Kirkpatrick Memorial Presbyterian Church

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A gabled church in Gothic Revival style, completed in 1923 to designs by Stephen A. Orr. Rectangular plan aligned N to S, with towers to NE and NW ends and abutted to S by a modern double-height Hall. The church is located to the S side of Upper Newtownards Road, at the corner of Eastleigh Avenue.

Pitched natural slate roof with angled red-clay ridge tiles. Projecting eaves with metal half-round guttering discharging to circular downpipes to side elevations; decorated cast iron hoppers discharging to rectangular section downpipes to principal elevation.
The principal elevation is built in random-coursed rock-faced Scrabo Sandstone on chamfered plinth course. Walling to side elevations in in red brick laid to English garden bond with buff sandstone dressings on a chamfered Scrabo Sandstone plinth.
Pointed arch windows to principal elevation with cut-stone surround, splayed cills and moulded hood on foliated stops having stained leaded glazing.
Paired trefoil windows to GF set within flat arched openings with splayed cills having stained leaded glazing, three-part trefoil windows to FF within segmental arched opening having stained leaded glazing (unless noted otherwise).

Principal elevation:
The principal elevation faces N and consists of a square-plan three-stage tower to E, a gabled recessed double-height bay to centre with a single-storey lean-to three-bay porch and a square-plan three-stage tower to W.

The tower to E has two-stage angle buttresses and is topped by cornicing and a raised battlemented parapet. The tower to W has two-stage diagonal buttresses, paired louvred pointed-arched openings to belfry stage, raised battlemented parapet and a stone spire with metal finial. Memorial plaque above the second stage with the name and date of completion of the church.

Pointed arch door opening to centre of porch with moulded surround and hood on foliated stops having a double-leaf diagonal sheeted painted timber door with black iron door furniture, opening onto a single stone step.

Four part traceried window to gable with splayed cill and moulded hood having stained leaded glazing.

West elevation:
The W elevation consists of the three-stage tower to N end and the double-height seven-bay wide elevation of the nave. Square-headed door opening to tower with a double-leaf painted timber sheeted door. The bays of the nave are separated by two-stage buttresses and have a moulded string course between GF and FF. The nave is attached at the S side to a two storey link which abuts the modern hall.

South elevation:
The S elevation is abutted by a two-storey red-brick hipped roof modern hall dating from the 1960s.

East elevation:
The E elevation fronts onto Eastleigh Crescent and consists of the two storey elevation of the modern hall to S end, the double-height seven-bay wide E elevation of the nave and the E elevation of the E tower to N end.
The bays of the nave are separated by two-stage buttresses and have a moulded string course between GF and FF. Square-headed door opening to tower with a double-leaf painted timber sheeted door.

Setting:
Tarmaced yard to N and W.
Dwarf irregular coursed rock-faced stone walling to N with cut stone coping with chamfered top corners and topped by wrought iron square section railings with curved railing heads. Double-leaf cast iron gate to N supported on thick square section piers in irregular-coursed rock-faced stone masonry topped by pyramidal coping with gablets.

The church is located to the S side of Upper Newtownards Road, at the corner of Eastleigh Avenue. The church is abutted to S by a two-storey red-brick hipped roof modern hall dating from the 1960s. A double-height hall in buff-brick with a shallow pitched roof dating from the 1970s is located to the SW of the church fronting onto Hillview Avenue and a single –storey flat-roofed wedge shaped porch has been added to facilitate the entrance to the two Halls accessed via the W yard.

Materials:
Roof Natural slate
RWG cast iron to principal elevation/ metal to sides
Walling random coursed rock-faced sandstone to principal elevation/ red brick walling to sides
Windows stained leaded glazing

Historical information

Kirkpatrick Memorial Presbyterian Church, an early-20th century Gothic Revivalist church located on the corner of the Upper Newtownards Road and Eastleigh Crescent, was constructed in 1922-23. The building, which consists of a red brick church hall possessing a Scrabo Sandstone façade, was constructed in stages for the congregation of Ormiston Presbyterian Church.

