Donegall Road Methodist Church 381 Donegall Road, Belfast BT12 6GR

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Freestanding double-height red brick Methodist church, dated c.1926, refurbished 1970, located on the north side of Donegall Road. Rectangular plan flanked at front (south) elevation by lower two-storey wings; single-storey canted vestry to west, extension (c.1970) to north; annexe (1926) to north-east and attached hall (1937) to east.

Pitched natural slate roof to main body of church with terracotta ridge tiles and profiled plastic rainwater goods on corbelled gauged brick eaves. East wing has hipped slate roof; west wing has flat roof concealed by a panelled brick parapet with cavetto moulded cornice; two-stage red brick chimneystack to north over annexe. Vestry has hipped roof with crocketted terracotta finial. Walling is red brick laid in English garden wall bond over painted masonry plinth course, projecting plinth to vestry; raised verges to north and south, and to annexe; that to front has painted masonry coping, otherwise verges are brick with saddleback gauged brick coping. Square- and pointed arched windows to principal elevation (see below); windows to side elevations are generally square-headed with plain brick jambs, shared painted concrete lintels and sills, interlaced tracery comprising plain glazed lancet lower pane surmounted by two stained glass lozenge panes. Vestry has uPVC casements.

Principal elevation faces south and is gabled between slightly projecting east and west wings, articulated by three-stage buttresses rising to pinnacles with cruciform masonry caps; each wing clasped by single-stage corner buttresses. Each buttress is set with a sandstone foundation stone detailed with the name of the person who laid it and the date: 19th JUNE 1926. Central double-height pointed-arched opening with masonry hood mould and chamfered stepped reveal containing main entrance comprising pair of replacement timber doors with glazed panels, set in contemporary stained glass screen with curvilinear interlaced tracery; surmounted by painted frieze with fixed lettering ‘DONEGALL ROAD METHODIST CHURCH’ and plate tracery window comprising tall central lancet flanked by lower paired lancets with lozenge panes over; trefoils and roundels to spandrels. Group of three blind rectangular panels to apex (central panel taller) having shared painted masonry and sill. Wings have slightly projecting gabled entrance porches let into the gable buttresses and having painted masonry coping and impost blocks; each has a pointed-arched entrance opening with chamfered reveal and double-leaf replacement timber doors and is flanked to outer edge by blind rectangular panel (containing a noticeboard to east side). Upper storeys have variations in fenestration: east wing has has group of three pointed-arched uPVC windows with flush chamfered sills and shared gauged brick hood mould; west wing has two pointed-arched windows with separate hood moulds having stops.

West elevation has three pairs of windows, aligned to south side, each pair separated by a two-stage buttress with masonry offsets; north side abutted by vestry, which has a flat-roofed extension to south, with relieving arch over. West wing has two staggered 1/1 timber sash windows.

Rear elevation is blank with the exception of glazed timber door to right side, and is abutted by three-storey late twentieth-century extension (of no interest).

East elevation is detailed as west, with additional full-height flowing tracery window truncated by a later lean-to addition to the south elevation of the annexe. East wing has two square timber casement windows to ground floor.

Annexe is plainly detailed with three uPVC windows to first floor and to rear; ground floor abutted by lean-to porch extension.

Set at a corner site, concrete flagged perimeter bounded by cast-iron railings on dwarf plinth wall, having quatrefoil panels at intervals to top rail; two entrances to north and one to west having cast-iron pedestrian gate hung on cast-iron piers with cusped panels, frieze and pyramidal cap.

Roof: Slate
Walling: Brick
Windows: Timber
RWG: uPVC

Historical information

Donegall Road was originally called Blackstaff Lane, as indicated by the second edition OS map of c.1862, although the surrounding aspect remained fairly rural at that time. No building is shown on the site until the 25” OS revision of 1899-1904, which shows a Mission Hall (captioned) slightly to the east of the existing church, on the junction with Rydalmere Street. This map indicates the scale of industrial development in the area, along with the beginnings of the residential terraced streets that characterise the urban environment today. The Methodist Church is the fourth largest Christian denomination in Ireland, founded by John Wesley in the mid-eighteenth century as a movement within the Church of England. John Wesley travelled and preached the gospel extensively throughout the island of Ireland between 1747 and 1789. The seeds of Methodism in the Donegall Road area can be traced to the end of the nineteenth century when there were cottage meetings in the area and a mission hall in Tierney Street (now redeveloped). The Superintendent at this time was based in Sandy Row. A mission was instigated by Rev RT Agnew and a Sandy Row preacher named Robert Dixon. A site had been purchased at some time in the latter part of the nineteenth century on Donegall Road for £600, and it was here that the Mission Hall – known locally as ‘Tin Top’ due to its corrugated iron roof - was first constructed, opening in 1902. A day school was opened on the site, which operated for some years, growing from an initial 23 pupils to 260 pupils by 1905. The congregation quickly outgrew the existing premises, and plans for a new building were drawn up in 1925 by engineer Francis D. Brown, working from Belfast Bank Chambers in Belfast, who is described in the Belfast & Ulster Directory of 1926-7 as AQ.M.I.E.E, Consulting Engineer, Marine Surveyor & Fire Loss Assessor (DIA). The church was opened in 1927 at a cost of £10,000. It was constructed of Laganvale brick and had capacity for a congregation of 650. The adjacent Cullen Hall opened in 1937. The Donegall Road area was the scene of several incidents during the Troubles, and in 1969 the church was damaged by a fire thought to have been caused by a petrol bomb. Remodelling and repair work was undertaken by the practice of Gordon McKnight, who designed several listed churches including Orangefield Presbyterian Church (1955, HB26/05/003) and Chapel of Unity at Methodist College (1960, HB26/28/161), and the church reopened after a closure of three years in 1972. (Clarke)

Primary Sources:
1. Irish Builder (55), Oct 1913 (p.656)
2. Irish Builder (69), Feb 1927 (p.85)

Online Sources:
3. Johnston, D.: Entry 58 in Round the Churches;
https://methodisthistoryireland.org/churches/Donegall%20Road%20Methodist%20Church,%20Belfast.pdf.pdf (accessed 03/09/18).
4. Clarke, T.: Entry 77 in Round the Churches; (http://methodisthistoryireland.org/churches/Donegal%20Road%20Methodist%20Church,%20Belfast.pdf.pdf (accessed 30/08/18).
5. Dictionary of Irish Architects: https://www.dia.ie/works/view/42951

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
H+. Alterations enhancing the building

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

Donegall Road Methodist Church is a large urban red brick church in plain and functional Gothic Revival style, prominently located along the north side of Donegall Road. Built in 1926 to designs by engineer Francis D. Brown to serve the expanding Methodist congregation in south Belfast. Original form, proportion and some original detailing retained after vigorous refurbishments carried out in 1970 by Gordon McKnight, following extensive fire damage in 1969. The modern work is less apparent externally where the original symmetry of the flanking wings has been subtle altered. Inside, the interlacing tracery is confident, flamboyant and very much of the late twentieth-century. The original design reflected the standard non-conformist layout with three-sided gallery, this has been reduced to a single gallery level, and the church interior is plain. The original roof structure, comprising a series of hammerbeam oak roof trusses is an important and notable survival above the later inserted ceiling, and is retained largely intact. The church is of considerable social importance, having served the local community through the provision of a variety of services over almost a century, and is of historical interest, as the second church on the site, replacing the earlier 'Tin Top' church which stood on the site from 1902. It is enhanced by the original wall and railings boundary features and the adjacent modest hall. It is of significance in the urban setting and social history of Donegall Road.

General comments

Listing Query ref: HB26/LQ263