Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB05/08/115

Address :
Dunluce Presbyterian Church 17 Priestland Road Bushmills Co. Antrim BT57 8QP

Townland:
Walk Mills

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Survey 2:
B1

Date of Listing:
22/06/1977 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Church

Former Use
Church

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
7-09

IG Ref:
C9372 4018

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Owner Category

Church - Presbyterian

Exterior Description And Setting

A symmetrical rendered Presbyterian Church in the Gothic style, dated 1845, built to designs by Lanyon and situated to the east side of Priestland Road in Bushmills. Cruciform-plan comprising double-height hall and perpendicular gabled vestibule with gabled breakfront entrance; modern two-storey extension to rear (of little interest), dated 1995 and detailed as main church. Pitched artificial slate roof with angled ridge tiles and leaded valleys; raised painted masonry verges with gableted kneelers. Cast-iron ogee rainwater goods on smooth rendered eaves course. Walling is painted smooth render with projecting plinth course; diagonal buttresses to hall and vestibule; angled buttresses to breakfront rising to gableted and crocketted pinnacles. Windows are tall cusped leaded lattice lancets with margin panes and coloured glass, in stepped painted render surrounds with splayed painted masonry sills. Three-light reticulated tracery window to west having carved archivolt and hood mould with carved head-stops. West-facing front elevation is dominated by the tall gabled breakfront, rising above roof-line. Breakfront is lit by the central tracery window and a window at left and right cheek. Lozenge datestone to apex of gable with cusped moulding inscribed “AD 1845”. Entrance comprises double-leaf pointed-headed timber-sheeted doors with cast-iron strap-hinges and knob; surmounted by a large ornate ogee-shaped hood mould having crocketted pinnacle and carved stops. Entrance is flanked by buttresses with offsets rising to cusped gablets and crocketted pinnacles, and accessed via a single concrete step. Vestibule is lit by a window to either side of breakfront; left and right cheeks have lancet surmounted by louvered loop opening in rendered surround with hood mould. The north elevation is four evenly-spaced windows wide. The east elevation is abutted by the modern two-storey extension, detailed as main church and opening to south with a gabled projecting porch accessed via concrete steps and ramp. The south elevation is detailed as north. Setting: Situated on a large plot with cemetery, to the east side of Bushmills Road; tarmacadamed car-park and large modern church hall to south. Directly to east are the remains of a rectangular rubblestone and red-brick structure and a row of mid-nineteenth century headstones. Rubblestone outbuilding with pitched corrugated tin roof also to east. Cemetery has a variety of styles of headstone, dating from the mid-nineteenth century; some graves with Victorian cast-iron railings. Bounded to road to west by a rock-faced blackstone wall with soldier coping, having two sets of square piers with pointed stone caps and supporting iron gates. Also to front is a cast-iron latch gate. Modern housing estate on site to north; open farmland to south. Site is bounded by mature trees and hedges. Roof: Artificial slate Walling: Painted smooth render Windows: Leaded lattice lancets with coloured glass RWG: Cast-iron

