Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB26/36/009 B

Address :
Crumlin Road Presbyterian Church Mitchell Memorial Hall Tennant Street Belfast Co Antrim BT13 3GD

Townland:
Town Parks

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Survey 2:
Record Only

Date of Listing:

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Hall

Former Use
Hall

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
130/09 SW

IG Ref:
J3228 7550

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Owner Category

Church - Presbyterian

Exterior Description And Setting

A gabled two-storey three-bay red-brick Presbyterian church hall to designs by David Wright Boyd, dated 1954 and located to the east side of Tennent Street in west Belfast. Rectangular on plan with shallow breakfronts to northwest and two-storey L-shaped linking block connecting Crumlin Road Presbyterian Church (HB26/36/009A) to northeast. Pitched natural slate roof with blue/black angled ridge tiles and raised sandstone verges. Rainwater goods concealed behind sandstone parapet; plastic downpipes. Walling is Flemish-bonded red-brick on a rock-faced and chamfered ashlar sandstone plinth with red sandstone dressings. Windows are round-headed metal-framed leaded lattice lights in plain reveals with brick heads and projecting sandstone sills; square-headed four and three-light metal casements to southeast. Gabled front faces northwest with wide central bay flanked by shallow breakfronts; central bay has three large staged windows at first floor over arcaded group of five windows to ground floor; inscribed granite plaques read “MITCHELL/ MOMORIAL HALL/1954” and “THIS STONE WAS UNVEILED/ ON 18TH SEPTEMBER 1954 BY/ SAMUEL JOHN GRAHAM/ THE ORIGINAL BUILDING WAS/ DESTROYED BY ENEMY ACTION ON/ 15TH 16TH APRIL 1941”. Flanking breakfronts each with a window to each floor. Two-storey linking block to far left is two bays wide, left bay projects slightly and contains three windows at each floor; entrance bay at right has two windows over recessed original double-leaf twelve-panelled timber doors with metal fanlight in a Romanesque-style moulded surround; accessed via two concrete steps and ramp with metal handrail. The northeast elevation is abutted by the adjoining church (HB26/36/009A). The southeast elevation has irregularly arranged window openings to ground and first floor. Linking bay to right comprises two flat-roof blocks; left block projects and has a window at each floor; exposed northwest section with small casement window at each floor to right; double-leaf twelve-panelled timber door to ground floor left, surmounted by concrete canopy and accessed by a set of four concrete steps. Right block has window to first floor left over rendered lean-to shed with artificial slate roof and double-leaf timber-sheeted doors to northwest. The southwest elevation has eight window openings to each floor (diminished at first floor); two smaller window openings to each floor at right (square-headed at ground floor). Setting: Situated in a residential area to the west side of Tennent Street, abutting Crumlin Road Presbyterian Church (HB26/36/009B) to northeast, and surrounded by nineteenth and twentieth-century terraced housing. Set back slightly from street and laid with concrete to front, enclosed with red-brick walling topped by sandstone coping and metal railings; entrance has set of metal latch gates. Enclosed yard to northeast accessed via Langley Street via a set of iron gates with square iron piers topped with decorative scrolled and finialed metal caps and supporting original gates. Roof: Natural slate Walling : Flemish-bonded red brick with red sandstone dressings Windows: Metal casements with leaded lattice lights RWG: Plastic

Architects

Boyd, David W

Historical Information

The Mitchell Memorial Hall was completed in 1954 replacing a previous church school on the site that was destroyed in air raids in 1941. The present building is first shown on the OS map edition dating from the 1960s/70s. A new congregation was established in this area of Belfast in 1867 by Deane Knox Mitchell, who was then ordained in 1869 and became the first minister. Mitchell built a church school costing £500 for which Robert Young of Young & Mackenzie was the architect (Belfast Newsletter; www.dia.ie) A new church building became necessary due to the rapid development and industrial expansion of the area during the mid-nineteenth century and when numbers became too large for the school building the congregation began to meet in the school-room of the nearby Ewart’s linen mill while the new church was constructed (Belfast Newsletter; History of Congregations). The new church was formally opened on Sunday 12th May 1872, at which time the building was nearing completion. The church was built to designs by Young & Mackenzie by contractors John Lowry & Son. The ‘Presbyterian Church’ is first shown, captioned, on the large-scale map of Belfast dating from 1883-4 with a small ‘National School’ to the rear. It was constructed at a cost of £2,097 of which about half had been subscribed at the time of opening and was of Scrabo sandstone in the free Gothic style. The Belfast Newsletter gives a full description of the building at the time of opening. A new school building was constructed to the rear of the church in 1897-8 to designs by W J Gilliland and a full description of this building also appears in the Belfast Newsletter. The church buildings were completely destroyed during a German air raid on the night of 15th/16th April 1941 and the congregation met in the nearby Edenderry School for 13 years following this event. A replacement building was dedicated and opened on 18th September 1954, providing accommodation for 650 worshippers on the old site. A minor hall, committee rooms and a recreation hall to the rear also formed part of the design. The architect, David Boyd, supervised the building of Clough Williams-Ellis’s First Church of Christ Scientist in University Avenue but is otherwise better-known for domestic work and for a number of schools designed in the late 1950s and 1960s (www.dia.ie). The church and hall have suffered from bomb damage on a number of occasions since, including in 1972 when a car bomb destroyed all the windows (History of Congregations). The congregation today numbers around 300 families (Kirkpatrick) References Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/1/60/3 Third Edition OS Map (1901) 2. PRONI OS/6/1/60/4 Fourth Edition OS Map (1920-31) 3. PRONI OS/6/1/60/5 Fifth Edition OS Map (1920-38) 4. Belfast Newsletter 13th May 1872 5. Belfast Newsletter 18th September 1954 6. Irish Times 15th September 1954 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. Kirkpatrick, L “Presbyterians in Ireland” Booklink, 2006 3. www.dia.ie - Dictionary of Irish Architects online

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation J. Setting K. Group value

Historic Interest

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

Evaluation

A gabled two-storey three-bay red-brick Presbyterian church hall dated 1954 to designs by David Wright Boyd. Characterised by plain detailing and tall round-headed openings, much of the architectural detailing is intact and the building retains much of its original character. Along with Crumlin Road Presbyterian Church (HB26/36/009A) the two are of some interest in the locale. However, they are of a late date and not among the best examples of the type.

General Comments

Date of Survey

09 April 2013