Megain Memorial Church of the Nazarene

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A Gothic-revival red-brick Wesleyan church with tower dated 1889, built to designs by Vincent Craig; north-facing and located to the south side of Newtownards Road east of Belfast city centre. Gabled double-height hall with paired transepts; three-stage entrance tower with spire to northeast; canted stair-bay to northwest; abutted to rear by a two-storey red-brick church hall.

Pitched natural slate roof with terracotta ridge tiles, raised stone verges and finial to gable. Cast-iron ogee rainwater goods with hoppers on projecting sandstone eaves-band. Walling is English garden wall-bonded red-brick on chamfered plinth with buttresses having masonry offsets and cusped pinnacles (to main elevation), and red sandstone dressings; moulded string course with carved sandstone panel under window at main elevation. Windows are leaded-and-stained glass lancets in red sandstone surrounds with chamfered sills. Geometric tracery window to north and to transepts; transept tracery is of the flat variety and has tripartite cusped lancets.

North-facing, comprising gabled vestibule with entrance bay at right (lower) and tower at left. Gabled vestibule has geometric tracery window with hood mould, decorative stops and carved inset reading “Megain Memorial Church”; flanked by lancet to either side with carved inset reading “1889”; to ground floor are five lancets (grouped to centre). Entrance bay projects slightly to ground floor with lean-to roof, containing replacement double-leaf timber door surmounted by an ornately carved Gothic panel, in chamfered recess having sandstone ashlar surround with moulded archivolt and hood mould; trefoil opening in sandstone surround to first floor level. Three-stage entrance tower has broach spire with lucarnes and weather-vane; paired Gothic openings with louvered vents on four sides at third stage with dentillated frieze; double string course between terracotta foliated panels with paired lancets to first and second stage at east elevation. Entrance to north elevation comprises replacement double-leaf doors surmounted by Gothic panel in chamfered recess with sandstone ashlar surround and archivolt (as at entrance bay); surmounted by decorative red-brick pediment with finial.

The east elevation comprises bell tower to right and paired gabled transepts to left; the central adjoining section is three windows wide; to extreme left is an additional lower gabled entrance bay. Transepts have three windows to ground floor and traceried window to upper level. Gabled entrance bay has paired lancets over a pointed-headed timber-sheeted door in chamfered recess.

The south (rear) elevation has three slender openings to gable; abutted by a modern extension (lower) which further abuts the church hall to south (of no interest).

The west elevation comprises gabled stair-bay to left and paired gabled transepts to right; the central adjoining section is three windows wide; to extreme right is an additional lower gabled entrance bay. Transepts have three windows to ground floor and traceried window to upper level. Stair-bay has canted window with four-paned mullioned window and paired lancet above surmounted by oculus. Gabled entrance bay has paired lancets over a pointed-headed timber-sheeted door in chamfered recess.

Setting:
Situated between Montrose Street and Chamberlain Street which comprises mainly twentieth- century red-brick terraced housing, on the site of earlier terraces. Bounded to street by cast-iron railings on red-brick and sandstone plinth, with latch gates to entrances. To east is a cleared building site.

Roof: Natural slate
Walling: English garden wall-bonded red-brick
Windows: Leaded-and-stained glass lancets
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

The Belfast Telegraph notes that the foundation stone of Megain Memorial Presbyterian Church on the Newtownards Road was laid on 13 April 1889. The church was originally built as a memorial to the Rev. Henry Cooke of May Street Presbyterian (HB26/30/031A) however it is now named after Alexander Megain who financed its construction and was a member of May Street during Cooke’s ministry; the cost of construction was estimated at £2,000 (Irish Builder, Vol. 30, 15 April 1888, p. 100). The date stone to the front of the church indicates the building was completed in 1889 although at that time the rear Church Hall had not been added.

