Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB26/33/003 A

Address :
St Peter's Cathedral St Peters Square Belfast Co Antrim BT12 4BU

Townland:
Town Parks

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Survey 2:
A

Date of Listing:
24/09/1986 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:
130-13SW

IG Ref:
J3290 7425

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Owner Category

Exterior Description And Setting

Symmetrical Gothic Revival church of 1866 built of Scrabo sandstone by Jeremiah McAuley, with prominent twin spires added to West front 1886 by Mortimer Thompson, and attached Parochial House of 1867 by John O’Neill. The plan is of a long nave with side aisles and apse, with a chapel at the NE corner and chapels added at the centre of each side aisle by PB Gregory in 1946. The twin spires are a prominent features in the townscape of the lower Falls area of Belfast. Pitched slate roofs with ornamental iron ridge cresting and ventilation lanterns, and leaded hips to apse; lean to roofs to side aisles, ornamented with filigree cross final to chancel, and stone cross finials to side chapels. Saddleback profile verges on kneeler stones to side chapels. Cast iron rainwater goods on stone eaves, supported by brackets. Random coursed buff ashlar sandstone walling. Variety of tracery windows in Gothic arched opes. Principal west elevation comprises a gabled central entrance with twin Gothic doors set in a moulded Gothic arch under a central carved roundel of St Peter flanked by sleeping solders being visited by an angel. Above this is a string course and Gothic arched window with label, containing a twelve-lobed rose window over seven lancets. On either side are the three-stage towers with stepped buttresses at each corner, a lancet in the first stage, a quatrefoil window in the second and a two-light Gothic window at the third. The original towers are completed with a blind arcade on each elevation below the louvred belfry stage which has twin lancets with crotcheted pediments below machicolations. The towers terminate in three-stage finials at each corner and the thin battered octagonal spires rise to metal finials. The north elevation is eight bays long with triple-light traceried windows to the clerestoried nave set in shallow Gothic arches, and four-light traceried windows in Gothic opes to the aisle. Stepped buttresses between the aisle windows. Gabled two-storey chapel attached at E end; later chapel in the middle of the elevation in greyer stone but generally matching detail. Roof natural slate with square cast iron rainwater goods, metal crestings and lead ridges. Apse to east end, having five facets, each with a tall triple light Gothic window with rose, and intervening stepped buttresses. Projecting chapel on N side with lancet window; on the S side the sacristy and yard wall link the Cathedral to the Parochial House. The south elevation is similar to north elevation, with projecting central chapel, and link to Parochial House, a four-storey L-shaped ashlar sandstone building of 1867 by John O’Neill with steep slated gabled roof with copings to gables.(HB26/33/003B) Setting The twin spires of St Peter’s are a prominent feature of the Belfast skyline and visible from a considerable distance, although the elevations are quite closely built up against and it is not easy to get a general view of the building. Entered through St Peter’s Close off Albert Street, the front elevation faces West. It is surrounded by modern ornamental metal railings and stone pillars at a distance of some 5-10m from the Cathedral, with hard landscaping (stone flags in front of the cathedral but mostly paviors). There are two modern buildings associated with it on the North side. External walls: stone Roof: Natural slate Windows: stained glass Rainwater goods: Cast iron

