St. Mark's Church of Ireland

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A High Victorian double height gabled stone church in Gothic revival style dating from 1856, most likely to designs by the Belfast based architect W. H. Lynn and constructed by the local firm of James Carlisle. Cruciform plan set on an E-W axis with a square plan tower to SE. The site is located to the N of Ligoniel Road and includes a National School (listed under HB26/39/006B).

Pitched natural slate roof with angled black-clay ridge tiles. Stone cruciform to apex and raised stone verges. Cast iron ogee guttering discharging to circular downpipes. The church was built in three-stages, two of which are clearly visible to the exterior. The transept and tower belong to the first stage (W.H. Lynn, 1856) and are built in rock-faced, random-coursed basalt with grey sandstone dressings and quoins. The chancel and nave were built during the second phase (also to designs by W.H. Lynn completed 1866) in random-coursed rock-faced basalt with buff sandstone dressings and quoins and red sandstone banding to impost and cill level. Pointed arch window openings with buff sandstone dressings and moulded cills having stained leaded glazing.

Principal elevation
The principal elevation faces S and consists of the tower to E end, the gabled double-height S transept immediately to W, the S elevation of the nave and a gabled single storey porch to W end.

Square plan three-stage tower to SE with single stage angled buttresses. Pointed trefoil arch door opening to S elevation having a double-leaf timber sheeted door with black iron door furniture opening onto a platform and five stone steps. Metal clock face to second stage above. Small square headed opening to first stage to E elevation and trefoil opening to second stage above. Paired pointed arch louvred openings to belfry stage to all four sides. The tower is topped by a broached stone spire with metal weathervane.

Three-part pointed arch windows to S transept with chamfered stone cills and a round arch above. Two windows to W facing elevation to transept.

Four-bay wide nave directly to W.

Two-part plate-traceried window to the projecting gabled single storey porch to SW end with a central colonnette and moulded cill. Sandstone carved detail at high level to gable.

Pointed arch door opening to W elevation to porch with buff sandstone dressings having a double-leaf timber sheeted door with black iron door furniture appears to be a later addition.

West elevation
The double height gabled W elevation has a two-part pointed arch window with moulded cills and a plate traceried rose window above. Red sandstone pointed arch above the rose window.

North elevation
The N elevation consists of the five-bay wide N elevation of the nave to W and the projecting double-height gabled N transept.
Three-part pointed arch window to transept with a round arch above and chamfered stone cill. Two windows to W elevation to transept.

East elevation
The E elevation has a three-sided hipped roof chancel flanked by a single-storey three-sided hipped roof outshot to N and a single-storey lean-to outshot to S, abutted by the tower to SE end. Paired windows to chancel. Trefoil window to N outshot and two square-headed windows with clear glazing to S outshot. A tall square-section stepped chimney to S outshot with a red-clay chimney pot.

Setting
The church is located within its own grounds on a prominent elevated site fronting onto Ligoniel Road. The site includes a two-storey pitched roof rendered vicarage to E (of little interest), the National School building to W (listed under HB26/39/006B) and a single storey flat roofed building to NW (of little interest).
The site is tarmaced and lawned enclosed by random-coursed basalt walling. Two gateways to Ligoniel Road supported on square section stone piers with moulded caps. A double timber gate with iron detailing forms the main gateway to NW and a plain timber gate the pedestrian entrance to NE.

Materials
Roof: natural slate
RWG: cast iron
Walling: random-course, rock-faced basalt with sandstone dressings and quoins
Windows: stained leaded glazing

Historical information

St. Mark’s Church of Ireland, a Victorian Gothic Revival sandstone church located on the Ligoniel Road in the townland of Ballysillan Lower, was originally constructed in 1854 but underwent two alterations in the second half of the 19th century that gave the building its current High Victorian appearance.

The church was constructed in 1854 as a result of an increase in the population of the area. The industrial development of the village of Ballysillan, including the construction of beetling mills, the laying out of numerous bleach greens and the subsequent erection of housing for workers, resulted in the establishment of a new residential suburb. The influx of labourers from the country into Belfast in the aftermath of the Irish Famine also contributed to the increase of the local population.

St. Marks’ Church of Ireland was constructed on land that had been granted by Elizabeth May, a local landowner and quarry owner. Brett recorded that the church was designed by Charles Lanyon although Larmour suggests that the design was more likely the work of Lanyon’s chief assistant, W. H. Lynn. According to the Dictionary of Irish Architects the pair formed the partnership Lanyon & Lynn in 1854 or 1855. The construction of the church was contracted out to the local building firm of James Carlisle. The foundation stone was laid on 25th May 1854 and two years later St. Mark’s Church of Ireland was consecrated on 1st May 1856 (Brett; Larmour, p, 46; DIA)

The second edition Ordnance Survey map (1857) depicted the church as a simple rectangular-shaped building. In the 1850s the church consisted of the current tower and transepts (which formed the original nave). In 1859 the contemporary Griffith’s Valuation valued the building at £45. In 1866, only a decade after its completion, W. H. Lynn was contracted to re-orientate the church and to enlarge the building. Lynn installed a new nave to the west side of the church (converting the original nave into transepts) and added the chancel to the east side of the building. The re-orientation of the church was carried out by William McMaster, a Belfast-based builder. Larmour states that the small plain church was renewed in High Victorian manner ‘with the addition of [the] red stone banded nave and polygonal chancel.’ St. Mark’s Church was reopened on 2nd September 1866 (Larmour; DIA).