The church was first recorded in the Annual Revisions in 1889 when it was valued at £200. The two-storey redbrick Church Hall to the rear of the building was added in 1902 to designs by William David Redmond Taggart (1872-1940). A Belfast based architect, the first work attributed to Taggart by the Irish Builder was the Megain Memorial Hall; however, he also constructed a large number of domestic buildings during his career and later designed schoolhouses (Dictionary of Irish Architects). The lecture hall measured 85 by 34 ft at the time of its construction and contained classrooms on the ground level with a lecture hall on the first floor. The builders contracted to undertake the work were the Hewitt Bros. of Ballyhackamore who submitted their tender in June of 1902 and completed their work in time for the hall to be opened in November of that same year (Irish Builder, Vol. 43, 19 Jun 1902, p. 1292; The Builder, Vol. 83, 22 Nov 1902, p. 481). A memorial within the building records that the first minister was the Rev. James McConnell who preached at Megain Memorial for 31 years and was responsible for eliminated the debt on the church and the adjoining lecture hall during this time.

There was no change to the valuation of the church until c. 1906 when Pottinger Ward was valued separately from Central Belfast (it had previously been valued along with Cromac Ward) and the value of the church increased to £210 which it remained until the end of the Annual Revisions in 1930. By the First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland in 1935 the value of the church was recalculated to £300; this was further increased by the second revaluation in 1956 to £840, but was then reduced to £672 under the 1957 Rent and Valuation Act.

The church was listed in 1990; the First Survey Record for Megain Memorial Church states that Megain Memorial Church was designed by Vincent Craig (1869-1925). Craig was born in Craigavon and was the younger brother of Sir. James Craig, who later became the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. Field research conducted at the site finds that the hall to the rear of the church was also formerly used as a school. Megain Memorial Church was originally constructed as a Presbyterian place of worship and in 1962 boasted a congregation of 1,500 families and approximately 5,000 individuals (Kirkpatrick, p. 78); however the church is now occupied by the Church of the Nazarene, an evangelical Wesleyan denomination which was first established in the United Kingdom in 1915. The denomination’s website states that Megain Memorial Church is one of 37 Nazarene congregations in the United Kingdom which maintain an average congregation of 1,600 members (eurasiannazarene.org).

References

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/3/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey map 1834
2. PRONI OS/6/3/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey map 1858
3. PRONI OS/6/3/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey map 1902
4. PRONI OS/6/3/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey map 1920-21
5. PRONI OS/6/3/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey map 1931
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/A/21 – Annual Revisions 1882-1896
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/A/30 – Annual Revisions 1897-1905
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/L/6 – Annual Revisions 1906-1914
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/L/11 – Annual Revisions 1915-1930
10. PRONI VAL/3/B/3/12 – First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1935
11. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/30 – Second General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1956-1972
12. Belfast Telegraph – Undated newspaper clipping
13. Irish Builder, Vol. 30, 15 April 1888; Vol. 43, 19 Jun 1902.
14. The Builder, Vol. 83, 22 Nov 1902.

Secondary Sources

1. Kirkpatrick, L. ‘Presbyterians in Ireland: An illustrated history’ Dublin: Booklink, 2006.
2. First Survey Record – HB26/08/012.

Online Resources

1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie
2. Church of the Nazarene Website – http://www.eurasianazarene.org

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
U. Historic Associations
X. Local Interest
Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance

Evaluation

A well-preserved Gothic-revival red-brick Wesleyan church with square tower and broach spire, dated 1889 to designs by Vincent Craig; north-facing and located to the south side of Newtownards Road east of Belfast city centre. A lively design, the broach spire with lucarnes is a particularly fine example of a brick type. Essentially of gothic character and proportions, the building's architectural fabric is largely intact with a well-preserved late-Victorian Gothic interior. Although the adjoining church hall is not of special architectural interest, it is relatively sympathetic in design and is of significant social interest given its relationship with the church and its role as a former school. Megain Memorial Church is a fine example of a Gothic-revival church, by a celebrated local architect. Of considerable social importance and interest, the church continues to make a significant contribution to the local community it serves.