Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB17/06/002

Address :
Methodist Church Downshire Road Banbridge Co Down BT32 3JY

Townland:
Tullyear

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Survey 2:
B1

Date of Listing:
25/10/1977 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:
220/8

IG Ref:
J1262 4612

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Owner Category

Church - Methodist

Exterior Description And Setting

A gabled rubble stone Methodist Church in Gothic-Revival style; built c.1870 and located to the north side of Downshire Road in Banbridge town centre. Rectangular on plan with modern single-storey extensions to rear and southeast. Pitched natural slate roof with terracotta ridge tiles; raised stone verges and large stone finial to gable apex; battlements to stair-bays. Cast-iron ogee rainwater goods on eaves brackets. Walling is random squared rubble stone built to courses on a chamfered plinth with sandstone dressings and buttresses having masonry offsets and rising to pinnacles; raked frieze with floriate motif. Windows are pointed-headed lattice leaded glass casements with coloured glass margins in sandstone blocked surrounds having chamfered sills and head moulds. Gothic mullioned window with cusped arch-heads and central rose to gable of southwest elevation. The principal elevation faces southwest and is dominated by a central entrance bay having pointed arched entrance opening surmounted by feature window; flanked by narrower stair bays, all framed by buttresses. Stair bays have crenellated parapets and window to each floor. Entrance has sandstone surround with moulded archivolt and is flanked by columns with decorative capitals. Double-leaf diagonally timber-sheeted door with ornate cast-iron strap hinges is accessed via four stone steps and surmounted by leaded-and-stained glass transom light. The northwest elevation is five windows wide divided by buttresses. Extreme left bay has a window and timber-sheeted side door with transom light in a Gothic chamfered reveal; timber sheeted door also to basement. To far right is the stair-bay, with raised parapet and pinnacles, containing a window. The northeast (rear) elevation has two windows to gable and two square-headed modern windows to right at ground floor. Abutted at right by the single-storey modern link-block. The southeast elevation is divided by buttresses into five bays, each with a window. To right is the single-storey flat-roof modern extension; to left is the stair-bay, as before. Setting Situated on the north side of Downshire Road in Banbridge town centre and flanked by the Edwardian Old Technical School (HB17/06/020) at right and the classically-styled mid-nineteenth century Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church (HB17/06/003) at left. Set back from the road and paved to front with tarmacadam car-park to west. Bounded by rubble stone boundary wall with sandstone coping stones topped by original cast-iron railings having fleur-de-lis heads. Terminated by square stone piers with pointed caps; original cast-iron gates on polygonal cast-iron piers to centre. To rear is a modern two-storey rendered church hall of no interest. Roof: Natural slate Walling: stone Windows: leaded RWG: Cast-iron