Architects

McAuley, Jeremiah Thompson, Mortimer O'Neil, John

Historical Information

St Peter’s Cathedral was constructed between 1860-66, to the designs of Belfast architect and priest Father Jeremiah McAuley. First and second edition OS maps (1832-33, 1858) show that the area known as the Falls was undeveloped until the 1850s. The second edition (1858) illustrates a series of linear and rectangular developments surrounding a vacant rectangular plot in the area now known as St Peter’s Square. Secondary information suggests that the site had been occupied by a number of small buildings but this cannot be proven with the evidence available (Rogers). The site is originally described as ‘vacant’ in Griffith’s valuation (1860), possibly indicating land set aside for building. According to O’Laverty (1880), the Belfast baker, flour merchant and philanthropist Bernard Hughes obtained this area of land from John Alexander Esq. of Milford Co. Carlow at a high annual rent in 1858. Hughes was famous for his affordable nutritional loaves and baps, which ‘stuck to your belly like lead’ and thus relieved the suffering of those affected by the Famine (St Peter’s Parish). In 1858 Hughes gave tenure of the land to Bishop Denvir “…to erect on it a church, reserving the nominal rate of a peppercorn.” (O’Laverty). That the church was begun in 1860, is confirmed by Griffith’s Valuation (1860), which records the ‘R.C Chapel’ as ‘in progress’. Observations made in this valuation confirm that the land ‘is a free gift from Mr. B. Hughes’. Rapid population influx occurred in Belfast during the mid 19th century, as industrialisation provided greater employment opportunities. Catholics had represented less than 10% of this in the late 18th century but grew to one third of the 140,000 population by 1866 (Parish of St Peter’s, Brett). Belfast was a place of religious segregation and much of the growing Catholic population was confined to a small residential area, south of Divis Street known as the “Pound Loney” (Livingstone). With only three churches to serve Roman Catholic community of Belfast on the Antrim side of the Lagan prior to 1860, the building of St Peter’s represented the beginning of a much-needed period of church expansion (Livingstone, Rogers). The church first appears on an 1864 map of the city and the Street Directory entry for Derby Street (1863-64) indicates a foreman and hackler are resident on site where the church is “…in course of erection.” Initially, the contracted builders were John Ross of Great George Street but John Murphy, also of Great George Street, undertook the final construction (Rogers). Architect Father Jeremiah McAuley, who oversaw the construction until September 1862, left Belfast to complete his ‘ecclesiastical training’ and the project was completed by another Belfast based architect John O’Neill (Brett). The church itself was completed in 1866 but due to a lack of funds, the Presbytery, which was designed by O’Neill and begun in 1867, would take several years to complete (Rogers). The two towers were roofed and finished with a decorative parapet rather than a spire and a harmonium filled the space designated for an organ (Lavine, Rogers). According to O’Laverty (1878-80) and supported by the Belfast Revaluations (1900), the official cost was £17,155 1s 7 1/2d which included the Sacristan’s House and a payment of £760 to Mr. Earp for the provision of the High Altar and the Altar of the Most Blessed Sacrament. Notably, Hughes and his sons erected two altars, paired with two stained glass windows in each of the side chapels, in memory of his wife and daughter (Morning News). The organ by Dubliner John White was dedicated in 1883, considered “one of (his) finest, and is believed to be his largest.” (St Peter’s Parish). In 1885 the distinctive twin spires were added by builder Henry Fulton of Cambridge, to the designs of Mortimer Thompson, costing an estimated £5,000 (Larmour, Rogers). A carillon of ten bells, cast by Murphy’s Bell foundry in Dublin, was also added at an estimated cost of £1,500 (Belfast Morning News). In honour of this occasion the church curate, Fr. McGreevy composed the poem entitled “The Bells of St Peter’s” (Lavine, Rogers). The Annual Revisions (1882-1890) valued the church at £450 but this had risen to £675 in the Belfast Revaluations (1900), reflecting the additions made to the building. The three-storey Presbytery, yard and Sacristan’s House were valued at £60 and £9 respectively (1900). The large stained glass western window was added in the twentieth century and required the division of the organ into two separate pieces (St Peter’s Parish). By the first general revaluation (1935) the church’s value had significantly risen to £1,120. In 1946-50 architect Padraic Gregory enlarged the original porches of the north and south elevations, creating new side chapels and adding a new high altar and marble baldacchino (Rogers, Larmour). In the 1960s the altar was relocated to a central position and in the 1980s the sanctuary and crossing area were rearranged (Larmour). Valued in 1956 at £2,400 this figure declined by £480 in 1957 and was listed in 1970 as £1,964. The area surrounding the church was subject to extensive redevelopment schemes from the 1960s to 1990s. Major renovations of both the interior and exterior were conducted in 2002-05. Although never intended as a Cathedral the church became known as a “Pro Cathedral” soon after its construction as it performed most of the ceremonies associated with a cathedral (Rogers). ‘Pro’ comes from the Latin phrase ‘pro tempore’ meaning ‘temporary or provisional’ (In Your Pocket Ltd). In 1986 the church received official Cathedral status of the Diocese of Down and Connor. Brett states that St Peter’s Cathedral is the first example of a Gothic Revival church in Belfast (1985). Larmour (1987) describes it as ‘Continental Cathedralesque’ in form with the vast twin spires presenting a prominent landmark within the Falls Road area of Belfast. References: Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/1/61/2- First Edition OS Map (1832-33) 2. PRONI OS/6/1/61/3- Second Edition OS Map (1858) 3. PRONI OS/6/1/61/4- Third Edition OS Map (1901-2) 4. PRONI T1541/1 – “Town and Suburbs of Belfast” map (1879) 5. PRONI T1541/2 – Map of Belfast Reduced from the 60’ Survey and updated (1864) 6. PRONI VAL/2/B/7/4D- Griffith’s Valuation (1860) 7. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/D/13- Annual Revisions (1882-1896) 8. PRONI VAL/7/B/12/20- Belfast Revaluations, Valuers Notebook (1900) 9. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/E/22- Annual Revisions (1906-15) 10. PRONI VAL/3/B/3/18- First General Revaluation (1935) 11. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/37- Second General Revaluation (1956-72) 12. Belfast Street Directory N.B No street directory published between 1871-76 13.Belfast Morning News, 2nd May 1885 Secondary Sources 1. Rogers, Rev. P “St Peter’s Pro Cathedral Belfast 1866-1966” Howard Publications, 1967. 2. Livingstone, Robin “The Road- Memories of The Falls” Blackstaff Press, Belfast, 1998 3. The Parish of St Peter’s, “St Peter’s Cathedral Church of Down and Connor 1866- 2005” Belfast, 2005 4. Lavine, Kirsten “Twin Spire Life- A Social History of St Peter’s” Cathedral Community Services, Belfast, 2002 5. O’Laverty, Rev J “An Historical Account of the Diocese of Down and Connor Vol II 1878-1880” M.H Gill &Son, Dublin, 1880 6. Larmour, P “Belfast, An Illustrated Architectural Guide” 1987 7. Brett, C.E.B “ The Buildings of Belfast 1700-1914” 1985 ed. 8. www.dia.ie- Dictionary of Irish Architects online 9. In Your Pocket Ltd, St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral, 1995-2012. http://www.inyourpocket.com/ireland/dublin/What-to-See/Cathedrals- and-churches/St-Marys-Pro-Cathedral_35924v

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

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

Evaluation

Twin-spire Gothic Revival cathedral of 1866 by Jeremiah McAuley and Mortimer Thompson, with associated Parochial House by John O’Neill, built of Scrabo sandstone. Architectural character and detailing are fine quality and the proportions elegant. Internally, the building is richly decorated, with mosaic flooring and walls in the apse and hammerbeam roof. The floor has modern tiling and pews throughout. This is a fine example of this type of High Victorian ecclesiastical architecture by architects of note.

General Comments

Previously recorded as HB26/33/003

Date of Survey

29 August 2012