Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB26/39/002

Address :
Ballysillan Presbyterian Church Belfast Co. Antrim

Townland:
Ballysillan Lower

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Survey 2:
B2

Date of Listing:
24/03/2016 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:
129-12

IG Ref:
J3084 7665

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Owner Category

Church - Presbyterian

Exterior Description And Setting

Six-bay late-Victorian Gothic Revival gabled church, built in 1891 to designs by architect Samuel Stevenson, located at the corner of the Crumlin and Ballysillan Roads. Orientated south-west / north east and bounded by cast-iron railings and ornate gate piers, the site also contains former school and halls. Church has rock-faced sandstone wall, smooth sandstone details with stepped buttresses, pinnacles, ornate Gothic lancet arched windows, eclectic detailing and steeply pitched natural slate roof. Pitched natural slate roof with bellcast detail, sandstone skews to parapet gables, cast-iron ogee gutters resting on flat sandstone cornice, mixture of cast-iron and uPVC downpipes. Main elevation faces south-west. Rock-faced projecting sandstone plinth and walls. Pair of equilateral arched door openings, each opening flanked by plain columns with foliated capitals and double torus base, with concentric moulded archivolt and modern timber glazed doors with steps and ramped access. Stepped buttresses to projecting piers rising in four stages to form pinnacles with conical stone caps with string courses and niches in various stages. Memorial plaque between door openings below flat 'tiled' stone string course above which are five Gothic lancet arched windows increasing in height from outside to central window with 'Y' shaped tracery and all having mix of diamond and square leaded coloured glass panes. Hood moulding follows line of window heads. Three shallow niches to apex of gable mimicking windows below. Gable flanked by staircase enclosures to each side, single bay with stepped set-back buttresses, two lancet windows at different heights and quatrefoil windows with smooth surround and hood moulding. Smooth entablature with blind arcade above forming parapet; pinnacle with finial to outside wall. North-west elevation has projecting plinth, rock-faced sandstone walls with stepped buttresses separating groups of three lancet windows, central window taller, smooth sandstone surround and cornice supporting rainwater goods. Bay to south-west projects forward with set-back stepped buttresses, equilateral arched door opening with smooth architrave, pair of timber doors and glazed fanlight. Lancet arched window above. Smooth entablature, blind arcade forming parapet and pinnacles with finial to each external corner. North-east elevation attached to former school complex to rear of site. Apex of gable to main church visible above roof of former school. Seven-bay two-storey gabled former school with red-brick walls in English Garden Wall bond, pitched natural slate roof with square-headed window openings with metal windows and concrete cills and lintels to both floors, uPVC rainwater goods. South-east elevation as north-west elevation but with gable of former school attached to north-east. Rock-faced sandstone gable has central equilateral arched door opening with paired timber doors and blind panel above. Smooth sandstone architrave with 'Ballysillan National School' carved around apex, hood moulding running into single-stage buttresses either side of door opening. Two lancet arched windows to either side of door at ground floor level. Three lancet arched windows to upper section with taller windows to centre. Gable flanked by small stepped buttresses to either end with pitched stone capped coping. Materials: Roof : Natural slate RWG : Cast-iron and uPVC Walls: Sandstone Windows: Metal Setting: Church located at the corner of the Crumlin and Ballysillan Roads. Orientated south-west / north east and bounded by cast-iron railings and two pairs of ornate gate piers to south-west boundary; stone wall to south-east, railings and vehicular gates to north-east; and gable wall of neighbouring house to north-west. The site also contains former national School to rear and hall complex to north-west.

