St Pauls Church of Ireland

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

An early-Victorian double-height gabled church in Gothic-Revival early English style dating from 1850 to designs by the architectural firm Lanyon & Lynn and constructed by James Carlisle of Donegal Street and Antrim Road. Originally a smaller church of irregular shape, St. Paul’s has been subject to many alterations and additions over the years. Rectangular plan form with a tower to S, an eight-gabled aisle to N, an entrance porch to SW and a single storey lean-to modern extension to W.
The church is located within its own grounds with a three-storey former school-building to W, in a wedge-form site to the W side of York Street.

Pitched natural slate roof with angled black-clay ridge tiles and stone copings to gables resting on kneelers. Projecting eaves support half-round cast-iron guttering discharging to circular downpipes to S elevation; decorated cast iron hoppers discharging to circular downpipes to N elevation. Walling laid to un-coursed, rock-faced Scrabo sandstone with projecting double chamfered plinth course and ashlar stone fascia below the eaves, underscored by chevron-style moulding. Stained leaded glazing to window openings (unless noted otherwise).

East elevation
The principal elevation faces E and consists of a gable with a five-part pointed-arch window framed by compound hood moulding resting on slender colonnettes that separate the five windows rising from an ashlar stone sill. Single stage ashlar stone buttresses flank either side of the window and a square apex stone with trefoil ornamentation sits directly above. N aisle abuts main gable, having two paired trefoil windows with ashlar stone surround. Single stage buttress to N end. The slightly taller gable of the main body of the church is visible behind the E gable as well as a gabled roof beyond the N aisle. The tower and main entrance porch are located to the S side but set back from the main E elevation and are described as part of the S elevation.

South elevation
The eight-bay S elevation consists of a single bay to E end with the tower immediately adjacent, then four-bays of the nave, followed by the single-storey lean-to entrance porch and a further bay of the nave to W end. Pair of pointed arch windows to E bay with cusped quatrefoil centred above and ashlar stone surround, flanked by single stage buttresses.

Three-stage tower, square plan with later octagonal top. A pointed arch door opening facing E flanked by engaged Doric columns and moulded architrave. Recessed door opening having a sheeted timber door. Trefoil arched window with ashlar stone dressing to first stage facing S with ashlar stone quoins and double chamfered saddleback. WWII engraved stone memorial below. Trefoil arched window opening to S second stage. Quatrefoil louvred openings to E and W to second stage with cusped stone surround. Paired louvred openings facing S, separated by a colonnette and set within an arched niche with hood mould and labels over; engaged colonettes to corners at second stage. Octagonal plan to third stage with an open trefoil arcade to belfry supported on three-stage colonnettes and topped by a octyhedral ashlar stone spire with decorative cap stone.

Pointed arch windows to nave with ashlar stone surround and splayed cills. The windows are separated by single stage buttresses. Cat-slide roof to entrance porch. Pointed arch door opening facing E with moulded architrave over engaged circular columns. Sheeted timber door with iron door furniture. Single stage ashalr stone buttresses to S elevation of porch. Paired trefoil windows with ashlar stone surround to W elevation of Entrance Porch. Slated duo-pitch dormers with leaded glass and black clay ridge tile decorative finials to the nave roof above; both slopes.

West elevation
The smooth rendered rear elevation faces W and consists of a gable and the return elevation of the N aisle. Two pointed arch windows to gable and a pointed oval window opening to centre all having stop-chamfered reveals. The gable is flanked by single stage buttresses. The W gable is abutted by a single-storey lean-to modern extension hosting the boiler room rendered with ashlar lining with a square-headed door opening and modern timber door. Half-round cast-iron guttering on rise and fall brackets. Stainless steel flue from lean-to roof rises to full height of gable.

North elevation:
The N elevation consists of the eight-gable N aisle. Raised stone verges to gables. Five-gables to W end each have two pointed arch windows. A wider gable immediately to E has a large plate traceried rose window. Pointed arch door opening to next gable to E with ashlar stone surround having a replacement timber panelled door with fanlight. Three-part trefoil window to gable to E end with ashlar stone surround and relieving arch above. Narrow square headed window at high level to the two gables to E end.

