Stormont Presbyterian Church,

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A gabled double-height church in Romanesque style dating from 1955 to designs by the Belfast-based architect Thomas T. Houston and constructed by local firm James Buckley & Sons. Cruciform plan with a square plan tower to SW and a two-storey flat-roofed porch to SE. Gabled double-height pitched roof Hall to E. The church is abutted by a two-storey flat-roofed extension to N and a single storey flat-roofed extension to E. The church is located within its own grounds to the corner of Upper Newtownards and Castlehill Road.

Pitched natural slate roof with raised verges to gables and parapets with moulded concrete coping. Ogee metal guttering discharging to circular and rectangular section downpipes. Walling laid in rock faced artificial stone on moulded plinth with smooth-faced dressings to cill and banding to impost levels. Round-arched window openings with smooth banded surround and splayed cills having fixed timber casement windows (unless noted otherwise).

Principal elevation:
The principal elevation faces S and consists of a square-plan three-stage tower to W, a recessed double-height gable to centre and a square-plan two-storey flat roofed porch to E.

Round arched door opening to tower with deep moulded surround having a plain spandrel and a double-leaf square-headed timber sheeted door opening onto two nosed steps. Five-part round-arched windows with smooth banded surrounds to second-stage. Three-part round-arched louvred openings to belfry stage on all four elevations. Projecting bracketted eaves to pyramidal roof.
Square-headed door opening to tower facing E having a timber sheeted door with glazing and opening onto a ramp.

Seven round-arched windows to GF to gable having four fixed timber casement windows and three stained glass windows. Rose window to high level with stained leaded glazing.

Round arched door opening set within a shallow projecting door surround to E end porch with recessed doorcase having a panelled spandrel and a double-leaf square-headed timber sheeted door opening onto two nosed steps.

East elevation:
The E elevation consists of the E elevation of the two-storey porch to S end, a three-bay wide nave, the projecting gabled E transept and a single-storey bay to N.

Three-part round-arched windows to FF to porch. Three-part round-arched windows to GF to porch facing N with fixed timber casement windows and a tall window above.

Three tall windows to nave. Three windows to gabled transept, taller to centre.

North elevation:
The gabled N elevation is abutted by a two-storey flat-roofed extension.

West elevation:
The W elevation consists of the W elevation of the three-stage tower to S abutted by a small single-storey flat-roofed outshot, a three-bay wide nave, the projecting gabled W transept and a single bay immediately to N. The elevation is abutted to N by a two-storey gabled modern extension.

Three-part round-arched windows with smooth banded surrounds to first-stage to tower. Three-part round-arched louvred openings to belfry stage.
Three tall windows to nave. Three windows to gable, taller to centre.

Next bay has a round arched door opening to a narrow projection having a panelled spandrel and a double-leaf square-headed timber sheeted door. It is partly modernised with a narrow extension of two-storey glazed metal frame.

Setting:
Paved and tarmaced parking to S and W enclosed by coursed rock faced cast stone dwarf walling. Plain metal gateways to S and SW supported on square section gate piers to match walling with pyramidal coping stones. A more recent gateway to NW.
The church is abutted by a two-storey flat-roofed extension to N and a single storey flat-roofed extension to E. The church is located within its own grounds to the corner of Upper Newtownards and Castlehill Road. Double height hall to east of church dating from 1931 in similar style and materials.

Materials:

Roof : Natural slate
RWG : Metal
Walling: Random coursed rock faced artificial stone
Windows : Stained leaded glazing/ fixed timber casements

Historical information

Stormont Presbyterian Church, a post-war Romanesque church built in reconstituted stone is located on the Upper Newtownards Road and was constructed in 1954-55 on the site of an earlier church hall dating from 1930-31.

