Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB05/02/030

Address :
Cushendall Presbyterian Church Shore Street Cushendall Co. Antrim BT44 0NA

Townland:
Faughil

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Survey 2:
B1

Date of Listing:
26/02/1976 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Church

Former Use
Church

Conservation Area:
Yes

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
25/5SE

IG Ref:
D2404 2803

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Owner Category

Church - Presbyterian

Exterior Description And Setting

Free-standing single-cell single-storey red sandstone church, erected c.1899. Rectangular on plan facing southeast with off-centre gabled entrance porch and chancel projection to the northeast gable. Located on a small elevated site on the northwest side of Shore Street. Steeply pitched natural slate roof with terracotta ridgecombe tiles and set behind slightly raised gables with sandstone ashlar coping rising from carved kneeler stones and surmounted by sandstone poppy-head finials. Moulded cast-iron guttering set on chamfered red sandstone eaves course and steel downpipes. Uncoursed rock-faced red sandstone ashlar walling with chamfered sandstone trim to projecting plinth course and stepped buttresses with ashlar offsets. Paired round-headed window openings with smooth ashlar surrounds, paired hood mouldings, flush splayed sills and leaded coloured glazing set in steel frames with steel mesh panels. Southeast nave elevation is four bays wide with a gabled entrance porch to the left having slate roof with terracotta ridgecombe tiles; and terracotta poppy-head finial, timber bargeboard and cast-iron rainwater goods. Pointed-headed door opening with vertically-sheeted timber door set below half-timber gable and flanked by pointed-headed window openings with leaded coloured glazing set on low red sandstone wall returning to both cheek elevations. Door opens onto three circular concrete steps to front bitmac paved area. Southwest gable framed by stepped buttresses with triple light pointed-headed windows having continuous hood moulding. Four-bay northwest nave elevation, as per front elevation. Northeast gable filled with lower gabled chancel having triple-light window, as per southwest gable. Single pointed-headed window opening to both cheek elevations. Materials Roof Natural slate RWG Cast-iron / steel Walling Uncoursed rock-faced red sandstone ashlar Windows Original leaded coloured glazing Setting: Located on a small elevated site on the northwest side of Shore Street on the northern outskirts of Cushendall village. Bitmac paved elevated front area enclosed by rubble sandstone wall with stacked coping and two rubblestone piers supporting an original decorative wrought-iron pedestrian gate.

