Woodvale Presbyterian Church,

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Free-standing asymmetrical double-height Gothic Revival stone church, dated 1899. Cruciform on plan facing south with steeple to southeast, stair tower to southwest and two-storey block to the rear. Located on a triangular site at the junction of Woodvale Road and Ballygomartin Road.

Pitched natural slate roofs with terracotta ridge tiles, lead valleys and set behind slightly raised gables with sandstone ashlar coping. Ogee cast-iron guttering set on chamfered sandstone eaves course and cast-iron downpipes. Uncoursed rock-faced basalt walling with projecting plinth course and sandstone dressings including quoins, trim to plinth course and stepped buttresses. Pointed-headed and trefoil-headed lancet window openings formed in chamfered sandstone with flush splayed sills and latticed coloured glass windows.

South front elevation comprises gabled nave with four-stage square-plan tower and spire to the right and two-stage square-plan stair tower to the left set at an angle. The bell tower has a tapered sandstone ashlar broached spire with iron weather vane and pierced courses set on deep moulded cornice with nail-head mouldings. The bell stage has pointed-headed openings to all four sides with continuous hood moulding, louvres and set on continuous chamfered sill course. Each opening is fronted by a gilded clock face. Below the bell stage is a pair of diminutive lancets to the south and east elevations. Below is a pointed-headed opening with diminutive window openings on two levels and sandstone panel between. At the lower stage is a depressed pointed-headed door opening with stepped voussoired head rising from splayed jambs, hood moulding with foliate label stops and housing a double-leaf vertically-sheeted painted timber door opening onto two stone steps. The stair tower has a steep natural slate pyramidal roof with copper finial. Door opening as bell tower but without hood moulding. The central gable has a blind arcaded course below the apex with quatrefoil panel and tapered stone finial above. Central pointed-headed window opening with Y-tracery flanked by paired trefoil-headed lancets all set on a stepped hood moulding over the principal entrance. To the left of the gable is a clerestorey window comprising three trefoil-headed window openings with sandstone ashlar surround and hood moulding. The principal entrance is set within a shallow gabled surround with sandstone coping and diagonal buttresses. Pointed-headed opening with stepped voussoired head rising from splayed jambs and hood moulding with foliate label stops. Two square-headed door openings divided by a polished stone column on circular plinth with stiff-leaf capital supporting oversized carved sandstone panel depicting a tree with ribbon banners staging; 'ARDENS / SED VIRENS / 1899 / WOODVALE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH'. Painted vertically-sheeted timber doors open onto two stone steps.

Three bay west nave elevation with a slightly advanced gabled transept. Trefoil-headed lancets arranged in groups of three with storm glazing and flanked by stepped buttresses. The transept has a central pair of trefoil-headed lancets flanked by lower trefoil-headed lancets. At the re-entrant angle between the transept and the rear block is a shallow two-storey gabled projection with trefoil-headed window openings.

Rear elevation abutted by two-storey block, built c.1920. The west gable is cement rendered with no window openings. The north elevation has painted cement rendered walling with full-height shallow buttresses flanking pointed-headed window openings to each level with uPVC windows and enclosed by wrought-iron railing.

East nave elevation, as per west elevation with the two-storey gabled rear block to the right. Built at a later date, the gable has uncoursed rock-faced basalt walling with reconstituted stone dressings and window surrounds, returning to the north by a single bay. Central gabled entrance surround with depressed pointed-headed door opening having double-leaf vertically-sheeted hardwood doors and overlight. Door opens into small front area enclosed by iron railings and pair of matching gates hung on iron piers.

Setting:
Located on a triangular site at the junction of Woodvale Road and Ballygomartin Road enclosed by iron railings having a bitmac front area to the south apex of the site with a pair of decorative iron gates hung on cast-iron piers.

Roof Natural slate
RWG Cast-iron
Walling Un-coursed rock-faced basalt / sandstone dressings
Windows Leaded coloured glass

Historical information

Woodvale Presbyterian Church, a Late-Victorian sandstone church located at the corner of the Woodvale and Ballygomartin Roads, was constructed in 1898-99. In the early-19th century the Woodvale Road area was predominantly rural in character but the growth of the linen industry resulted in the urbanisation of the area. Clarke states that ‘there were bleachworks, beetling mills, bleach greens [and] at least ten bleaching complexes in the West Belfast area in the opening decades of the 19th century … the majority of these used the waters of the Farset and Forth’ (Clarke, p. viii-ix). This industrialisation resulted in the construction of rows of worker’s houses in the area and the creation of a thriving residential suburb by the mid-Victorian period.

