Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB26/08/023 A

Address :
First Ballymacarrett Presbyterian Church Paulett Avenue Belfast BT5 4HD

Townland:
Ballymacarrett

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Survey 2:
B2

Date of Listing:
14/12/2010 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:
130/14 SE

IG Ref:
J3562 7399

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Owner Category

Private

Exterior Description And Setting

An attached double-height Presbyterian Church, built 1837, altered in 1860 and 1898 and renovated in 1937, located at the end of Paulett Avenue with no frontage visible from Albertbridge Road. 'T' shape on plan with entrance to west; stair tower to north; transepts either side of nave at east end; north transept attached to The Mountpottinger National Schools, south transept abutted by single storey vestry and minor meeting hall. Roofs are pitched natural slate with angle blue/black clay ridge tiles; moulded string course at eaves level with raised parapet and hidden gutter to main roof; round cast-iron rain water pipes / grey uPVC replacements. Walls are coursed squared-and-snecked Scrabo stone to entrance bay, remainder of church smooth cement rendered with sandstone cills and dressings to window and door openings. Windows are gothic trefoil-cusped leaded stained glass unless otherwise noted. Principal gable elevation faces west; three bays wide and symmetrical about central break front bay. The central bay has chamfered plinth, stepped diagonal buttresses and raised parapet with kneelers. It has pair of moulded Tudor door openings stained timber sheeted doors with carved spandrels below five rectangular chamfered panels, central panel is within surround, the remainder are plain; above is large depressed gothic five-light traceried stained glass window with carved foliate cill course and hood mould with stop ends. At apex corbelled finial with carved panel is topped by castellated coping and flanked by triangular carved panels. The two outer bays are symmetrical about the central bay and have chamfered plinths, raised parapets and stepped diagonal buttresses with pinnacles above topped with moulded castellated copings. Each has single gothic recess containing bipartite window within square headed opening on both ground and first floor. North elevation is seven bays wide and is cement rendered with chamfered plinth, moulded cornice with raised parapet and stepped buttresses separating bays. Elevation is abutted at left by gabled transept, which is in turn abutted by the Mountpottinger national school to the north, exposed section blank. Transept is abutted at right by flat roofed stair tower with moulded cornice and raised parapet; north elevation is blank, west elevation has Tudor door opening containing timber sheeted door with glazed overlight; there are five depressed gothic windows with sandstone dressings - one at ground floor to right of door, one directly above at stair half level and two at first floor . The centre bays are from left: two bays with single three-light stained glass windows; two tripartite stained glass windows, central light taller than flanking lights, one at ground and one at first floor; single stained glass window at ground floor with an ocular stained glass window above. Right end bay is abutted by stair tower with pitched roof and raised gable parapet with corbelled kneelers; each elevation of stair tower has single timber stained glass window at various levels. Rear east elevation is cement rendered and four bays wide. Two central bays have single tripartite stained glass window. Two outer bays are symmetrical and have bipartite stained glass windows at ground floor with single stained glass window above. South elevation is seven bays wide and is cement rendered, with the exception of the left end bay which is Scrabo stone, with chamfered plinth, moulded cornice with raised parapet and stepped buttresses separating bays. Left end bay is constructed of coursed squared-and-snecked Scrabo stone and has chamfered plinth, moulded cornice with raised parapets and stepped diagonal buttresses with pinnacles over topped with moulded castellated copings; single gothic recess containing bipartite window in square headed opening on ground floor and first floor. Centre bays are from left: single stained glass window at ground floor with an ocular stained glass window above; tripartite stained glass window, central light taller than flanking lights, one at ground and one at first floor; two with single large three-light stained glass windows. Next bay is flat roofed stair tower with moulded cornice and raised parapet; south elevation is blank, west elevation has Tudor door opening containing timber sheeted door with glazed overlight; there are five depressed gothic windows with sandstone dressings - one at ground floor to left of door, one directly above at stair half level and two at first floor. Elevation abutted at right by gabled transept, which is in turn abutted by single storey pitched roofed return at far right and lean-to extension to left. The pitched roof extension is abutted to south by the former sexton's house. The exposed section of the transept has four-light depressed gothic stained glass windows with square headed timber window above and off-centre on left. West elevation of lean-to extension which abuts transept and stair tower has Tudor door opening containing timber sheeted door with glazed overlight to left with two square headed timber leaded windows with concrete cills to right. South elevation has three square headed timber leaded windows with concrete cills. Pitch roofed return is abutted entirely to west by minor meeting hall and abutted to south entirely by former Sexton's house. East elevation has two depressed gothic stained glass windows. Setting:- Located at the end of Paulett Avenue, Belfast and surrounded by buildings on all sides with no frontage visible from Albertbridge Road. The church is part of complex of buildings on site partially enclosed by tall red brick wall and partially by adjacent buildings. The lecture hall (HB26/08/023C) is located to the south of the church and forms an enclosed garden to rear bounded by the hall, church, snooker room and former Sexton's house. The Mountpottinger National Schools (HB26/08/023B) is located to the north of the church with tarmac car park to front, communal passageway to rear serving the terrace properties of Templemore Avenue, enclosed yard to north previously an extension and abutting church to south. Access through modern steel gate; remains of the original iron railings still survive. Roof Natural slate Walling Scrabo sandstone / cement render Windows Leaded stained glass RWG Cast-iron / uPVC

