hall to north-west of church having rough cast rendered walls with buttresses, smooth rendered architraves to windows with lugs, pitched roof with parapet gables, natural slate finish and uPVC rainwater goods. Square-headed openings with replacement casement windows. Principal elevation faces south with entrance located in shouldered gabled return. Entrance door set in square-headed opening with smooth rendered architrave with four-centred arch, blocked plinth, central block to jamb and hood moulding. Paired sheeted timber door. Modern extension added to east comprising single storey dry-dash rendered walls, natural slate roof and top-hung casement windows.

Setting
Church is sited on the north side of the Newtownards Road at Ballymacarrett on a level site bounded to the E,W and S sides by a low stone wall and cast-iron railings. A rubble sandstone wall with upright stone copings runs along the north boundary. The caretaker has advised that this wall pre-dates the current church and it is purported to be the oldest wall in Ballymacarrett. Vehicular entrances with large square pillars and cast-iron gates on the south and east boundaries. The caretaker also advised that, the railings and pillars on the Newtownards Road frontage have been moved back from their original position as a result of a road widening scheme.

Historical information

St. Patrick’s Church of Ireland, a Gothic Revival style sandstone church located on the Newtownards Road, was constructed in 1891-93 and was almost completely rebuilt following the Belfast Blitz of 1941. The parochial district of Ballymacarrett was formed from a portion of the parish of Knockbreda in 1825 with the first parish church, Christ Church, built in 1826 and consecrated on the 4th January 1827. Rankin states that Ballymacarrett was the first parish to be founded between Knockbreda and Holywood since medieval times. The first edition Ordnance Survey map (1834) records that Christ Church was a rectangular-shaped building located on the plot of the current St. Patrick’s Church. As a result of the rapid increase in the local population of the area during the mid-19th century, Christ Church was doubled in size in 1860 but the enlarged building was still unable to cope with an ever-expanding congregation. A watercolour illustration of the church (dated pre-1893) depicted the enlarged church as a Gothic building that was cruciform in shape and possessed a three-stage tower at its western entrance (Rankin, pp 56-57).

Christ Church’s vicar, the Rev. G. G. Mervyn, initiated plans to construct a new parish church in the late-19th century that would be able to accommodate a congregation of 1,500 parishioners. The design of the new church was by Samuel Patrick Close (1842-1925), a local architect who had set up an independent practice in Belfast in 1872. Close was responsible for the design of a large number of building for the Church of Ireland (predominantly in counties Antrim and Down) and also designed a small number of churches for the Presbyterian Church. The foundation stone of the current church was laid on 26th October 1891. The building was constructed by Dixon & Campbell and the Natural Stone Database records that it was primarily constructed of locally-quarried Scrabo sandstone. The building was constructed in two phases with the first phase (lacking the four-stage tower) completed by 11th March 1893 when the church was consecrated and dedicated to Saint Patrick (DIA; NSD).

The Annual Revisions set the rateable value of St. Patrick’s Church of Ireland at £240 and noted that the building included a national schoolhouse (known as Ballymacarrett National School) that was valued at £37 and administered by the Select Vestry. Both structures were exempt from taxation but St. Patrick’s Church was greatly increased in value to £700 following the completion of the second phase of construction in 1903 (when the tower was added – based on the tower at Magdalene College, Oxford). The Dictionary of Irish Architects notes that the tower and other additions were constructed by Messers Thornbury of Wynford Street. The third and fourth editions of the Ordnance Survey maps (1902; 1920-21) depicted St. Patrick’s Church of Ireland as a cruciform-shaped building with the schoolhouse sited between the church’s southern transept and chancel.

Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1935) the value of St. Patrick’s Church of Ireland and its schoolhouse (then converted into a church hall) was increased to £1,050. St. Patrick’s Church of Ireland was severely damaged as a result of a direct hit by a Luftwaffe bomb during the Belfast Blitz of 1941. Rankin states that the roof, one of the transepts and a gallery were completely destroyed along with all the original stained glass windows (aside from two that were removed at the outbreak of the war). The church was not restored until a decade after its near-destruction. The remaining galleries were removed from the church and a new transept was constructed to replace the one that was lost. The restored St. Patrick’s Church of Ireland was rededicated on 31st May 1952. The surviving east and west stained glass windows were reinstalled shortly after the rededication shortly after the reopening of the building. Following the reconstruction of the church, St. Patrick’s Church of Ireland was increased in value to £1,504 under the Second Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72). St. Patrick’s Church of Ireland was listed in 1987 (NIEA HB Records).

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/3/4/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey map (1834)
2. PRONI OS/6/3/4/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey map (1858)
3. PRONI OS/6/3/4/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey map (1902)
4. PRONI OS/6/3/4/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey map (1920-21)
5. PRONI OS/6/3/4/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey map (1931)
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/A/23-39 – Annual Revisions (1882-1905)
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/N/5-9 – Annual Revisions (1906-1930)
8. PRONI VAL/3/B/3/20 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1935)
9. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/48 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
10. Ulster Town Directories (1880-1943)
11. First Survey Image – HB26/07/002 (No Date)
12. NIEA HB Records – HB26/07/002

Secondary Sources
1. Brett, C. E. B., ‘Buildings of Belfast: 1700-1914’ Belfast: Friar’s Bush Press, 1985.
2. Larmour, P., ‘Belfast: An illustrated architectural guide’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1987.
3. Rankin, F., ‘Clergy of Down and Dromore’ Belfast: The Ulster Historical Foundation, 1996.

Online Resources
1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie
2. Natural Stone Database - http://www.stonedatabase.com//buildings.cfm?bk=2475

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

V. Authorship
X. Local Interest
Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance
R. Age
S. Authenticity

Evaluation

Six-bay Gothic Revival style church, orientated east/west, dating from 1893 to designs by S P Close, architect. Well-proportioned and detailed, the church is cruciform in plan with four stage bell tower at south west corner. Constructed in rock-faced Scrabo sandstone with stepped buttresses, natural slate roof and Perpendicular style window tracery. Church is located at the lower end of the Newtownards Road, at Ballymacarrett with former National School, now used as a church hall, to rear of site (NW) and low stone wall with railings to boundary with Newtownards Road. Although the church was mainly rebuilt after the Blitz of 1941, stained glass panels from both the east and west side of the original structure were removed and reinstated after this date. St Patrick's Church of Ireland remains an imposing focal point within the area of Ballymacarrett., due to it's impressive scale, well articulated form, and distinctive stonework.