Setting:
The church is located in its own grounds on a triangular shaped site fronting onto York Street.
A three-storey rendered flat-roof building is situated to the W end of the site, dating from 1854 and was utilised a school house until the 1950s. Rectangular plan with two-storey flat-roof extension to SE, a single storey gabled extension and a single-storey lean-to extension to S. Square-headed window openings with timber casement windows. Tarmaced pathway around the church and a lawned garden to S and E. The site is enclosed by red-brick walling to S, stone walling to N and stone dwarf walling topped by stone coping and railings to E. Cast iron circular-section railings with decorated top railing, arrow-shaped railing heads and dog-leg supports. Square-section ashlar stone boundary pillars with pyramidal caps. A double metal gate to E is supported on octagonal pillars with moulded plinth and corbelled caps.

Materials
Roof: Natural Slate
RWG: Cast Iron
Walling: Random coursed, rock faced Scrabo Sandstone with ashar sandstone dressings
Windows: Stained leaded glazing

Historical information

St. Paul’s Church of Ireland, an early-Victorian Gothic church located on York Street, was constructed in 1850-51. The church was one of a number of new edifices constructed to cope with the influx of migrants in the mid-19th century. In the aftermath of the Irish Famine, rural labourers from the surrounding countryside sought work in the town’s developing textile mills and factories, resulting in an increase in the population of Belfast. The second edition Ordnance Survey map (1858) records that St. Paul’s Church was constructed in a rapidly industrialising area of Belfast. The map shows that the church was located north of terraced workers houses. The Belfast & Ballymena railway terminus, as well as the town docks, were located to the east of the building, whilst a number of weaving factories and flax mills were situated to the north of the site.

St. Paul’s centenary pamphlet (1951) records that the congregation was first formed in 1839. The congregation, which was known as St. Anne’s Chapel of Ease, was a branch of the parish church and met on Academy Street. The pamphlet also records that Charles Lanyon was responsible for the design of the church, although Larmour suggests that the church was in fact designed by W. H. Lynn (1829-1915) while he was serving as chief assistant to Lanyon. Lynn and Lanyon would enter into partnership in 1854, forming the firm Lanyon & Lynn. St. Paul’s Church is also attributed to Lynn by the Dictionary of Irish Architects. If Lynn was the architect the church would have been his earliest known contract (Larmour, p. 16; DIA). Whether the architect was Lanyon or Lynn, the builder contracted to construct the church was James Carlisle of Donegall Street and Antrim Road. The total cost of erecting the church came to £2,700 (St. Paul’s centenary pamphlet).

The foundation stone of the new church was laid on 18th March 1850 by Elizabeth May who had gifted the plot of land to the congregation. St. Paul’s Church of Ireland was consecrated on 30th September 1851 by the Lord Bishop of Down and Connor. The new house of worship could accommodate a congregation of 600 and was described by the Belfast Street Directory (1852) as a ‘Gothic structure, in the early style, with lancet windows, cut stone belfry, and crocket finials.’ The Natural Stone Database records that the church was constructed utilising locally-quarried Scrabo sandstone. The 1858 map depicted St. Paul’s Church as an irregular-shaped building (the church was smaller in the 1850s and did not possess its current north aisle) with a separate school house located to its north (opened in 1854). The contemporary Griffith’s Valuation (1859) set the total rateable value of the church at £120 with the adjoining schoolhouse being valued at £15 (UTD; NSD).

As the population of the area continued to rise St. Paul’s Church was extended in order to cope with an increasing congregation size. The eight-gabled north aisle of the church was installed in 1867-68. Larmour states that the extension was probably designed by Welland & Gillespie who were the joint architects to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners until the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland in 1870. The extension of the church was carried out by McLaughlin & Harvey and ran to a cost of £1,700 (provided by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners). The centenary pamphlet records that the addition of the north aisle altered the original character of the church. As one local newspaper put it: ‘Looking around the church it is impossible to resist a feeling of strong regret that the grandeur of the Early English Style of the original structure has been so marred by the wholly incongruous addition. Its Nave is, perhaps, the finest specimen locally of the Early English style and its lofty vaulted arches have no architectural relationship to the low-roofed addition. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners, for the sake of a few paltry shillings, perpetuated an exquisite blunder in this respect.’ As a result of the extension of the church the value of St. Paul’s was subsequently increased to £210 by the Annual Revisions (Larmour, p. 16; St. Paul’s centenary pamphlet DIA).