Architects

Young & Mackenzie

Historical Information

The Presbyterian church was built in 1837, altered in 1860 and 1898 and renovated in 1937. The building does not appear on the First Edition OS map which shows a new road in progress (Albertbridge Road). It first appears as a simple rectangular structure captioned ' Meeting. Ho.' on 'A Plan of the Town of Belfast' engraved by permission from the Ordnance Survey. The building footprint remains the same and is captioned 'Presbyter.n Meet. Ho.' on the Second Edition OS map however by the Third Edition OS map the building has been extended. Young & Mackenzie (architects) designed the 1898 extension and alterations to the original simple classically designed church. The front of the building was brought forward and given a 'fifteenth century gothic' entrance bay constructed of Scrabo sandstone. With a dwindling attendance, the church is due to close in 2010 with the remaining congregation amalgamating with a neighbouring church. A booklet by Mr John Robinson, F.A.I. titled '1837-1937 Centenary Record of First Presbyterian Church Ballymacarrett, Belfast' (Belfast 1937) notes the following:- ‘For the first quarter of the last century (19th century) there was no place of public worship in Ballymacarrett. The population was, comparatively speaking, small, and generally in very humble circumstances, the majority of 'the people being hand-loom weavers. in the year 1831 the Presbytery of Belfast were instructed by the Synod of Ulster,..., to take charge of the congregation at Ballymacarrett,…. ln the 31st August 1835, at a meeting of Presbyterians residing in and near Ballymacarrett,…. it was resolved: "That it appears to this meeting to be highly desirable that a place of Presbyterian Worship should be erected forthwith in Ballymacarrett - that the Rev. Dr. Cooke, Dr. Hanna, Mr. Morgan, and Mr. Bellis be requested to make application to Lord Templemore for a suitable site for the Church." When a site was obtained, a memorial, signed by 193 persons, was presented to the Presbytery asking that they should be organised into a congregation. The memorial was cordially received and its prayer granted.’ The local congregation tried to raise sufficient funds but had to request assistance from the Belfast Committee, a Fundraising Committee was set up and eventually enough was raised by the Belfast congregations to commence the project. Plans and specifications for a house 65 feet by 40 were submitted by Mr. Thompson, architect, and adopted. After advertising, three estimates were received and it was resolved that ‘Matthew McKenzie’s estimate for erecting the Church for the sum of £1,225 be accepted, on condition that the House shall be finished on or before the First day of April, 1837, and that payments be made by instalments, according to agreement to be hereafter entered into.’ The first stone was laid on Monday, the 6th June. 1836, when it was noted that ‘there were no less than 400 Presbyterian families in this district; of these only 100 are connected with any place of worship – therefore we have only one-fourth of the ascertained Presbyterian population of Ballymacarrett enjoying the benefit of ministerial instruction.’ The house was finished and opened for public worship on the 23rd day of April, 1837 by the Rev. Dr. Smith, of Glasgow. The first minister of the new congregation was ordained on the 20th March 1838. Shortly after the opening of the church new schoolrooms were erected at the east end of the building, in which day and Sabbath schools were organized. In due course libraries for both the Sabbath school and the congregation were established, and a Young Men’s Association formed. The congregation increased and when the Belfast Presbytery visited n the year 1859 they recommended an enlargement of the church. The minister and members of the congregation approved of the recommendation, but as it involved the removal of the school building, in order to make room for the extension, and the erection of schools on a new site, as well as a large expenditure on the addition to be made to the church, various plans were considered and it was resolved – ‘That in the opinion of the committee the best method is to include the present schoolrooms with a transept at the east end about 30 feet wide, extending to the south as far as our ground goes, and carried out an equal distance on the north side, and that two schoolrooms of 40 feet by 26 feet each, with an entrance hall to shelter the inner doors, be erected in continuation, of the transept on the north side of the church.’ Mr. Matier, architect, submitted plans for the enlargement, which were approved of, and also drawings for the new schools to be built. An estimate for the enlargement of the church was received, amongst others, from Mr. M’Cracken, builder, who promised to complete the work for the sum of £650 and the work was proceeded with in the beginning of the month of August, 1860. The work was finished by the close of the month of January, and the church was re-opened for public worship on 10th February 1861. In 1882, a Manse was built at the cost of £1,200. In 1886, the Schools at the Church were re-built and enlarged at a cost of £860. In the late 19th century, the congregation decided to build a new church but were unable to find a site. The existing church was modernised to accommodate current forms of worship and re-opened for worship in October, 1898. The work cost £3,800. A Pipe Organ was also installed sometime between 1918 and 1925. In 1928, the new lecture halls were built and in 1937 the Centenary was marked with further “renewals to the church property involving an outlay of over £2,000." References- Primary sources 1. First Edition OS Map (1834) 2. 'A Plan of the Town of Belfast Engraved by Permission from the Ordnance Survey' dated 1838 3. Second Edition OS Map (1858) 4. Third Edition OS Map (1901) Secondary sources 1 Mr John Robinson, F.A.I, '1837-1937 Centenary Record of First Presbyterian Church Ballymacarrett, Belfast' (Belfast 1937) 2 Mr Keith Haines, 'Images of Ireland East Belfast' (Dublin 1997)

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form I. Quality and survival of Interior K. Group value

Historic Interest

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

Evaluation

An attached double-height Presbyterian church, built 1837 altered in 1860 and 1898 and renovated in 1937. The original church of 1837 was a simple rectangular classically designed building to which were added transepts in 1860. In 1898 Young & Mackenzie (architects) brought the front of the church forward and give it a 'fifteenth century gothic' design. A well preserved interior, which includes stained glass windows by Clokey’s of Belfast, contributes to the overall character of the church. It is well-proportioned and represents a good and intact example of a church which demonstrates its historical development to cope with a growing congregation.

General Comments

Listing query - HB26/LQ214

Date of Survey

29 June 2010