Newington Presbyterian Church Limestone Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Semi-detached rustic brick Presbyterian church of rectangular plan facing north-west, built by F.B. McKee & Co. Ltd in 1951 to the designs of Young & Mackenzie. Four-bay nave to north-east side having projecting gable to east; bell tower and single storey entrance porch to north-west. Attached to Newington Church Hall (HB26/48/010B) to south-west. Series of single-storey and two-storey extensions to south-east. Located on an elevated site on the south-west side of the Limestone Road with main entrance located off Robina street.

Pitched slate roof having clay ridge tiles, overhanging eaves and shallow overhanging artificial stone verge on brick eaves course with artificial stone kneelers. Ogee moulded cast-iron guttering discharging to circular downpipes. Flat roof to bell-tower having flat stone coping on brick dentiled eaves course. Entrance porch with flat roof having raised artificial stone parapet on brick soldier course. Rustic red brick, two-stage plinth course. Square-headed paired openings have narrow continuous artificial stone band to heads, painted sills and leaded windows with coloured glass panes inset, unless otherwise stated.

North-east elevation is four-bay with projecting gabled bay to east side and bell-tower adjoining to west. Two-bay single-storey extension to east of gable having flat roof with stepped parapet and flat coping. Brick soldier course openings; timber panelled and glazed door. Recessed brick quoins to projecting gable; Venetian-style opening having brick soldier course to head. Tower has recessed brick quoins and shallow projecting central section of brickwork with dentilated brickwork topped by flat artificial stone coping, recessed upper-stage with chamfered corners. Third-stage window has projecting balcony to sill supported on scrolled brackets and having moulded coping. Upper-stage opening has timber lattice grilles. North-east elevation of entrance porch has square-headed opening.

North-west elevation consists of four-stage bell-tower to north and three-bay gable of main church with single-storey projecting entrance porch attached to adjoining church hall (HB26/48/010B) to south-west. Plaque to lower section of tower reads 'THIS STONE WAS LAID BY THE RT. REV J.H.R. GIBSON M.A.D.D MODERATOR OF THE CENTRAL ASSEMBLY MAY 1951'. Brick soldier course to heads throughout. Central square-headed window to gable end set within round-headed blind arch. Side elevation of entrance steps having rustic walling with flat rendered coping. Ascending openings to ground floor of south-west extension.

South-west elevation is attached to church hall (HB26/48/010B) with side elevation of projecting apse having square-headed opening.

South-east elevation is gabled with projecting apse on rectangular plan with chamfered corners.

Setting: Newington Presbyterian Church is located on an elevated site on the Limestone Road. The site is laid in lawn to north-east with coursed rubble rock-faced stone retaining wall supporting rustic red brick piers with chamfered artificial stone copings and decorative metal railings inset. Boundary wall extends to north-west along Robina Street.

Roof: Natural slate
RWG: Cast-iron
Walling: Brick
Windows: Leaded coloured glass

Historical information

Newington Presbyterian Church, a post-war red-brick church with tower located on the Limestone Road, was constructed in 1951-52. The building is the second church to have been built on the current site as the first church structure was demolished in 1941 during the Belfast Blitz.

The Irish Builder records that the original church on the corner of the Limestone Road and Robina Street was constructed in 1874-75. The architects of the first church were Young & Mackenzie, a local partnership who 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 for the Presbyterian Church Building Society and the building work was carried out by Russell Brothers of Belfast and Newcastle. The Irish Builder notes that the original Gothic-style church measured 63ft by 40ft rising to a height of 50ft and was constructed of locally-quarried Dundonald red sandstone with Scrabo dressings and white string-courses. The construction of the church was estimated at £2,000 with the memorial stone laid by Sir. Edward Coey, a local magistrate, on 9th July 1874 (Irish Builder, p. 196; DIA). Newington Presbyterian Church was officially opened on 22nd August 1875 and was valued at £130 by the Annual Revisions in that year (although it was exempt from taxation). The valuer notes that the church also included a school house which was located to the south-west side of the building. Transepts and a lecture hall were added to the building in 1886-87. The original Newington Presbyterian Church was valued at £350 under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57).

The first Newington Presbyterian Church was completely destroyed by Luftwaffe bombs during the Belfast Blitz on 15-16th April 1941. Reconstruction of the church did not take place until a decade after the bombing. During this period the congregation met in a single-storey hall that was hastily made ready for services. The foundation stone of the current church was laid on 30th May 1951 by the Right Rev. J.H.R. Gibson, Moderator of the General Assembly. The new church was also designed by Young & Mackenzie who submitted plans for a gabled red-brick church in a plain style with Messer F. B. McKee & Co. Ltd. contracted as builders. Larmour states that the firm also designed the contemporary Cavehill Methodist Church (HB26/44/067) which was designed in a similar ‘indeterminate style that was common just after the war, in which old and new were blended together’ (Larmour, p. 96). Newington Presbyterian church was officially opened on 20th September 1952. The new church and its church hall (see HB26/48/010B) were jointly valued at £1,040 under the Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72).

Lowry states that the current church organ was installed by The Irish Organ Company and dedicated on 24th February 1963. The triple stained glass windows located in the north transept of the church were installed as a memorial to Joseph Millar, captain of the Boy’s Brigade. During the Northern Ireland Troubles Newington Presbyterian Church was frequently targeted by vandals who often damaged the building’s stained glass windows. Newington Presbyterian Church continues to be utilised as a house of worship. According to Kirkpatrick the membership of the church stood as approximately 300 families in 2006 (Kirkpatrick, pp 145-146).

Resources

Primary Sources
1. Presbyterian Historical Society – Newington Presbyterian Church File
2. PRONI OS/6/1/61/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1858)
3. PRONI OS/6/1/61/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1901-02)
4. PRONI OS/6/1/61/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1931)
5. PRONI OS/6/1/61/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1938)
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/B/5-16 - Annual Revisions (1862-1905)
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/H/2-5 – Annual Revisions (1906-1930)
8. PRONI VAL/3/C/3/10- 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. Irish Builder (15 July 1874)
11. Ulster Town Directories (1877-1943)
12. First Survey record – HB26/48/010 (No Date)

Secondary Sources
1. Johnston, T. M., ‘These fifty years 1876-1926: History of Newington Presbyterian Church’ Belfast: The Witness, 1926.
2. Kirkpatrick, L., ‘Presbyterians in Ireland: An illustrated history’ Booklink, 2006.
3. Larmour, P., ‘Belfast: An illustrated architectural guide’ Belfast: Friar’s Bush Press, 1987.
4. Lowry, T., ‘These hundred years: Newington Presbyterian Church 1876-1976’ Belfast: Newington Presbyterian Church, 1976.

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
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

20th-century semi-detached rustic brick Presbyterian church of rectangular plan facing north-west. Built 1951 to the designs of Young & Mackenzie, one of the leading architects to the Presbyterian Church in Ulster, it is a good example of their later work, which is typically more classical in style. Four-bay nave to north-east side having projecting gable to east; bell tower and single storey entrance porch to north-west. Attached to Newington Church Hall (HB26/48/010B) to south-west. The building is dominated by an austere four-stage bell-tower, 'Art Deco' in style, with recessed upper-stage. The church retains a fine interior with much of the original 'Art Deco' detailing largely intact. Located on an elevated site on the south-west side of the Limestone Road, together with the adjoining church hall (HB26/48/010B) and community buildings adjacent, the building makes a positive contribution to the character of the local area and has group value with Cavehill Methodist Church (HB26/44/067), another 1950s Young & McKenzie church designed in a similar idiom, and located nearby on the Cavehill Road.