Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB26/37/002 A

Address :
Holy Cross Church 432 Crumlin Road Belfast BT14 7GE

Townland:
Edenderry

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Survey 2:
B+

Date of Listing:
25/09/1987 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:
129-12SE

IG Ref:
J3167 7573

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Owner Category

Church - RC

Exterior Description And Setting

Attached symmetrical double-height Lombardo-Romanesque stone church, dated 1902, to the designs of W.G. Doolin. Rectangular on plan facing east with two towers flanking gabled front, north side chapel, built c.1910, and south side chapel, built c.1960. Apsidal side chapel to the south side elevation and apsidal chancel to the west. Pitched natural slate roofs with roll-moulded black clay ridge tiles, lead valleys and moulded cast-iron guttering to smooth sandstone ashlar corbelled eaves courses and square-profile cast-iron downpipes. Uncoursed rock-faced sandstone ashlar walling with smooth sandstone dressings and full-height rock-faced sandstone piers framing all bays. Round-headed window openings with chamfered sandstone surrounds, flush splayed sills, hood mouldings and leaded stained glass windows with storm glazing. East front elevation comprises a central gable flanked by advanced square-plan three-stage towers having pyramidal copper-clad roofs and copper cross finials rising from machicolated eaves. The upper stages have round-headed openings framed by colonettes to all elevations having paired round-headed openings, central colonettes and copper-lined louvres with splayed sills. The centre stage has staggered diminutive round-headed window openings with full-span cornice over. The lower stages have paired round-headed openings with Arabesque frieze and dentilated cornice over, spanning the entire front elevation. The central gable has a dentilated pediment with cross finial and stone statue to the centre. Below the pediment is a triple round-headed window with continuous archivolt rising from colonettes and surmounted by a blind arcade. The principal entrance is set within an advanced gabled doorcase comprising; two square-headed door openings with central stone pier and Arabesque lintel cornice with raised lettering stating; 'DOM.IN.HON.SSMAE.CRUCIS A.D. MDCCCCII'. Large semi-circular Portland limestone overpanel with carved biblical scene. Door opening flanked by groups of four slender polished granite colonettes on pedestal bases with elaborate foliate and swagged capitals to continuous impost moulding and stepped archivolt set within dentilated pediment. Each opening has triple-leaf hardwood panelled doors with bolection mouldings opening onto stone platform and eight granite steps with modern steel balustrade to the centre with hardwood handrail. South nave elevation with lean-to side aisle having an apsidal side chapel to the right and gable-fronted south chapel abutting much of the left hand side. Paired round-headed clerestorey windows and paired round-headed window openings to the aisle. The apsidal side chapel has a conical natural slate roof with copper finial and round-headed window openings flanked by engaged colonettes. The three-bay south chapel has a pitched natural slate roof behind slightly raised front pediment with stone cross finial, advanced gabled door surround, uncoursed rock-faced sandstone walls and triple arched window openings set in recessed panels. The upper part of the front elevation has smooth coursed sandstone ashlar walling with triple light. Round-headed door opening with double-leaf hardwood panelled door flanked by groups of four polished granite colonettes on shared pedestal bases with stylised capitals to continuous impost moulding. Stepped voussoired archivolt with cornice hood moulding. Apsidal rear elevation with semi-conical roof and copper cross finial. The chancel has round-headed window openings with hood mouldings, flush splayed sills and set within shallow recessed panels. Lean-to side aisles are finished with slightly raised half pediments having diminutive arcading course below dentilated raking cornice. Triple-arched window openings with slender colonettes, continuous hood mouldings rising from splayed sills. North nave elevation as per south elevation with a three bay gable-fronted north chapel abutting much of the west side (right). North chapel detailed as per south chapel with paler sandstone walling, arcading to dentilated pediment and the triple-arched window flanked by pedimented blind niches. The colonettes flanking the doorcase have elaborately carved capitals depicting grotesques and continued as an Arabesque frieze to either side. Double-leaf hardwood panelled door with bolection mouldings open onto stone platform and five stone steps with modern steel balustrade and hardwood handrail. Setting: Set on an elevated site within its own landscaped grounds on the south side of Crumlin Road. Site shared with adjoining monastery (HB26/37/002B) with front lawns enclosed to the street by low rubblestone wall and decorative iron railings. Bitmac front area with flight of stone steps opening onto Crumlin Road via decorative iron gates hung on cast-iron piers. Free-standing stone monument to south of church, commemorating St. Gabriel; life-size stone statue supported on stone square plan base with plinth; base with four equal elevations, each having a central rectangular memorial plaque flanked by corinthian pilasters. Free-standing stone monument in lawns to north of church, depicting Jesus Christ; life-size stone statue supported on carved stone square plan base with plinth; statue on raised paved area approached by steps with square stone piers with urn cappings. Roof Natural slate RWG Cast-iron Walling Coursed rock-faced sandstone Windows Leaded stained glass