The interior of the church was originally furnished with an organ built by the London-based firm of Hunter & Webb. The organ was dedicated on 18th January 1863 but was replaced with a second organ in 1901 which was built by Abbot & Smith from Leeds. The first font was gifted to the church from St. Anne’s Church and had been in use since the opening of the Parish Church in 1776. A tablet dedicated to the memory of the Rev. Charles Allen, the first incumbent of the church, was installed in the chancel in 1883. The Irish Builder states that the interior of St. Paul’s Church suffered extensive damage following a fire that broke out on 5th January 1934. The fire destroyed the organ, the roof and the original glazing. The church was repaired by Belfast-based architect Richard Mills Close (1880-1949) who retained the original design of the building and restored the interior at a cost of over £8,000 (McLaughlin & Harvey were once more contracted as builders). St. Paul’s Church was reopened and dedicated on 30th September 1934 on the 83rd anniversary of its original dedication. In the aftermath of the fire a new church organ was installed by Abbot & Smith. Although the church’s stained glass windows were lost the original memorial inscriptions were replaced and placed beneath the replacement glazing. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) the value of St. Paul’s Church of Ireland was increased to £340 with the adjoining school valued at £82.

In spite of the restoration, the church was severely damaged for a second time during the Belfast Blitz of 1941 when the building was hit by a number of incendiary bombs. The architect John McAlery was responsible for undertaking the extensive repair of the church and also added the current vestry room to its north side. St. Paul’s was not fully restored for seven years. On 30th September 1948 the church was dedicated for the third time in its history. Amongst the new stained glass windows installed following the war are windows depicting the Rock of Ages in memory of Canon Oswald Scott, the Star of Victory by the Ex-Servicemen’s Association and the R.A.F. window in the west gable which was provided by the parents of Airman Harry Gregg (Church centenary pamphlet; DIA). Following the restoration of the church the value of St. Paul’s was increased to £712.

St. Paul’s Church of Ireland was listed in 1987. The NIEA HB Records note that the church railings underwent an alteration in c. 1990 due to the redevelopment of the adjoining retail showrooms. In c. 1996 a further alteration was carried out to the church which significantly altered its interior floor plan. A new side chapel, a family room, choir room and toilet and kitchen facilities were added to the building. Concurrently the exterior of the church underwent a restoration which included the reslating of its roof, the replacement of its rainwater goods with cast iron, the repointing of its stonework and the dismantling and re-erection of the stone tower roof (NIEA HB Records).

Resources

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/1/61/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1858)
2. PRONI OS/6/1/61/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1901-02)
3. PRONI OS/6/1/61/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1931)
4. PRONI OS/6/1/61/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1938)
5. PRONI VAL/2/B/7/2C – Griffith’s Valuation (1859)
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/B/5-8 – Annual Revisions (1862-1896)
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/H/1-7 – Annual Revisions (1897-1930)
8. PRONI VAL/3/C/3/12- First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-72)
9. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/16 - Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
10. Ulster Town Directories (1852-1943)
11. Irish Builder (10 Feb; 2 Jun 1934)
12. First Survey Record – HB26/48/002 (1986)
13. NIEA HB Records – HB26/48/002

Secondary Sources
1. ‘St. Paul’s Church Belfast: Centenary Souvenir 1851-1951’ Glasgow: Ecclesiastical Press, 1951.
2. Larmour, P., ‘Belfast: An illustrated architectural guide’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1987.
3. ‘Watson, F. G., ‘Building over the centuries: A history of McLaughlin & Harvey’ Belfast: Nicholson & Bass, 2010

Online Resources
1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie
2. Natural Stone Database - http://www.stonedatabase.com

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
H-. Alterations detracting from building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

A well executed early Victorian church in early English Gothic-Revival style, dating from 1850 and built from Scrabo sandstone following the Irish Famine to serve the influx of rural migrants who flocked to Belfast to work in its flourishing textile mills and factories. Originally to designs by the prominent architectural firm Lanyon & Lynn, the church was once surrounded by terraces of workers houses and was within close proximity of the railway and docks, with a school house built adjacent in 1864. It has undergone numerous alterations. Extended in 1868 with the addition of an eight-gabled N aisle to designs by Welland & Gillespie; extensively damaged by a fire in 1934 and repaired to designs by Belfast-based architect Richard Mills Close; severely damaged again during the Belfast Blitz of 1941and then repaired by architect John McAlery in 1948. It still retains many fine interior features, including some interesting stained glass windows. Situated in York Street St Paul’s is a very good example of a church that, despite repeated damage, has largely kept its original character, including octagonal gate pillars, cast iron gates and railings. It remains an important and significant building within the local vicinity.