Macrory Prebyterian Church

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Late Victorian Gothic style red brick Presbyterian church, original church built by local contractors Campbell & Lowry in 1894-5 to designs by James Ferguson. Largely reconstructed in 1952, following damage during the Belfast Blitz of 1941, by local contractor Messers William Logan & Son to designs by Hobart & Heron. Rectangular plan form with projecting lower roofed block to NE gable and separate gabled projecting entrance blocks to W and S. Principal elevation faces SW onto Duncairn Gardens with rear elevation backing onto Hillman Street at NE, both streets are characterised by rows of Late Victorian red brick terrace housing. Red brick church hall and former national school located to NW; gated public access route to SE elevation.

Pitched natural slate roof with raised gables and black clay angled ridge tiles. Generally English Garden Wall bond red brick walling having smooth dressed red sandstone detailing to coping, eaves course, cill course, window and door surrounds; building set on raised red brick plinth course. Stepped two stage angle buttresses to principal gable corners have hexagonal sandstone pinnacles rising above coping (some having lost their moulded leaf caps) and a low square section sandstone chimney to main gable apex at NE. Original cast iron ogee guttering discharging to rectangular hoppers and circular section cast iron downpipes.

Windows are generally grouped simplified Gothic lancets, mostly in pairs but many now boarded up or have wire mesh fitted, with metal frames, some having hopper type opening lights. Generally coloured and leaded glass (square light-yellow panes to centre with three course border, having orange middle course and small green and blue sections to either side, between clear glass intervals).

Principal elevation
Front elevation faces SW onto Duncairn Gardens and consists of a central gable; five grouped lancets to base are flanked by painted timber notice boards; pointed arch tracery window above, now boarded up, is composed of three quatrefoil lights above four trefoil-headed lancets, with a drip mould set on sandstone string course; separate quatrefoil window, with drip mould, at gable apex. Central gable has angle buttresses and is flanked by single two storey projecting gabled blocks narrowly set back to NW and SE each having a paired lancet window above a front-facing projecting gabled entrance porch with pointed arch doorway; planked painted timber double doors opening onto a single reconstituted stone step. Lamp on scrolled metal bracket above each door and angled buttresses to corners.

Church is connected to church hall by a section of modern block work set on red brick walling to NW. Modest yard enclosed behind walling is accessed from inside the church hall, providing access to SE elevation. Church and hall are both set back from footpath with dwarf red brick walling having reconstituted stone coping and painted metal railings with two separate gates at front of church leading to seperate entrance porches.

Southeast elevation
Elevation consists of a five bay block having a projecting gabled block at SW end with angle buttresses including pinnacles and a triple lancet window below a larger paired lancet window on its southeast end; single bay lower-roofed chancel block extends to NE end of church, beyond full height buttress with pinnacle, which is also abutted on NW by a narrow porch. Boarded painted timber doors to SW side of porch links church to church hall and former school. Paired lancet bays to centre block with flanking two stage 3/4 height buttresses to centre bays. Windows are boarded at GF level with upper sections having wire mesh and retaining original coloured leaded glazing.

Northeast elevation
Main church block has rectangular section sandstone chimney to gable apex and a single buttress with pinnacle to both N and E ends. Lower roofed block projects to NE from main body of building forming near symmetrical gabled elevation with a central pointed arch tracery window (now blocked with some original glass visible), composed of three trefoil headed lancets below three quatrefoil lights; moulded sandstone drip mould with plain block corbels. Top half of central window is flanked by paired lancet windows, with two square headed windows to N and a square headed window and doorway at GF to E. Door opening has painted metal gate opening onto footpath with four steps leading to recessed doorway having vertically planked painted timber door. GF openings have bevelled edge red brick surrounds and red sandstone heads. No cill course or buttresses to elevation. Porch of red brick school and church hall abuts church at northern end; railings of gated public access abuts church to E and semi circular arched gateway provides access to NW elevation.

Northwest elevation
Elevation is set behind painted metal railings and is similar to SE with five central bays of paired lancet windows (all blocked with timber) being divided by 3/4 height two stage buttresses; gabled block extends to SE at N end with full height angle buttresses including pinnacles; triple lancet window below a longer paired lancet to SE side. Lower gabled block extends NE by one bay having a small paired lancet window at GF (now blocked with breeze blocks). Elevation has a two stage buttress with pinnacle towards NE end which rises above eaves between full height block and lower gabled chancel block. Continuous red sandstone cill course and red brick plinth to facade.

Setting
Located on the NE side of Duncairn Gardens Macrory Church backs onto Hillman Street at NE, both streets are characterised by rows of Late Victorian red brick terrace housing. Former national school and church hall are located to NW of church with gated public access way to SE. Church and hall both have stepped dwarf red brick walling to Duncairn Gardens with reconstituted stone coping and painted metal railings and gates; similar but later railings to SE access.