Architects

Butler W D

Historical Information

Holy Cross Parish Church, a sandstone Roman Catholic Church in the Lombardic Romanesque style located at the intersection of the Crumlin and Woodvale Roads, was constructed in 1900-02. The current church replaced an earlier house of worship that had stood on the same site since 1869. Holy Cross Parish is located in the ancient townland of Ardoyne which was recorded in maps and deeds from prior to the plantation of Ireland. A history of Holy Cross Parish (printed in full on the parish’s website) records that during the Penal years Ardoyne was the site of secret Roman Catholic worship in the area. The village of Ardoyne dates from the construction of Michael Andrew’s Royal Damask Factory in 1815 which resulted in the construction of associated workers houses in the area. The parish history notes that ‘before long his business flourished as did the new community. The settlement of houses around his factory soon took on the status of a village, complete with a school house, public house and prayer meeting house.’ The village of Ardoyne took its name from the ancient townland and followed Andrew’s residence of ‘Ardoyne House’ (now demolished but originally sited to the immediate north of Holy Cross Monastery and Church). The first parish church was constructed in 1868-69. The erection of the house of worship coincided with the invitation of the Passionist Order to Ardoyne by the Most Rev. Dr. Dorrian, Bishop of Down and Connor, in 1868. The Passionist Order were allocated a plot the plot of land at the corner of the Crumlin and Woodvale Roads and Edenderry Lodge, a two-storey house that had been the residence of the local doctor. The first parish church was built on this plot to designs by O’Neill & Byrne, a Belfast and Dublin-based architectural partnership which was formed in c. 1868 and carried out a large amount of work on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church in Dublin and throughout Ulster. The first church was one of the earliest contracts the partnership undertook (DIA). The building was dedicated on 10th January 1869 by the Most Rev. Dr. Dorrian. Late-Victorian photographs of the original church (included in the parish website) depicted it as a simple single-storey gabled building (that possessed an entrance porch and a small circular window on one of its gables). The adjoining Monastery was constructed in 1877-81 (also to designs by O’Neill & Byrne) but it was not until the turn of the 20th century that the current Romanesque church was built (DIA; Holy Cross Parish). In 1890 the walls of the original church were found to be in danger of collapse resulting in the restoration of the building in 1895. Despite these remedial works, the increase in the local population required the construction of a new church building which was undertaken between 1900 and 1902. Brett suggested that Holy Cross Parish Church was the finest ecclesiastical building erected in Belfast in the first decade of the 20th century. The new church was designed in a Lombardic Romanesque style by Walter Glynn Doolin (1850-1902), a Dublin-based architect who carried out a large number of contracts for the Roman Catholic Church and predominantly worked in the south of Ireland (according to the Dictionary of Irish Architects Holy Cross Church is the only church Doolin designed in Ulster). Doolin may have drawn his inspiration from the similar Romanesque design of the Church of St. Paul of the Cross (1873-78) in Dublin which was designed by J. J. McCarthy and was also commissioned by the Passionist’s (Barry, p. 87). The foundation stone of the new church was laid on 17th June 1900 with James Henry & Sons of Crumlin Road contracted as builders. Walter G. Doolin died in 1902 at which time his partner Rudolf M. Butler took over the project. Butler designed the Classical Lady Chapel to the north side of the building (the side chapel to the south side of the church was not added until 1961). Larmour states that the exterior carvings, including the tympanum which depicted Christ being taken down from the Cross, were undertaken by James Ovens of Dublin and Preston. The highly ornamental interior to the church was the responsible of a number of craftsmen. The ceiling and walls were painted by Brother Mark, the marble mosaics were added by J. F. Ebner of London and the ceramic mosaics were installed by Craven, Dunnill & Co. Of Jackfield. The Nave and ‘other capitals’ were carved by Thompson & Copeland of Belfast with the pulpit built by Arthur Jones & Son of Dublin. The Natural Stone Database records that Holy Cross Parish Church was constructed of locally-quarried Scrabo Sandstone with imported Doulting Limestone and Giffnock Sandstone utilised as a secondary material (DIA; NSD; Larmour, p. 68; Holy Cross Parish). Holy Cross Parish Church was dedicated on 18th