Congregational Church

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A symmetrical, double-height, largely free-standing congregational church, executed in the Gothic-Revivalist style and successively built and remodelled in stages from 1860-1952, to the designs of a number of architects. The main body of the church is T-shaped on plan, having additional three-storey wings to each-side of the primary façade. Extensive reconstruction was carried out in 1932-34 by John Seeds and again c.1952, following bomb damage during World War Two. Subsequently, nothing can be seen of the original church, built c.1860 by Raffles Brown.

Pitched roof of indeterminate material concealed behind parapetted gable of primary elevation, surmounted by stepped proportion and projecting decorative centre-piece; half-round cast iron and uPVC rainwater goods mounted on projecting eaves course.
Walling is uncoursed and square-cut ashlar sandstone (unless otherwise stated) over double projecting base; dressings to central section are in limestone. Openings are Tudor-arched (unless otherwise stated) with leaded windows and perpendicular-style tracery; cusped-heads to those on the ground floor. Façade is dominated by stained-glass concentric-rose window to centre surmounted by a hood label over, terminating in foliated and stepped ends. Doors are all replacement panelled timber (unless stated otherwise).

Primary elevation faces west and comprises the main body of the church to centre with the pair of lower wings on each side, set back slightly from the main façade. Central proportion contains the large stained-glass rose window, c.1952, to centre; side windows vertically separated by pairs of mullions, while decorative panels horizontally divide the window. Corners of central proportion are chamfered with stepped limestone quoins; ground floor separated by moulded string course; advancing piers to outer edges rising to points with cusped panelled inserts. Tudor-arched doorcase to centre, with stone panel above inscribed ‘DONEGALL STREET CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH’ and flanked by twin-pane, cusp-headed windows with continuous moulded cill course. Doorcase is a centralised Tudor-arched opening framed by outer pilasters extending to string course above, with spandrels having blind tracery. The arch contains nine cusped-headed lancet windows to upper section, over a pair of double-leaf doors with Tudor-arched heads and decorative quatrefoils to spandrels.

The three-storey gable-fronted side-wings to north and south are symmetrical and executed in similar style and materials (likely dating from the late 19th century), each two openings wide. Pitched slate roofs; gables which break through eaves; half-round cast-iron rainwater goods with some decorative hoppers, mounted to projecting eaves course. Walling is similar to main façade but stone is darker yellow; windows are paired leaded lancets with pointed-arch mouldings over, enclosing quatrefoils; windows and doors flanked by foliated columns or pilasters which carry the continuous cornice. Two window openings on each upper floor; two pointed arched openings at ground floor with squared doors and blind tracery to moulded heads above.

North elevation, as all remaining elevations, is smooth rendered and painted; two large windows to upper floor (right-of-centre) in stepped stone architraves and separated by an offset, full-height buttress; similar pair of windows to left-of-centre but only comprising the upper proportion. Two smaller corresponding windows below (right-side) are uPVC inserts with square heads, having reconstituted stone sills and plain architraves. Left-of-centre of main elevation abutted by two-storey flat-roofed block (North transept) containing two pointed-arched windows (similar but smaller than main elevation), over tripartite plain glass squared windows below; ground floor abutted by mono-pitched extension having rendered walls and corrugated plastic roof; right cheek contains a small flat-roofed porch with replacement multi-panelled square-headed doors to first and ground floors (having plain glass pointed-arched transom over); left cheek abutted by rear extension (see later). Far-right abutted by side wing which contains two pairs of staggered, vertically aligned windows; over a pointed arched passageway to the right; windows above are pairs of squared metal casements with common projecting cill; left-side windows are pairs of cusped lancets framed by flat-arched stone architraves with hood mould over. Main elevation blank due to neighbouring building and right-cheek previously described.

East (rear) elevation; view largely obstructed by neighbouring buildings; main elevation is blank and abutted by pitched, lower chancel generally having uPVC squared window openings to each level (metal framed to ground floor); right-side abutted by two-storey, flat-roofed block extending north and containing uPVC windows to left and right-cheeks; ground floor of left-cheek is abutted to neighbouring building with mono-pitched metal-framed glazing spanning the gap.

South elevation is generally detailed as north but ground floor block to right-side contains a pair of uPVC windows to ground floor; similar window to right-cheek and left cheek has single door opening.

Setting

Directly addressing the main street-line, the building is located on the eastern side of Donegall Street in the busy urban environment of Belfast city centre. The compact site is surrounded by multi-storey modern office buildings, which generally enclose the area, although there is a single storey painted masonry wall to the south-east. The outer doors on the main façade lead through rendered passageways and into the north/south yards. A concrete and metal dog-leg escape stair leads from the north yard to the first floor doorway in the north elevation. The north and south side-wings create the appearance of a terrace along Donegall Street, with the Irish News Building (HB26/50/189) located a short distance to the north.