Presbyterian Historical Society of Ireland notes that the construction of the church hall was the first project undertaken by the General Assembly’s Church Extension Committee following the partition of Ireland. Kirkpatrick states that ‘Stormont grew out of a 1921 plan by the Belfast Presbytery to plan a new congregation in this area of the city’ (Kirkpatrick, p. 171). The current plot of land at the corner of the Castlehill and Upper Newtownards Road was acquired by the committee in 1921. The original church hall of 1930-31 was designed by Thomas J. Houston (1873-1938), a Belfast-based architect who was primarily a domestic architect but also designed a number of churches in the city, almost all of which were for the Presbyterian Church (DIA). The church hall consisted of the meeting hall, classrooms and a kitchen. It was intended as the first phase of a building scheme and land was set aside to the west of the building for the construction of a larger church in the future. The church hall was opened on 1st September 1931 and could accommodate a congregation of 300 (Presbyterian Historical Society). Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) the value of the church hall was set at £220. The 1931 Revaluation Town Plan of the area depicted the hall along its current L-shaped layout.

In the decade following the construction of the church hall, the population of Stormont greatly increased due to the development of housing in the area. The hall was struggling to accommodate an increasing congregation by the late-1930s and ‘it was at once seen that the wisdom of taking the site and the faith of those who projected the scheme would be amply justified’ (PHS). The decision to proceed with the construction of a new church was made in 1939 but, presumably due to the outbreak of the Second World War, the scheme was postponed until the 1950s. The current cruciform church was constructed in 1954-55. The new church was designed by Thomas T. Houston (1917-1978), son of the architect who had designed the church hall in the 1930s, and Baillie states that the style of the earlier hall influenced the design of the post-war building. Larmour described the church as ‘plain Romanesque in reconstructed stone’ and noted that ‘a Byzantinesque dome was designed for the tower but was not carried out (Larmour; Baillie; PHS; DIA).

The foundation stone of the church was laid in January 1954 by Lord MacDermott and the construction of the church was carried out by James Buckley & Sons. The completed church was opened on 18th September 1955 after a total of £60,000 had been expended on its construction. The new church could accommodate a congregation of 730 in addition to the 300 that the church hall could hold. Within the church the stone font with figured reliefs was sculpted by Rosamond Praeger (1867-1954), an Irish artist, writer and sculptor from Co. Down who also designed the statue of ‘Johnny the Jig’ in Holywood and carvings at St. Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast. The Upper Hall (located to the rear of the church) was added in 1962 to provide additional accommodation at a cost of £10,000. By the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72) the total value of the church and its adjoining church hall stood at £1,540 (Larmour; Baillie; PHS). In 2006 Kirkpatrick stated that Stormont Presbyterian Church possessed a congregation of over 500 families (Kirkpatrick, p. 171).

References

Primary Sources
1. Presbyterian Historical Society File – Stormont Presbyterian Church
2. PRONI OS/6/3/5/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1919-20)
3. PRONI OS/6/3/5/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1938-39)
4. PRONI VAL/3/F/3/5/9A- First Revaluation Town Plan (1931)
5. PRONI VAL/3/C/3/31 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
6. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/48 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
7. Irish Builder (19 Nov 1932)
8. Ulster Town Directories (1943)

Secondary Sources
1. Baillie, W. D., ‘A history of congregations in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland: 1610-1982’ Belfast: Presbyterian Historical Society, 1982.
2. Kirkpatrick, L., ‘Presbyterians in Ireland: An illustrated history’ Booklink, 2006.
3. Larmour, P., ‘Belfast: An illustrated architectural guide’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1987.

Online Resources
1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie/

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

A gabled double-height church in Romanesque style dating from 1955 to designs by the Belfast-based architect Thomas T. Houston and constructed by local firm James Buckley & Sons. Cruciform plan with a square plan tower to SW and a two-storey flat-roofed porch to SE. The building was designed to reflect the detail of the gabled double-height pitched roof Hall to E dating from 1931 to designs by Thomas J. Houston, the father of the architect of the church. Within the church the stone font with figured reliefs was sculpted by Rosamond Praeger. The church is abutted by a two-storey flat-roofed extension to N and a single storey flat-roofed extension to E. It is located within its own grounds on a prominent site at the corner of Upper Newtownards and Castlehill Road. Although of interest the church's setting has been compromised by numerous extensions and it is not considered of special architectural or historic merit.