Architects

Fennell, William J

Historical Information

Cushendall Presbyterian Church, a late-Victorian sandstone church hall located in the townland of Faughil to the north-east of Cushendall, constructed 1899-1900. Baillie notes that the first Presbyterian congregation in Cushendall was formed in the early-18th century with the Rev. James Stuart serving as minister between 1708 and his death in 1719. Following Stuart’s death the local congregation was without a minister and had to travel great distances to neighbouring meeting halls for a period of over a century. It was not until the mid-19th century that interest in the reorganisation of a local congregation was revived and in November 1848 the Presbyteries of Ballymena and Route formed the Glens into a new congregation. The purpose-built meeting house, which was located at Gortaghragan between Cushendall and Cushendun, was constructed in 1852 along with its adjoining two-storey manse (Mansefield). Baillie records that the new church was officially opened by the Rev. Henry Cooke (Baillie, p. 363). Dallat records that this meeting house was utilised by the Presbyterian populations of both Cushendall and Cushendun, however services were moved to Cushendall in 1859 where they were held in the schoolhouse on the hill of Court McMartin; the former meeting house in Gortaghragan is now utilised as an outbuilding for the adjoining Mansefield House. The Presbyterian congregation of Cushendall continued to meet at the schoolhouse until the end of the 19th century when plans were made for the erection of a permanent meeting house on a site granted by John Turnly, proprietor of the village. The Dictionary of Irish Architects notes that the new church was designed by William John Fennell (c. 1850-1923), a Belfast-based architect who had also been responsible for the church halls at Rosemary Street and Cooke Centenary Presbyterian Church. The foundation stone of the new church was laid on 15th September 1899 by George McFerran of Drumreagh House, Ballygawley, with the Rev. D. A. Taylor, Moderator of the General Assembly, presiding over the ceremony. Construction of the church was carried out by Hugh McCann, a Ballymena-based builder. The Natural Stone Database notes that the building was erected utilising locally-quarried Devonian Sandstone (Cross Slieve Group). The completed church was officially opened on 17th June 1900 by the Right Rev. J. M. Hamilton who was moderator of the General Assembly at the time (Baillie; DIA; NSD). Cushendall Presbyterian Church was not included in the Annual Revisions during the first three decades of the 20th century but was recorded on the third edition Ordnance Survey map (1903) which depicted it along its current layout (suggesting few changes have been made to the building since the turn of the 20th century). The congregation of Cushendall was united with Carnlough in 1919 with the Rev. William Henry McCracken appointed as the first minister of the joint charge. There were few changes to Cushendall Presbyterian Church throughout this period and under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) the total value of the building was set at £30 (exempt from taxation). Baillie records that the church was extended with the installation of ancillary rooms in c. 1970. Despite this alteration, by the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) the value of the church had been slightly decreased to £24 (Baillie). In 1972 the UAHS publication for the Glens of Antrim described Cushendall Presbyterian Church as ‘a little pink sandstone building, scholarly but reticent’ (UAHS p. 32). The church was included in the Cushendall Conservation Area in 1975, only the second conservation area in the province to have been designated at that time, ‘testimony itself to the special qualities of the village.’ In that year the village was also chosen as one of Northern Ireland’s four pilot schemes for conservation during the European Architectural Heritage Year. Cushendall Presbyterian Church was subsequently listed in 1976. Kirkpatrick records that during the 1980s the congregation of the church diminished to single figures and as a result Cushendall was united with the Newtown Crommelin congregation in 1994. The congregation of Cushendall Presbyterian Church currently stands at around 80 families (Kirkpatrick, p. 136; Cushendall Conservation Area Guide). References Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/1/20/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1857) 2. PRONI OS/6/1/20/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1903) 3. PRONI OS/6/1/20/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1921) 4. PRONI OS/8/84/1 – Ordnance Survey Town Plan (1903) 5. PRONI VAL/12/B/2/7A-F – Annual Revisions (1864-1923) 6. PRONI VAL/12/B/2/12A– Annual Revisions (1923-29) 7. PRONI VAL/3/C/1/14 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) 8. PRONI VAL/4/B/1/10 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72) 9. Ulster Town Directories (1880-1918) 10. First Survey Record – HB05/02/030 (1971) 11. NIEA HB Record – HB05/02/030 Secondary Sources 1. Brett, C. E. B., ‘List of historic buildings, groups of buildings and areas of architectural importance in the Glens of Antrim’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1972. 2. Dallat, C., ‘The road to the Glens’ Belfast: The Friar’s Bush Press, 1989. 3. Kirkpatrick, L., ‘Presbyterians in Ireland: An illustrated history’ Booklink, 2006. 4. ‘Cushendall Village Conservation Area’ Belfast: Department of the Environment, 1975. 5. ‘Cushendall Conservation Area’ Belfast: Department of the Environment, 1993. Online Resources 1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie/ 2. Natural Stone Database - http://www.stonedatabase.com//buildings.cfm?bk=1568

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation J. Setting

Historic Interest

Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance X. Local Interest R. Age S. Authenticity T. Historic Importance V. Authorship

Evaluation

Free-standing single-cell with chancel red sandstone church, constructed 1899-1900 to designs by William John Fennell (c. 1850-1923), a prolific Belfast-based architect who designed Cooke Centenary Presbyterian Church, Belfast (HB26/02/001) and The Mater Hospital, Belfast (HB26/43/005). Located on a small elevated site on the northwest side of Shore Street, this is a modest-scaled late nineteenth-century rural church built in an eclectic revivalist style. Retaining much original external fabric, such as a half-timbered porch gable and stepped buttresses, this church has social and local importance for Cushendall village and the wider area.

General Comments

Date of Survey

26 January 2015