Architects

Stevenson, Samuel

Historical Information

Ballysillan Presbyterian Church, a late-Victorian Gothic Revival church located at the corner of the Crumlin and Ballysillan Roads, was constructed in 1891 and replaced an earlier church that dated from the 1830s. The congregation of Ballysillan Presbyterians grew out of meetings that were held in the area from 1836. The industrial development of the village of Ballysillan, including the construction of beetling mills and the laying out of numerous bleach greens, resulted in a growth in the population of the area. The 1917 congregational Report noted that even in the 20th century ‘quite a considerable proportion of the members of Ballysillan [were] drawn from those hard working, humble men, for bleach greens were then carried on where the present spinning mills are in Ligoniel.’ In 1836 a committee was formed with the aim of creating a place of worship for the growing numbers of Presbyterians in Ballysillan. In that year James Blair Esq of Clearstream (see Rhubarb Cottage – HB26/39/001) provided the current plot of land for the proposed building. The foundation stone of the first church was laid on 27th September 1837 and the building was opened for worship on 28th October the following year. The second edition of the Ordnance Survey maps (1857) depicted the original church as a rectangular-shaped building that occupied the exact site of the current building. The manse was built in 1843 and was located to the north-west side of the church on the site currently occupied by the Gailey Memorial Hall. The contemporary Griffith’s Valuation valued the church at £40 in 1859. The first church continued to stand for approximately four decades. In 1887 the Rev. James Lowden was installed and it was during his ministry that the current church was erected. The congregation agreed to erect a new church on 18th March 1890 and, only seven months later, the memorial stone was ceremoniously laid on 4th October by William Laird of Wolfhill. The Dictionary of Irish Architects records that Ballysillan Presbyterian Church was designed by Samuel Stevenson (1859-1924), a Belfast-based architect who designed a number of Presbyterian churches in Ulster but was chiefly involved in industrial and commercial contracts. Ballysillan Presbyterian Church cost an estimated £1,500 and was ceremoniously opened in June 1891 (Presbyterian Historical Society; DIA). Upon its completion Ballysillan Presbyterian Church was increased in value to £100. The valuer noted that the new church possessed a committee room and a schoolhouse. The third edition of the Ordnance Survey maps (1901) records that the schoolhouse was located to the rear of the church. The map depicted the church as a rectangular-shaped building located along its current layout suggesting that no major structural additions have been made to the building since the early-20th century. The Belfast Telegraph noted that in 1938 the adjoining manse was demolished and replaced with a lecture hall which was named the Gailey Memorial Hall. The hall was named in memory of the seventh minister of Ballysillan, the Rev. John Gailey, who had left the church to become a lecturer for the Irish Temperance League in 1921. The hall was designed by J. F. Hall who was also responsible for the design of the first church hall at Orangefield Presbyterian Church (see HB26/05/003). The church and its newly completed lecture hall were jointly valued at £480 under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57). The value of the buildings were increased to £904 by the end of the Second Revaluation in 1972. In 2012 Ballysillan Presbyterian Church celebrated the 175th anniversary of the laying of its foundation stone. During the Second Survey the church continued to possess a thriving congregation; Kirkpatrick states that membership stands at over 500 families (Kirkpatrick, p. 144). References Primary Sources 1. Presbyterian Historical Society File – Ballysillan Presbyterian Church (1860-1939) 2. Ballysillan Presbyterian Church Annual Reports (1860; 1917) 3. PRONI OS/6/1/60/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1832-33) 4. PRONI OS/6/1/60/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1857) 5. PRONI OS/6/1/60/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1901) 6. PRONI OS/6/1/60/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1920-31) 7. PRONI OS/6/1/60/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1920-38) 8. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/21B – Griffith’s Valuation (1859) 9. PRONI VAL/12/B/5/8A-F – Annual Revisions (1862-1897) 10. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/M/1-7 – Annual Revisions (1897-1930) 11. PRONI VAL/3/C/3/22 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) 12. PRONI VAL/4/B//7/35 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72) 13. Ulster Town Directories (1852-1943) 14. Belfast Telegraph (29th Oct 1939) 15. First Survey Record – HB26/39/002 (1986) Secondary Sources 1. Baillie, W. D., ‘A history of congregations in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland: 1610-1982’ Belfast: Presbyterian Historical Society, 1982. 2. Kirkpatrick, L., ‘Presbyterians in Ireland: An illustrated history’ Booklink, 2006. Online Resources 1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie/

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

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

Historic Interest

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

Evaluation

Late-Victorian Gothic-Revival gabled church, built in 1891 to designs by architect, Samuel Stevenson. A well-detailed church building in rock-faced sandstone with smooth sandstone detailing, stepped buttresses, pinnacles, ornate Gothic lancet arched windows and steeply pitched natural slate roof. Retaining a fine interior with original ornately carved gallery on painted columns, pews and pulpit. Located in a prominent setting at the juction of the Crumlin and Ballysillan roads, bounded by decorative cast-iron railings and gate piers. Attached to the rear of the church is the former school; the site also contains the Gailey Memorial Hall and is an important local landmark.

General Comments

Date of Survey

14 August 2014