Architects

Lanyon, Charles

Historical Information

Dunluce Presbyterian Church, located in the townland of Mill Walk, was constructed between 1845 and 1846 to designs by Charles Lanyon. The ‘tudoresque’ building replaced a previous church which can be seen on the first edition of the Ordnance Survey map (1832); the early-19th century map depicted the original church as a T-shaped building captioned ‘Meeting Ho[use]’ located alongside the Bush River. The Townland Valuations of the 1830s valued the meeting house (which it measured at 76ft in length by 26ft width) at £4 15., noting that the structure possessed a sessions house measuring 22ft by 15ft. In 1835 the contemporary Ordnance Survey Memoirs contradicted the measurements of the valuation describing the meeting house as ‘a very plain building, the extreme dimensions of which are 66ft long by 44ft wide, [able to] accommodate 500 persons.’ The meeting house catered to the prominent Presbyterianism of the region, the memoirs note that by the 1834 census there were 2,322 Presbyterians in the Parish compared to 532 Episcopalians, 571 other Dissenters and 179 Roman Catholics; the memoirs record that the Presbyterian clergyman was supported by stipend and the regium donum (OSM, pp 109-111). According to the datestone located on its front gable, Dunluce Presbyterian Church was constructed in 1845, replacing the earlier meeting house; however the building was not opened until the following year. The new church first appears on the second edition of Ordnance Survey maps in 1857 which depicted the church in its current location, slightly to the northwest of the position held by the original building. In 1859 Griffith’s Valuation recorded that the church was valued at £22 and was let by the Rev. William Oliver who owned the plot of land and was recorded as lessor; the church was exempt from taxation and remained valued at this rate until the end of the Annual Revisions in 1929. There was no subsequent alteration to the layout of Dunluce Presbyterian Church on the latter editions of the Ordnance Survey maps, however by the third edition in 1904 the Dunluce Lecture Hall had been erected to the north of the church on the west side of the Priestland Road. Kirkpatrick states that Dunluce’s congregation was first formed in the late 1740s by a minority group, formerly of Billy congregation (Bushmills Church) who refused to move to a new site on the east site of the Bush River and instead constructed the first meeting house in Mill Walk townland calling the Rev. John Cameron as their first minister (Kirkpatrick, p. 325). The first church on the current site was erected in c. 1750 and was located behind the current building although closer to the river Bush (Mullin). The current church was constructed during the incumbency of the Rev. William Oliver (1836-65) who secured the plot of land; the foundation stone was laid in July 1845. Oliver supervised the building of the new building which was officially opened on 27th July 1847 by the Rev Henry Cooke of May Street Presbyterian Church, the foremost proponent of Orthodox Presbyterianism during the period. Although the datestone suggests the church was completed in 1845, the Coleraine Chronicle notes that the building was constructed between 1845 and 1846 to designs by Sir. Charles Lanyon (1813-1889). Lanyon, who also designed Magherabuoy House (HB03/07/005) and possibly Cromore Gate Lodge (HB03/07/010) in the area, mostly designed Church of Ireland structures; his only other dissenting church was the non-subscribing church in Holywood. Brett suggests that Lanyon may have undertaken the contract in relation to his 1847 commission to construct Dunderave Mansion for the McNaughten family (Brett, p. 58). Dunluce Presbyterian Church was constructed during the Great Irish Famine (1845-52) and due to the difficulties facing the rural communities at this time, the church trustees found it difficult to acquire adequate funding for the new church and for some years after its completion Dunluce Presbyterian possessed considerable debt. However, in the aftermath of the famine the trustees carried out a number of additional works. After the 1859 Revival it was determined that Dunluce Presbyterian did not have adequate room to accommodate a growing congregation; in 1860 the current gallery, which was designed to hold 230 people, was added to the church. In 1875 a two-storey manse was provided for the minister costing £640 8s. 10d. to construct. Later changes to the church include the installation of heating apparatus in 1889 and the extensive repair and renovation of the building in 1892; in that year the pews were remodelled, the two rear windows behind the pulpit were installed and the old pulpit was replaced with the current one. The work cost a total of approximately £300 and the church was reopened in 1892. Contemporary to the renovation of the church, the trustees decided to construct a church hall with