Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB03/03/010

Address :
Aghadowey Presbyterian Church Ardreagh Road Coleraine Co. Londonderry BT51 4DN

Townland:
Ballywillin

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Survey 2:
B2

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:
31-10

IG Ref:
C8646 2102

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Owner Category

Church - Presbyterian

Exterior Description And Setting

A gabled Presbyterian Church built c.1830, refurbished c.1910 and again in recent years; located to the south side of Ardreagh Road in Aghadowey, south of Coleraine. Rectangular plan with small two-storey gabled extension and lean-to porch to rear. Pitched natural slate roof with blue/black angled ridge tiles and small rendered chimneystack to south gable. Cast-iron ogee rainwater goods on timber brackets and with square downpipes. Walling is drydash on a cement rendered plinth with cement rendered quoins. Windows are late twentieth-century coloured leaded lattice lights, pointed-headed at gallery level and camber-headed at ground floor, all in cement surrounds with projecting painted sills. Tall round-headed early nineteenth-century leaded-and-stained glass windows to south. North-facing gabled front is three openings wide at gallery and ground floor; louvered oculus with hood mould to apex of gable. To centre at ground floor is a pointed-headed doorcase comprising modern glass panel door surmounted by a replacement leaded-and-coloured glass transom in a moulded surround with archivolt and hood mould. Door accessed by three concrete steps with ramped access to west. The east elevation is five windows wide at gallery and ground floor. South gable has two round-headed original stained glass windows with two round-headed louvered openings over, at apex of gable; abutted at centre by the two-storey gabled extension and the single-storey lean-to porch at left (both detailed as main church). Extension has 1/1 sash window to first and ground floor at left and right cheek (right cheek also with diminutive window to first floor right). Lean-to porch abuts the extension at right cheek and has timber window at left cheek, opening to south with a modern timber-sheeted door. The west elevation is detailed as east. Setting: Situated on a rectangular plot to the south side of Ardreagh Road, incorporating cemetery. Site is surrounded by farmland. Set back from the road with parking area to front and former school (dated 1910) to east side of entrance. Entrance has drydash walls with concrete coping topped by fleur-de-lis head railings and terminating in square piers with corniced stone caps topped by ball finials; piers support cast-iron gates with fleur-de-lis heads. Tarmacadamed entrance leads to concourse and parking area to east. To west side of entrance is a small refurbished single-storey gabled hall (the original school building). Large two-storey gabled modern church hall to east (c.2001). Cemetery has a variety of headstones and tombs dating from the mid-nineteenth century, some with Victorian decorative cast-iron railings. Roof: Natural slate Walling: Drydash Windows: Twentieth-century leaded-and-stained glass RWG: Cast-iron

