Gate lodge to Holy Family Primary School,

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Detached three-bay single-storey with attic red brick Victorian former gate lodge, built c.1894 having single-storey entrance porch to south-east and single-storey extension to north-east built c.1990. Set perpendicular to Newington Avenue with boundary wall incorporating square-headed archway to north-west and metal gate to south-east. Now forms part of Holy Family Primary School, north Belfast.

Pitched slate roof with terracotta ridge tile and cross final to apex, painted timber bargeboards. Brick moulded eaves course on dentiled cornice with moulded brick kneelers to verges. Ogee moulded cast-iron guttering and circular downpipes. Red brick walling with projecting chamfered brick plinth. Segmental arched window openings having drip-mould over and splayed painted stone sills with replacement timber casement windows throughout, unless otherwise stated.

Front elevation faces south-east and has three-bays with a central entrance porch having mono-pitch slate roof. Chamfered corner to ground floor of north-east corner having ocular window with painted chamfered surround and guaged brick soldier course header, overhanging attic floor on carved sandstone bracket. Single stage buttress to south corner. Ovolo brick string course at impost level to ground floor openings; decorative diamond-shaped terracotta panels at attic level, centred on ground floor windows. Segmental-headed door opening having stone step to entrance with replacement timber panelled door with fanlight over. Decorative metal grilles to openings. Extension to north-east has flat roof with rendered parapet and segmental-headed door opening.

Gable-fronted elevation to south-west has advancing two-storey single-bay. Decorative diamond-shaped terracotta panels flanking ground-floor segmental arched opening. Round-headed opening at attic level with raised sill course.

Elevation to north-west has no openings. Yard-wall attached to define NW boundary.

Extension to north-east elevation, with round-arched window to attic over.

Setting:
Located within Holy Family Primary School grounds and set perpendicular to Newington Avenue with pavement to south-west, boundary wall incorporating square-headed archway to north-west and metal gateway to south-east.

Materials:
Roof: Slate
RWG: Cast-iron
Walls: Red brick
Windows: Replacement timber casement

Historical information

No. 4 Newington Avenue, a one-and-a-half-storey red-brick gate lodge associated with Holy Family Parish on the Limestone Road, was constructed along with the first Roman Catholic Church on the site in 1894-95. Holy Family Parish Church was originally constructed as a chapel-of-ease to provide a place of worship for the Roman Catholic community in the terraced streets off the Antrim Road which were located between St. Patrick’s Church on Donegall Street and St. Mary’s Church in Greencastle. The Bishop of Down & Connor, Patrick MacAlister, endeavoured to purchase a plot of land in the Antrim Road area. A history of the parish compiled on the churches website records that MacAlister desired the construction of a new chapel ‘to cater for the spiritual needs of the growing Catholic population, especially for the Catholic girls in domestic service in the big houses with extensive grounds [who] had great difficulty getting to Mass on Sundays and Holydays of Obligation.’ The foundation stone was laid in October 1894 and the new chapel was officially opened on St. Patrick’s Day 1895 (Holy Family Parish Church website).

The chapel was the first church in Ulster dedicated to the Holy Family following Pope Leo XIII’s institution of the feast of the Holy Family in 1893. The third edition Ordnance Survey map (1901-02) records that the church was a small rectangular-shaped structure that was originally accessed from Newington Avenue (whereas the current incarnation of the church is approached from the Limestone Road). The red-brick gate lodge was constructed at the same time as the church and was initially valued at £5 and 10 shillings. The Annual Revisions note that the first occupant of the lodge was a Mr. Thomas McCartan who was employed as the chapel’s caretaker (UTD).

In 1911-12 the original chapel of ease was replaced with a permanent Gothic-style church. The second church on the site designed by E. & J. Byrne, increased the accommodation of the congregation to 1,400 and continued to stand until 2005. The original chapel of ease was converted into a parochial hall whilst the gate lodge continued to be occupied by the caretaker of the church. In 1911 the lodge was inhabited by a Mr. James McKeown and was described by the census building return of that year as a second class dwelling that consisted of five rooms. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) the caretaker’s lodge was increased in value to £12 and was occupied by a Mr. W. Lynas. In 1964 the original chapel and parochial hall was demolished to make way for the construction of an assembly hall and meals centre for the adjoining Holy Family Primary School. By the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72) the red-brick gate lodge was occupied by a Mr. F. Hagan and had been increased in value to £12.

Holy Family Parish Church was demolished in 2005 to make way for the construction of the current modern church building which was designed by O’Neill & Brady between 2005 and 2007 and cost £2.3 million. With the demolition of the original parochial hall in 1964 and E. & J. Byrne’s Gothic Church in 2005, the red-brick gate lodge is the only original building to survive on the Newington Avenue Site. During the Second Survey the building was owned by The Diocese of Down & Connor and is in the grounds of Holy Family Primary School. The gate lodge is currently used as a cross-community resource for parents to meet also as an informal learning facility.

Resources

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/B/8-15 – Annual Revisions (1882-1905)
5. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/H/2-5 – Annual Revisions (1906-1930)
6. PRONI VAL/3/C/3/10- First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-56)
7. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/15 - Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
8. Ulster Town Directories (1890-1943)
9. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
10. Ordnance Survey Map – 130-9NE

Online Resources
1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie
2. Holy Family Parish Church website - http://www.holy-familyparish.com/global/archive.html

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
H-. Alterations detracting from building
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

This late Victorian gate-lodge was built in 1894-5 alongside the ‘Holy Family Roman Catholic Church’, a chapel of ease which was subsequently demolished in 1912 to make way for a permanent church. The gate lodge was built for the chapel's caretaker and despite a compact gabled form it originally consisted of five rooms. The one-and-a-half storey building is well detailed and proportioned and retains some architectural features; of particular merit is the brick detailing such as the string course, drip moulding and decorative eaves course. Although small in comparison to the neighbouring three-storey terraced houses and 1960s school, it has a strong presence on Newington Avenue, due to a slightly projecting position on the street. Despite having a modern open plan interior with few original historic features, it retains its overall character and its continued use as part of the Holy Family Primary School ensures its social significance. It is a relatively rare example of a gate lodge to a 19th century Roman Catholic Church and is an important local building, as the last remnant of the original church on this site.