the remaining funds left over. In 1893 the first church hall was built on the other side of the Priestland Road, however this was wrecked in a storm in 1894; the hall was rebuilt from scratch and reopened in 1895 (it continues to be used today). Further changes to the church in the 20th century include the first installation of electric lighting in 1937 and the addition of the Hammond organ in 1970; another renovation was carried out in 1972 when the church was closed; the building was reroofed and the exterior replastered before being opened later that year (Mullin). The ‘tudoresque’ church at Dunluce is an interesting early example of Presbyterian architectural innovation, in this instance employing gothic design, at a time when the denomination continued to construct meeting houses in a distinctly neo-classical style; however such innovative flair was restricted to the west-facing facade (Walker, p. 101). In 1972 the First Survey Record and Girvan stated that the church greatly resembled Crumlin Presbyterian Church, however the resemblance is not striking, rather Brett compared the design of Dunluce to Lanyon’s Anglican Church at Hollymount, Seaforde; both of which were designed in the Tudor style preferred by the architect and shared, ‘with variations, the central feature of a perpendicular traceried window over a Tudor arched opening’ (Brett, p. 58). Dunluce Presbyterian Church was listed in 1977; in 1994-95 major alterations to the interior were carried out whilst a sympathetic extension was added to the rear of the building by W. Atkinson of Ballymoney; the extension consisted of the children’s Sunday school rooms, a kitchen, a new choir room and a minister’s room large enough for church session meetings. The unique gothic church continues to be utilised as a place of worship and in 2006 possessed membership of 220 families (Mullin; Kirkpatrick, p. 325). References Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/1/7/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1832 2. PRONI OS/6/1/7/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1857 3. PRONI OS/6/1/7/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1904 4. PRONI OS/6/1/7/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1922 5. PRONI VAL/1/A/1/7 – Townland Valuation map c. 1830 6. PRONI VAL/1/B/140 – Townland Valuation c. 1830 7. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/34A – Griffith’s Valuation 1859 8. VAL/12/B/6/2A – Annual Revisions 1859-1864 9. VAL/12/B/6/2B – Annual Revisions 1864-1876 10. VAL/12/B/6/2C – Annual Revisions 1876-1884 11. VAL/12/B/6/2D – Annual Revisions 1885-1889 12. VAL/12/B/6/2E – Annual Revisions 1889-1895 13. VAL/12/B/4/21A – Annual revisions 1896-1909 14. VAL/12/B/4/21B – Annual revisions 1909-1921 15. VAL/12/B/4/13A – Annual Revisions 1923-1929 16. Ordnance Survey Memoirs, Co. Antrim, No. V Vol. 16, (1835) 17. Lewis’ Topographical Dictionary (1837) 18. First Survey Record – HB03/05/007 (1972) Secondary Sources 1. Brett, C. E. B., ‘Buildings of County Antrim’ Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1996. 2. Girvan, W., ‘North Antrim: Historic buildings, groups of buildings, areas of architectural importance in North Antrim including towns of Portrush, Ballymoney and Bushmills’ Belfast, Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1972. 3. Mullin, J. E., ‘A history of Dunluce Presbyterian Church’ Bushmills: Dunluce Presbyterian Church Bushmills. 1995. 4. Kirkpatrick, L., ‘Presbyterians in Ireland: An illustrated history’ Booklink, 2006. 5. Walker, S., ‘Historic Ulster Churches’ Belfast, The Institute of Irish Studies, 2000. Online Resources 1. Dictionary of Irish Architects website - http://www.dia.ie/

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 J. Setting

Historic Interest

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

Evaluation

A symmetrical rendered Presbyterian Church in the Gothic style, dated 1845 and built to the designs of the important architect Charles Lanyon; on a cruciform-plan and situated with a cemetery to the east side of Priestland Road in Bushmills. An accomplished example of a mid-Victorian Presbyterian church in the Gothic idiom, retaining much of its high quality detailing. A small extension to rear is sympathetic in style and scale and does not alter the proportions or character of the original building. The cemetery contains a variety of headstones and tombs dating from the mid-nineteenth century, and adds to the historic integrity of the site. The original blackstone boundary wall and gate pilars to the front also add to the quality of the setting. Dunluce Presbyterian Church is of significant local interest and social importance to the surrounding community.

General Comments

Listong criteria R - Age; S - Authenticity and T- Historic Importance also apply This record has been re-numbered and was previously HB03/05/007 under an incorrect district and ward.

Date of Survey

04 October 2012