Roof: natural slate
RWGs: cast iron
Walling: red brick with red sandstone dressings
Windows: metal frames with coloured and leaded glass, some opening sections

Historical information

Macrory Memorial Presbyterian Church, a red-brick late-Victorian Gothic-style church located on Duncairn Gardens, was originally constructed in 1894-95. The church was largely reconstructed in 1952 after it had been severely damaged during the Belfast Blitz of 1941. Although constructed in 1895, the congregation was originally formed in 1842 by the Rev. Thomas Toye. The original church was located on Great George’s Street and was a simple Gothic-style edifice that was valued at £60 under Griffith’s Valuation (1860). The Rev. Thomas Toye was a prominent local minister who was a key figure in the 1859 Ulster Revival and continued to preach at Great George’s Street until his death in 1870. From the mid-19th century the majority of congregation members were drawn from the developing suburbs to the north of Great George’s Street leading to the decision to construct a new church in Duncairn Gardens.

The new church was designed by James Ferguson, a local architect who the Irish Builder described as ‘an architect with a large experience of church work’ and who was also responsible for the design of the Church of St. John in Ballyclare in 1903. The new church was erected on land owned by Robert A. Macrory, a local solicitor who was a member of the congregation and who was a legal advisor to the General Assembly. The foundation stone of the new church was laid on 17th February 1894 by Macrory’s son Edmund with Campbell & Lowry contracted as builders. The church cost approximately £4,000 to build and was officially opened on 27th January 1895. The new red-brick church was constructed in a Gothic-style with red sandstone utilised as a second material. The building was designed to accommodate a congregation of 900 and in 1900 a church hall and national schoolhouse was erected to the rear of the church. The Annual Revisions set the value of the church, which was exempt from taxation, at £180 with the adjoining schoolhouse valued at £17. Following the construction of the new church, the original Meeting House on Great George’s Street continued to be utilised as a mission hall until 1907 when it became a workshop for a local engineering firm. The former church was demolished in 1977 (Irish Builder, p. 133; DIA; Presbyterian Historical Society). When first opened the church was known as Duncairn Gardens Presbyterian Church as the original name of the congregation continued to be used by the mission hall on Great George’s Street. The current name, Macrory Memorial Presbyterian Church, was adopted following a congregational vote.

The church was severely damaged on the night of the 4th-5th May 1941 during the Belfast Blitz when German incendiary bombs reduced the church and its adjoining hall and schoolhouse to a burnt out shell. A survey of the church following the bombing found that the foundations were intact and that any reconstruction of the building could include the shell of the original church. Following the end of the Second World War Hobart & Heron were hired to design the reconstruction with Messers William Logan & Son contracted as builders. The new church cost £32,000 and was officially opened on 3rd May 1952. The church website records that ‘externally the new church was very similar to the old one, having been built on the original foundations. Internally there were many differences. The seating was arranged to allow for a central aisle which lent itself to ceremonial occasions. There was no gallery as in the old church’ (Fortwilliam & Macrory website). The stained glass window located in the chancel was installed in c. 1955, to designs by W. F. Clokey, as a memorial to those from the area who lost their lives during the Belfast Blitz of 1941. The current church organ was built by Evans & Barr and was dedicated on 12th December 1954 whilst the adjoining red-brick Church Hall, known as the Patterson Halls after the Rev. James Patterson (minister between 1936 and 1960), was opened on 6th April 1956. Following its reconstruction the church was valued at £896 under the Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72).

Macrory Memorial Presbyterian Church is no longer utilised as a house of worship. The church website records that membership of the congregation declined as a result of the Northern Ireland Troubles leading to the amalgamation of the congregation with Fortwilliam Park Presbyterian Church in 2005. The church on Duncairn Gardens was put up for sale with the adjoining Patterson Halls retained for the Youth Club and Boy’s Brigade. In 2006 the congregation changed its name to Fortwilliam & Macrory Presbyterian Church. Field inspection of the site, carried out as part of the Second Survey, has found that the church has remained vacant since 2005 (Fortwilliam & Macrory website).

Resources

Primary Sources
1. Presbyterian Historical Society – Macrory Memorial 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/2/B/7/2D – Griffith’s Valuation (1860)
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/B/19-21 - Annual Revisions (1906-1930)
8. PRONI VAL/3/C/3/9- First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
9. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/12 - Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
10. PRONI Wills Catalogue (15 May 1870)
11. Irish Builder (1 Jun 1894)
12. Ulster Town Directories (1852-1943)

Secondary Sources
1. ‘Great George’s Street Presbyterian Church 1842; Macrory Memorial Presbyterian Church 1895’ Belfast: Leaflet held by Presbyterian Historical Society.
2. Kirkpatrick, L., ‘Presbyterians in Ireland: An illustrated history’ Booklink, 2006.

Online Resources
1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie/
2. Fortwilliam & Macrory Presbyterian Church website - http://www.fmpci.com/

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Late Victorian Gothic style red brick church with red sandstone dressings, originally built 1894-5 to designs by local architect James Ferguson, largely reconstructed in 1952 to designs by Hobart & Heron, following severe damage during the Belfast Blitz of 1941. Externally red brick with good proportions and style. Largely re-built during the 20th century, the building retains its original plan and some internal joinery and flooring. The setting includes former national school and church hall both in red brick. Although of some character with interesting historical connections, it is not considered of special architectural or historic interest.