The next alteration to the church came in 1877 when the chancel was redecorated by James John Phillips (c. 1841-1936), a local architect and water-colourist. Phillips did not design any buildings prior to the 1880s but appears to have concentrated on painting throughout this early period in his career. The decoration of St. Mark’s Chancel is the first contract by Phillips to be recorded in the Dictionary of Irish Architects. Larmour states that ‘much of his stencilled work to the chancel has now disappeared but the Gothic Revivalist painted dado remains, as do the elaborate wrought iron chancel rails.’ Having carried out a number of ecclesiastical contracts in the early-1880s Phillips returned to St. Mark’s Church. Between 1885 and 1886 Phillips increased the length of the nave and the north transept and added the organ chamber to the north side of the chancel. He also furnished the interior of the church installing the wooden baptistery screen and polychrome iron cover to the font. Following these final alterations St. Mark’s Church of Ireland was rededicated on 25th June 1886 (Larmour; DIA).

St. Mark’s Church of Ireland is noted for the beauty and variety of its stained glass windows. The majority of the stained glazing were installed as memorials to prominent members of the congregation, most notably the Ewart family who operated the Glenbank Bleachgreen and The Mountain Spinning Mill in the area. Following the death of Lavens Mathewson Ewart of Glenbank House in 1898, his family had a number of memorials erected throughout the church. In 1901 the Ewart family had the stained glass windows at the west end of the nave installed. The rose window and pair of windows depicting St. George and (presumably due to his rough attire) St. John the Baptist are the most significant stained glass in the church as they were designed by Mayer & Co. of Munich, a world famous stained glass design and manufacturing company that were popular in Europe throughout the late-19th and early-20th century and were the chief providers of stained glass to the Catholic Church during that period. Mayer & Co. were an extremely popular firm in Ireland; the Dictionary of Irish Architects records that the firm carried out at least 70 contracts on the island between 1870 and the 1920s for both the Church of Ireland and the Roman Catholic Church. The Mayer windows are the only stained glass within St. Mark’s Church that can be attributed to a designer (DIA).

The majority of the stained glass windows on the south side of the nave (depicting the Evangelists) and the chancel (depicting the life and trials of Jesus) were installed in the late-19th century as memorial windows to parishioners. Five stained glass windows depicting the Saints were added to the north side of the nave in the first half of the 20th century. The window depicting St. David was installed in memory of men from the church who had died during the Second World War. Two windows in the South Transept depicting the Pentecost and St. Paul were installed in 1956 for the centenary of the consecration of the church, whilst a window depicting the Annunciation was installed in the north transept in 1966 to commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of the expansion of the church.

By the 1930s the value of the church had been raised to £240 under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57). This was subsequently increased to £480 by the end of the Second Revaluation in 1972. St. Mark’s Church of Ireland was listed in 1987.

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/1/60/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1857)
2. PRONI OS/6/1/60/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1901)
3. PRONI OS/6/1/60/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1920-31)
4. PRONI OS/6/1/60/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1920-38)
5. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/21B – Griffith’s Valuation (1859)
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/5/8A-F – Annual Revisions (1862-1897)
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/M/1-7 – Annual Revisions (1897-1930)
8. PRONI VAL/3/C/3/22 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
9. PRONI VAL/4/B//7/35 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
10. Ulster Town Directories (1852-1943)
11. First Survey Record – HB26/39/006 (1986)
12. NIEA HB Records – HB26/39/006

Secondary Sources
1. Brett, C. E. B., ‘Buildings of Belfast: 1700-1914’ Belfast: Friar’s Bush Press, 1985.
2. Larmour, P., ‘Belfast: An illustrated architectural guide’ Belfast: Friar’s Bush Press, 1987.
3. Leslie, J. B., ‘Clergy of Connor’ Belfast: The Ulster Historical Foundation, 1993.

Online Resources
1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie/
2. St. Mark’s Church of Ireland website - http://stmarksballysillan.org.uk/index.asp

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
H+. Alterations enhancing the building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

St. Mark’s Church of Ireland, a Victorian Gothic Revival sandstone church located on the North side of Ligoniel Road in the townland of Ballysillan Lower, was originally constructed in 1854 but underwent two alterations in the second half of the 19th century that gave the building its current High Victorian appearance. The church was built in three distinct phases. Originally a simple rectangular-shaped building to designs by the prominent architectural firm Lanyon & Lynn, it was re-orientated and enlarged in 1859 to designs by W. H. Lynn. In 1877 the chancel was redecorated by James John Phillips and the West part of the nave was enhanced with the adding of the timber baptistry screen and marble font. Notable stained glass windows depicting biblical scenes and saints. The church is a very good example of a Victorian Gothic Revival design, has a good suburban setting and has group value with the National School in the same grounds (HB26/39/006B).