Roof : Slate
RWG: Cast-iron and replacement uPVC
Walling: Uncoursed squared ashlar sandstone
Windows: Stained-glass in stone tracery/ replacement uPVC / metal casements

Historical information

Donegall Street Congregational Church was first constructed in 1858-60 on the site of an earlier church, but was rebuilt in 1932-4 and 1955 following fire, and then blitz, damage. The wings to either side of the front elevation date, with some subsequent alteration, to 1871 (Larmour; www.dia.ie).

Congregationalists, or Independents, first emerged in the early seventeenth century and were initially heavily persecuted for their belief in liberty of conscience and the independence of each congregation. By the 1640s Congregationalists had appeared in Ireland, Cromwell describing himself as ‘both Puritan and Independent’ and bringing many like-minded soldiers with him, but they remained a minor dissenting sect until the Ulster revival and its aftermath (Campbell).

The congregational community in Belfast was established following a late-eighteenth century revival which began in Scotland, reaching the north of Ireland in 1801, when James Haldane, the Scottish Independent church leader, preached in the locality. The church in Donegall Street was built by means of a loan of £500 from James’ brother, Robert Haldane, who was also a clergyman (Coles). This church, which was designed by James Harper, is shown on the present site on the first edition OS map of 1832-3 and was a plain, rectangular structure, set back from the street, with an iron ‘palisade’ in front.

After 1819 the Independent churches were subject to increasing control from the Irish Evangelical Society, which was based in London, and this eventually led to a rupture and the formation of the Congregational Union of Ireland in 1829. The Congregational Union was formed after meetings were held in the Independent Church in Donegall Street on 25th and 26th November 1829, and the present site is therefore a pivotal one for the history of the congregational church in Ireland (Coles).

In March 1859, as the Ulster Revival began to build, the foundation stone of a new Independent church was laid on the site, to designs by William Raffles Brown, an ecclesiastical architect who was also responsible for churches in Londonderry and Galway. The church, in the early decorated Gothic style, comprised a nave of five bays seating 560, with school-rooms and lecture rooms in the basement beneath. A full description of the church, given in the Dublin Builder of 1st April 1859, suggests that later rebuilding has attempted to reproduce some of the detailing of Raffles Brown’s design, particularly as regards the roof timbers. The new Independent church and school house is listed in Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64) at £200.

Raffles Brown’s design had originally proposed two ‘houses’ on either side of the church building which were to fill up the Donegall Street frontage with shops on the ground floor and classrooms above. These were not added until 1871, however, and a new architect was chosen for the work, Luke Livingston Macassey. A double stair was also added in front of the church, which was recessed behind the shops at this stage, and it appears that around this time a gallery was added around three sides of the nave. Extensive renovations and improvements were carried out c1898 to designs by Thomas H McCaul, by contractors McLaughlin & Harvey (www.dia.ie).

In the first half of the twentieth century, the church was twice destroyed, by fire in 1931 and by the Belfast blitz in 1944. Reconstruction in 1932-34 was to designs by John Seeds and included the replacement of the original Scrabo stone frontage with Portland stone and the bringing forward of the front elevation so that it is now level with the former shops on either side . The contractor was McQuoid and the cost £15,000. After blitz damage the church was repaired to designs by Samuel Stevenson & Sons in 1955 and the upper part of the front elevation including the rose window, dates from this time (www.dia.ie). A photograph of the church dating from c1900 shows that the wings to either side of the church are the originals dating from 1871 but these have been altered at ground floor level and along the roof line, which was formerly double-gabled (Larmour).

The Congregational community in Belfast has fallen in numbers in recent years and the church building has been leased to a recently-established evangelical church based in Belfast, Redeemer Central.

References:

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/1/61/1 – First Edition OS Map 1832-3
2. PRONI OS/6/1/61/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1858
3. PRONI OS/6/1/61/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1901-2
4. PRONI OS/6/1/61/6 – Sixth Edition OS Map 1931
5. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/C/1-45 Annual Revisions (1863-1930)
6. Dublin Builder, 1st April 1859

Secondary Sources

1. Larmour, P “Belfast, An Illustrated Architectural Guide” Belfast: Friar’s Bush Press, 1987
2. Patton, M “Central Belfast: An Historical Gazetteer” Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1993
3. Campbell, P “Independent but never alone. A History of Coleraine Congregational Church, 175 years 1836-2011”
4. Coles, M “I will build my church, the story of the Congregational Union of Ireland 1829-1979” 1979
5. www.dia.ie – Dictionary of Irish Architects online

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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

A mid 20th century example of a Gothic-Revivalist church to designs by John Seeds. Progressively remodelled from the late 19th century until 1955 . The building comprises a double-height central hall over a similar, single-storey hall to ground-floor and is flanked by additional gable fronted, late 19th century wings to the north and south. The building has been successively refurbished and modified throughout its history and it is an amalgamation of late 19th and early-mid 20th century interpretations of ecclesiastical architecture, executed in the Gothic-style. Much historic fabric survives reflecting the varied history of the church. It is a good example of the type and of unusual style.