St Joseph's RC parochial house

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Tall, mildly Italianate, red brick four storey rectory house (set within a terrace) of 1879-80 with arch headed windows, overhanging slated (partly) hipped roof and lintels and string courses in red sandstone. The property is set on the NE side of Pilot St at the rear of St Joseph’s RC Church.

The asymmetric front elevation faces SW but for the purposes of this description SW with be read as W.

The left hand third of the front elevation is set back from the line of the terrace. To the ground floor level there is a side on flight of stone steps which lead to the main entrance (which is at first floor level). The entrance, which is set underneath a large slated hood on curving timber brackets, consists of a panelled timber door with plain semicircular fanlight. To the immediate left of the entrance is a tall segmental headed window with modern frame (all the frames are modern). To ground floor level, just to the left of the foot of the flight of steps, there is a smaller flat arch window with a flush cill and bevelled lintel. The steps themselves have a brick face with sandstone coping to the ‘rail’. Within this face (under the steps as it were) is a flat arch doorway, with bevelled lintel and panelled timber door, which leads to the basement-like ground floor level.

To the second floor of the recessed section to left there is a tall semicircular headed window, with a smaller flat arch window to the third floor.

To the ground level of the central and right hand thirds of the elevation there are four unevenly spaced flat arch windows with flush cills and bevelled lintels. To the first floor there is a pair of tall segmental headed windows to left and a much larger segmental headed window to right. To the second floor is a pair of tall semicircular headed windows to left with a similar single window to right. To the third floor are two much smaller flat arch windows. All of the front windows have red sandstone cills, lintels / arches, with blue brick over the arches of the first and second floor openings. All are currently Upvc approximating to the pattern of one over one sashes. There are red sandstone string courses at cill level and arch springing level to all floors except the ground floor.

The N gable, which is only exposed at third floor level, is blank. The S elevation, which only fully exposed at second and third floor level is also blank.

The rear façade could not be seen, but internal evidence suggests there is a narrow two storey link which stretches from the right hand side of the elevation to the vestry section at the rear of the church to the E. To the centre of the ground floor there is a timber door with a small window to left. To each of the other floors there appear to be three windows each.

The roof is partly hipped, partly gabled, is slated with natural slates, and has an overhang with exposed rafter ends. There are three brick chimney stacks, one to the N gable, a larger one to the south and another large stack to the E- all with uniform clay pots. Cast iron rw goods.

Historical information

This parochial house was built in 1879-80, at the same time as St Joseph’s RC church to which it is linked to the east. Following the closure of St Joseph’s in February 2001, the house was vacated.

St Joseph’s RC Church
St Joseph’s was built in 1879-80 to designs by Timothy Hevey. Hevey died shortly before work commenced on site and the construction was overseen by his partner Mortimer H. Thompson. The building cost around £12,000 and was opened for services before work was completed, the spire added some months after.

The church was built in response to the growth in the Catholic population within the docks area and was also attended to act as a place of worship for visiting sailors. It replaced a large shed which had been used by the local congregation since 1872. The shed itself had acted as a chapel of ease for St Patrick’s Church in Donegall Street, but by the later 1870s the numbers of worshippers having outgrown the shed, the new parish of St Joseph was created and the new church built. During the construction of the new building, services were held in former flax spinning mill in Rowan Street.

Major changes were carried out to the mid 20th century, with the stained glass replaced in 1959 and the original high altar (designed, incidentally, by James Pearce of Dublin- the father of 1916 Rising leader P. H. Pearse), and the whole interior refurbished in 1961-62 under the supervision of architects McLean & Forte.

The shift of population away from the docks area in the latter half of the 20th century lead to a gradual decline in worshippers attending St Joseph’s. In February 2001 the church was closed.

References- Primary sources
1 Fred Heatley, ‘St Joseph’s centenary 1872-1972: The story of a dockside parish’ (Belfast, 1972)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
H-. Alterations detracting from building
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest
Z. Rarity
V. Authorship
Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance

Evaluation

Unusual, tall, Italianate, red brick four storey terrace RC parochial house of 1879-80 with arch headed windows, overhanging slated (partly) hipped roof and lintels and string courses in red sandstone. The property is situated in Pilot St at the rear of St Joseph’s church.