The congregation grew out of local missions that were initiated by the Rev. James Tolland in 1893 in the Ballyhackamore area. The mission worshipped in an iron church (a temporary and portable church hall) called ‘Ballyhackamore Iron Church.’ The mission hall was located on the same site as the current building and had been erected in 1908 under the leadership of the Rev. Toland. The Annual Revisions note that the mission hall was valued at £27 and was administered by the Trustees of Dundela Presbyterian Church prior to 1914 (Kirkpatrick, p. 171).

The First Survey Record notes that the church was originally designed by Edwin Riddell Kennedy (1881-1930), a Belfast-based architect who was president of the Ulster Society of Architects (1928-30) and resided on the Upper Newtownards Road in 1911. Kennedy produced designs for Ormiston Presbyterian Church in March 1913 but only a small portion of the church was ever erected. Three bays were added onto the eastern side of the pre-existing mission hall before the church was opened for worship in 1914. The unrealised design of Ormiston Presbyterian Church was one of the last contracts completed by Kennedy before he signed up to fight as part of the 36th (Ulster) Division in the First World War. With the extension of the iron church, the value of Ormiston Presbyterian Church was increased to £80 (Dictionary of Irish Architects).

The church remained uncompleted until the 1920s when Stephen A. Orr, a local architect who predominantly designed houses, was contracted to finish the building. In his Will the Rev. James Kirkpatrick of Dunluce left a legacy to the General Assembly for the construction of a new church. Kirkpatrick died in 1896 but his legacy was not allocated to Ormiston until 1916 (Baillie; PRONI Wills). The provision of additional funds allowed the congregation to build a grander church than was originally envisaged. The First Survey Record states that Orr abandoned Kennedy’s original plan and submitted a new design for the church in January 1922. Tenders for the construction of the new building were invited in April of that year. The iron church was subsequently demolished (along with Kennedy’s additions) and the current Gothic Revivalist church erected in its place. The fifth edition Ordnance Survey map (1931) depicted the new church as a rectangular-shaped structure that follows the current ground plan of the building (Irish Builder, p. 234; DIA).

The congregation was renamed the Kirkpatrick Memorial Presbyterian Church in memory of the Rev. James Kirkpatrick. The completed church was dedicated on 29th June 1924 and was valued at £300 under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57). The redbrick hall located to the rear of the church was added in 1955 and increased the value of the building to £350. A second red-brick hall was constructed to the south-west of the church in the 1960s (with an elevation facing onto Hillview Avenue) and by the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72) the total value of Kirkpatrick Memorial Presbyterian Church had risen to £944. During the Second Survey the church continued to be used as a house of worship with a congregation of around 200 (Kirkpatrick, p. 171).

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/3/4/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1902)
2. PRONI OS/6/3/4/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1920-21)
3. PRONI OS/6/3/4/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1931)
4. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/L/11 – Annual Revisions (1915-1930)
5. PRONI VAL/3/C/3/20 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
6. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/30 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
7. PRONI Wills Catalogue (1 May 1896)
8. Irish Builder (8 Apr 1922)
9. Belfast Street Directories (1901-1943)
10. First Survey Record – HB26/14/017
11. First Survey Image – HB26/14/017

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.

Online Resources
1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie
2. Kirkpatrick Memorial Presbyterian Church website - http://www.kirkpatrickmemorial.org/

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

A gabled church in Gothic Revival style, completed in 1923 to designs by Stephen A. Orr. Located to the S side of Upper Newtownards Road. The continuous use of this site by the Ormiston Presbyterian church from the humble beginnings of a temporary iron church is of social significance and the current building was constructed as a result of the continued worship at this location and through the legacy of the Rev. James Kirkpatrick which was allocated to Ormiston by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.
Well-proportioned principal elevation in sandstone with a tower to each end. The church retains the majority of its original detailing & character. Whilst the church has many features of interest there is a disjuncture between the sandstone front elevation and the two predominantly brick side elevations which results in a composition that is not of special interest.