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

Aghadowey Presbyterian church dates from 1830 and replaces earlier meeting houses in the area, dating back to around the late seventeenth century. A congregation had been established at Aghadowey by 1655 when the first minister, William Jaque, was appointed, but the first record of a meeting house is in 1705 when the church was either rebuilt or enlarged (History of Congregations). An early minister, Rev James McGregor (1701-18) is reputed to have fired the cannon at the Siege of Derry in 1689 to announce the arrival of relief ships. He later emigrated to New England with several of his congregation, founding a new town called Londonderry and building the first Presbyterian church in New England. (Kirkpatrick) By the early nineteenth century the congregation were meeting in a small thatched church in Carnrallagh townland that was extended and renovated c1813. (Mullin) The present building dates from 1830 and, according to OS Memoirs was built by an architect from Garvagh. The ‘Presb[yteria]n Meet[in]g Ho[use]’ is shown on the first edition OS map of 1832 as a simple hall aligned north-south. The ‘new meeting house’ is listed in the Townland Valuation (1828-40) at £25. OS Memoirs give a lengthy description of the building which was a ‘large, spacious building of dark stone with a handsome gate from the road’. The walls of the new building were damaged during a severe storm on 20th November 1830 and had to be taken down and rebuilt, entailing a debt of £2,000 on the congregation. Local gentry and clerics made significant contributions but the largest subscriptions came from the London companies, the Irish Society (who donated £300), the Drapers, Skinners, Ironmongers, Clothworkers and Vintners. The interior was fitted up ‘with elegance’ and the building could seat 1,150 people in ground floor and gallery pews. The aisles were flagged and the house was lit by 25 windows, 3 in the vestibule and sessions rooms. The grave yard was an acre in extent but it was noted that there were no trees planted round the building. The house was rented from the Rev John Stirling at 5s per annum ‘if demanded’ and the minister was John Brown who received a stipend of £85 with £100 Regium Donum. (OS Memoirs) Dr Brown subsequently enjoyed a very lengthy ministry of nearly 60 years. (Kirkpatrick) During the ministry of Samuel W Morrison (1901-1929) the church was renovated at a cost of about £1,200 and a new school erected (dated 1910), replacing the earlier building of c1840. (History of Congregations; Mullin) Valuer’s notes of the 1930s show a plan of the church with vestry and minister’s rooms to the rear. The former school to the right of the entrance was then being used as a bicycle store. The church could accommodate 480 people with an additional 260 in the gallery. (Valuation records) An organ was installed in 1940 and the graveyard extended in 1945. (Mullin) The congregation was linked with Crossgar in 1976 and membership today stands at about 165 families. (Kirkpatrick) The building was listed in 1977 and the gates, piers and walls were repaired in 1980. In 2001 permission was granted to add an additional church hall to the site, south of the existing church hall and former school. (HB file) References: Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/5/18/1 First Edition OS Map 1832 2. PRONI OS/6/5/18/2 Second Edition OS map 1849-53 3. PRONI OS/6/5/18/3 Third Edition OS Map 1904-5 4. PRONI OS/6/5/18/4 Fourth Edition OS Map 1924-33 5. PRONI VAL/1/B/51 Townland Valuation (1828-40) 6. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/1A-F Annual Revisions (1864-1929) 7. PRONI VAL/3/C/6/1 First General Revaluation 1933-57 8. PRONI VAL/3/D/6/3/A/2 First General Revaluation 1933-57 9. Griffith’s Valuation online 10. HB file – 03/03/010 Secondary Sources 1. “A History of Congregations in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland 1610-1982” authorised by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Belfast: Presbyterian Historical Society of Ireland, 1982 (available at www.presbyterianhistoryireland.com) 2. Day, A., P. McWilliams, English L., eds. “OS Memoirs of Ireland, Parishes of County Londonderry VI, 1831, 1833, 1835-6, Vol. 22.” Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies, 1993. 3. Kirkpatrick, L “Presbyterians in Ireland” Booklink, 2006 4. Mullin, Rev T H “Aghadowey, A Parish and its Linen Industry” Belfast, 1972

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 R. Age S. Authenticity U. Historic Associations

Evaluation

A large gabled Presbyterian Church built c1830 and refurbished c.1910 and again in recent years; located to the south side of Ardreagh Road in Aghadowey, south of Coleraine. The building has a relatively well-preserved Edwardian interior. The site incorporates an original school building and a later school (dated 1910), both of which have been extensively refurbished but illustrate the historic development of the site. The cemetery has a variety of headstones dating from the mid-nineteenth century, which add to the quality of the setting and the historic integrity of the site. Aghadowey Presbyterian Church is of significant social importance and local interest to the surrounding community and has historic association with an early minister, Rev James McGregor (1701-18) who is reputed to have fired the cannon at the Siege of Derry in 1689 to announce the arrival of relief ships. He later emigrated to New England with several of his congregation, founding a new town called Londonderry and building the first Presbyterian church in New England.

General Comments

Listing criteria R - Age; S - Authenticity and U - Historic Associations also apply.

Date of Survey

03 October 2012