May 1902 and was initially valued at £560 under the Annual Revisions. Brett described the completed church in the following terms: ‘The exterior of the church is rather forbidding, a Romanesque façade flanked by two square towers with chateau hats perched on the shoulder of the long hill at the top of the Crumlin Road. But the inside is bright, light, gay and airy. Altogether, the whole church is in brisk cheerful colourful good taste – a highly satisfying departure from the usual norm of church architecture and decoration’ (Brett, p. 62). Following the opening of Holy Cross Parish Church the original church of 1868-69 continued to be utilised as a parish hall until it was demolished in 1907. The parish history notes that further additions to the church were during it’s the Edwardian years. The current confessional boxes were added in 1903 and the current High Altar installed in 1904. The main steps in front of the church were finished by Christmas 1904 and on 3rd May 1908 the statue of the Sacred Heart was erected outside the church to denote the location of the original church. The last of the historic stained glass windows had been installed within the church by 1913 (all of which had been gifted to the parish by members of its congregation). The church escaped the bombing of the area during the Belfast Blitz of 1941 and was increased in value to £720 under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (135-56). The side chapel (located to the north side of the church) was constructed in 1961 to designs by W. D. Bready, a Belfast-based architect who was active between the 1930s and 1970s. The addition of the side chapel contributed to an increase in the value of the church to £1,960 by the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72). Holy Cross Parish Church was listed in 1987. The NIEA HB Records note that following the centenary of the church (which was celebrated in 2002), the building underwent an extensive restoration which took place between 2003 and 2005. The restoration of the church was carried out by Consarc Design Group and included the cleaning and repair of its exterior stonework, the re-roofing of the building and installation of new rainwater goods throughout, cleaning of the stained glass windows and the replacement of the pitch pine decorative ceiling (NIEA HB Records). References Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/1/61/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1858) 2. PRONI OS/6/1/61/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1901-02) 3. PRONI OS/6/1/61/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1931) 4. PRONI OS/6/1/61/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1938) 5. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/M/4-7 – Annual Revisions (1906-1930) 6. PRONI VAL/3/C/3/21-22 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) 7. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/35 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72) 8. Belfast Street Directories (1877-1943) 9. First Survey Record – HB26/37/002 (1986) 10. NIEA HB Records – HB26/37/002 Secondary Sources 1. Barry, M., ‘Victorian Dublin revealed: The remarkable legacy of nineteenth-century Dublin’ Dublin: Andalus Press, 2012. 2. Brett, C. E. B., ‘Buildings of Belfast: 1700-1914’ Belfast: Friar’s Bush Press, 1985. 3. Larmour, P., ‘Belfast: An illustrated architectural guide’ Belfast: Friar’s Bush Press, 1987. Online Resources 1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie 2. Natural Stone Database - http://www.stonedatabase.com//buildings.cfm?bk=2456 3. Holy Cross Parish website - http://www.holycrossparishbelfast.com/default.htm

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

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

Historic Interest

R. Age S. Authenticity T. Historic Importance U. Historic Associations V. Authorship W. Northern Ireland/International Interest Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance

Evaluation

Attached symmetrical double-height Lombardo-Romanesque stone church, dated 1902, to the designs of W.G. Doolin. An imposing church on a prominent elevated site forming part of the wider Holy Cross complex, including the attached Monastery and Holy Cross Boys School, (HB26.37.002A-C). The Romanesque stone carvings display the level of stone masonry skills still in practise at the turn of the nineteenth-century. The impressive exterior is matched by an elaborately detailed interior retaining much of its original character. The church erected by the Passionist Order of Roman Catholic priests to replace their original church built on the site c. 1868, is the focal point of the local catholic community and together with the monastery constitutes a notable religious institution and a significant local landmark.

General Comments

Date of Survey

25 September 2014