Wilson’s history, Great is Thy Faithfulness: The Story of Woodvale Presbyterian Church 1895-1995, records that organised Presbyterian worship in the area pre-dated the erection of the church. The congregation of Woodvale was originally formed in 1895 and met in a temporary Iron Hall structure on the site of the current building. The memorial stones of the current church were laid in June 1898. The building was designed by Young & Mackenzie, a local partnership whom the Dictionary of Irish Architects described as ‘the most successful architectural practise in Belfast [who] had become the leading architects for the Presbyterian Church in the North-East’ in the late-19th century.’ Young & Mackenzie designed the new church in a Gothic Revival style including transepts, tower and a stone spire. The church was roofed in local Ballygowan slates and was constructed of Scottish Giffnock sandstone. The builder contracted to erect the church was Thomas McMillan who held business premises on the Ormeau Road. The Irish Builder records that the new church cost £5,000, was able to accommodate a congregation of 1,000 people and was ceremoniously opened on 8th October 1899 (Wilson; DIA; Irish Builder, p. 100; p. 169).

Upon its completion, the Annual Revisions valued Woodvale Presbyterian Church at £230. The Iron Hall in which the congregation had first met was purchased outright by the church trustees and was utilised as a lecture hall until the 1920s. The church was first recorded on the third edition Ordnance Survey map (1901-02) which depicted the building along its current layout suggesting that few major structural changes have been made to the building since early-20th century. Wilson states that the church organ was dedicated on 19th November 1922. The Iron Hall was demolished to make way for the construction of the current church hall, abutting the north side of the church. The church hall, which is also known as the Milliken Halls was opened on 4th March 1928 and was valued at £92 by the Annual Revisions. The church hall was designed by David Wright Boyd, a Belfast-based architect who was active from the 1920s to 1960s and who was the architect of the Floral Hall at Belfast Zoo and the first purpose-built apartment block in Ulster (DIA). Following the addition of the church hall the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) increased the value of the site to £415.

The clock located on the tower of the church was installed as a memorial to men and women from the area who lost their lives during the Second World War. The clock was built by Charles S. Potts Ltd. of Leeds and was installed in May 1949. The church organ was overhauled and restored in 1952 and a second current church hall was opened on 7th December 1957 at a cost of £5,800 (located to the rear of the Manse at No. 76 Woodvale Road). The church’s sole stained glass window, located to the eastern side of the church and depicting the disciple Dorcus from the Book of Acts, was dedicated on 11th August 1968. By the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) the total value of the church and its church hall (not including the hall of 1957) stood at £632.

The congregation of Woodvale Presbyterian Church peaked at 1,250 between the 1950s and 1960s but, during the Northern Ireland Troubles, membership of the church declined as a result of local sectarian violence and attacks to church property. Wilson records that the church underwent an extensive renovation in early-1984 which included general repairs to the building and cost a total of £10,000. Woodvale Presbyterian Church continues to be utilised as a house of worship with its congregation consisted of approximately 360 families (Kirkpatrick).

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/1/61/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1901-02)
2. PRONI OS/6/1/61/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1931)
3. PRONI OS/6/1/61/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1938)
4. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/M/4-7 – Annual Revisions (1906-1930)
5. PRONI VAL/3/C/3/22 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
6. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/35 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
7. Irish Builder (1 Jul 1898; 1 Nov 1899)
8. Belfast Street Directories (1890-1943)
9. First Survey Record – HB26/38/001 (No Date)

Secondary Sources
1. Clarke, R. S. J., ‘Gravestone Inscriptions: Belfast Vol. 1’ Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation, 1982.
2. Kirkpatrick, L., ‘Presbyterians in Ireland: An illustrated history’ Booklink, 2006.
3. Wilson, E. J., ‘Great is thy faithfulness: The story of Woodvale Presbyterian Church 1895-1995’ Belfast: Centenary Committee of the Kirk Session, 1995.

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

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

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

Evaluation

Free-standing asymmetrical double-height stone church dated 1899 and designed by prominent local architectural practice Young and Mackenzie. A substantial church building employing many architectural elements that typify the nineteenth-century Gothic Revival. Occupying a prominent yet compact site in a largely residential district overlooking Woodvale Park to the south. The church retains most of its original external and internal detailing. It is an important focal point for the local Presbyterian community and is a significant local landmark.