Architects

Moncrieff, J A

Historical Information

The Methodist Church was built in 1870/1 to designs by J A Moncrieff as the culmination of a lengthy tradition of Methodism in the town dating back to 1785. The ‘Meth[odist] Ch[urch]’ is first shown, captioned, on the third edition OS map dating from 1903, as a building of rectangular plan located beside the Unitarian church. There are no significant additions or changes to the building in subsequent editions. Wesley is not known to have ever preached in Banbridge but he frequently travelled through the town on horseback, travelling between Newry and Lisburn and mentions Banbridge in his journal in July 1775. Methodist preachers first visited the town in 1785 and services began in a stable belonging to John Bradford, later moving to his kitchen, then to his two upper rooms and then to the old Market House. The beautiful singing for which Banbridge Methodists became locally famed attracted crowds to the market house and the result was the building of a chapel in Gospel Lane in 1803-4 that accommodated 200. In the late 1820s Primitive Wesleyans became active in the town and opened a chapel for 150 people in Scarva Street in 1831. (Linn; OS Memoirs; Banbridge Chronicle) The foundation stone of the church was laid on 24th August 1870 by William McArthur Esq MP (later Sir William) of London. The old meeting house in Gospel Lane had become unsuitable but nevertheless considerable difficulty had been experienced in getting a site and then in overcoming inertia. Owing to the perseverance and assistance of the Rev Dr Scott of the Wesleyan College in Belfast, who was a native of Banbridge, the work was commenced. Friends across the Atlantic assisted the project, prominent among these was John Glass Esq of New York who offered £1,000 through Dr Scott if the site and minister’s residence were provided by the congregation. Once he saw the plans and ascertained the cost he raised his contribution to £2,000 leaving only £800 to be found by the congregation. The congregation found a suitable site, ‘easy of access and the locality very quiet and retiring’. The fenestration at the front facade was arranged so that a gallery could be added at a future date. The design was commended by the newspaper report of the occasion, in particular the ‘very beautiful Gothic window with elaborate mouldings and tracery’ and the ‘exceedingly chaste and tasteful’ appearance of the front elevation. The side walls are exactly twice the length of the front and are supported by buttresses, ‘rendering the whole not only substantial but elegant and durable’. The contractor was Mr Collen of Portadown. The chapel was designed to accommodate 400 and was built with a vestry and class-room at the rear with a school-room over. The main building was constructed of local bluestone with dressings of freestone. Granite for the door and windows came from the Carland Quarries, Dungannon. (Belfast Newsletter) A minister’s house was also built at an additional cost of £500. (Linn) The architect was J A Moncrieff, designer of a Wesleyan schoolhouse in University Road, Belfast in 1869 and possibly also the designer of a racquet court and billiard room in Carlow in 1873, but otherwise unknown as an architect in Ireland. (Belfast Newsletter; www.dia.ie) The church opened on 25th May 1871 and was judged to be ‘handsome and commodious’. In the absence of Rev Wm Arthur, president of the Methodist College, Belfast, the sermon was preached by Rev Dr Applebe...and afterwards a collection was taken up in aid of the debt on the church, as was customary on these occasions. Collectors included many notable linen manufacturers of the area including Thomas Ferguson of Edenderry House and William Smyth of Brookfield. ‘The church which provides accommodation for about 300 persons, was much required in the town, as owing to the rapid increase which Methodism is making in the neighbourhood, the old church, in addition to being in rather a dilapidated condition, was quite unable to accommodate the number of worshippers desirous of attending Divine Service. The external aspect of the building is very fine, combining as it does an appearance of solidity and of great taste and beauty in an architectural point of view. Internally the fittings and arrangements are of the most modern and improved character, while still in harmony with the plainness and simplicity which have ever been characteristic of Methodism.’ (Belfast Newsletter) The ‘Methodist Chapel’ is inserted into valuation records in 1873, having opened in 1871. The chapel and yard are valued at £60 and exempted from the levy of rates as was usual for ecclesiastical buildings. Bassett’s Directory of 1886 states that ‘improvements’ were made to the interior c1878, the same year that the primitive Wesleyan Methodist Society united with the Irish Wesleyan Methodist Church and the chapel in Scarva Street was closed. (Linn) Among the ministers of Banbridge Methodist church was Rev John A Walton, whose son was one of Ireland’s foremost scientists, Professor E T S Walton. When Ernest Walton was born in 1903 the Methodist church required their ministers to move residence about every three years, and the Walton family lived in many locations throughout Ireland. At the time of the 1911 census, however, seven-year-old Ernest was resident in Banbridge with his parents and younger sister and his father was minister at the Methodist chapel. Walton became a distinguished physicist and educator, working at Trinity College Dublin for most of his life. In 1951 he was awarded the Nobel prize for his work with John Cockroft on the ‘transmutation of atomic nuclei by artificially accelerated atomic particles’. However, Walton later declined invitations to participate in ‘war work’ including the Manhattan Project and, post-war, was deeply committed to banning the nuclear bomb. His award remains the only Irish Nobel prize in science. Walton was strongly influenced by his Methodist faith all his life and lectured widely on the relationship between science and religion. (Dictionary of Irish Biography; 1911 census; Crowe) In the First General Revaluation (1933/4) the building was revalued at £105. The associated plan shows a church with porch to the front and two-storey ante-rooms to the rear, accessed by steps at the side. The seating capacity was noted to be 300 and there was a vestibule at the front and a pipe organ within. A vestry and class room were to the rear on the ground floor with a meeting room on the first floor. All pews were in pitch pine and the aisles had been newly panelled in Oregon pine boarding. The heating was by hot water and electric light. The church was said to be ‘well built’ and in ‘good condition’. The church was listed in 1977 and in 1981 a new Methodist hall opened on a plot of land to the rear of the church that had been purchased in 1927. (Banbridge Chronicle; HB file) A major refurbishment of the church took place in the early 1990s following bomb damage and a service of re-dedication was held in March 1992. A new lighting system was installed, together with an organ, heating system, a new PA system, a specially-created cross for the front of the church, new hymn-books and a new baptismal Font. Repainting, carpeting and work on the communion rail were also completed. The main contractors were Dale Bros. (Banbridge Chronicle; HB file) References: Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/3/27/1 First Edition OS Map 1833 2. PRONI OS/6/3/27/2 Second Edition OS map 1860 3. PRONI OS/6/3/27/3 Third Edition OS Map (c1900) 4. PRONI OS/6/3/27/4 Fourth Edition OS Map 1903-18 5. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/7A-C Annual Revisions (1899-1930) 6. PRONI VAL/12/F/4/1/1 Annual Revisions (1930-35) 7. PRONI VAL/3/C/4/4 First General Revaluation (1936-57) 8. PRONI VAL/3/D/4/2/A/10 First General Revaluation (1933-57) 9. Bassett’s Directory of County Down 1886 10. Belfast Newsletter 25th August 1870 11. Belfast Newsletter 27th May 1871 12. 1911 census online 13. Banbridge Chronicle 20th January 1967 14. Banbridge Chronicle 21st May 1981 15. Banbridge Chronicle 12th March 1992 16. NIEA HB file Secondary Sources 1. Brett, C.E.B., Dunleath, Lady “List of Historic Buildings, Groups of Buildings, Buildings of Architectural Importance in Borough of Banbridge” Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, April-July 1969 2. Day, A. and P. McWilliams, eds. “OS Memoirs of Ireland, Parishes of County Down III, 1833-8, Vol. 12.” Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies, 1992. 3. Crowe, W H “In Banbridge Town” Banbridge Chronicle, 1964 4. Crowe, W H “Bridges to Banbridge” Dundalgan Press, 1980 5. Linn, Captain R “A History of Banbridge” (edited by W S Kerr) Banbridge Chronicle Press, 1935 6. McGuire, J and Quinn, J, eds “Dictionary of Irish Biography” Cambridge: Cambridge University Press and Royal Irish Academy, 2009 7. www.dia.i.e.

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form H-. Alterations detracting from building I. Quality and survival of Interior J. Setting

Historic Interest

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

Evaluation

A gabled rubble stone Methodist Church in Gothic-Revival style; built c.1870. Architectural detailing is of a robust character and the Victorian interior well preserved, including much original fabric. The cast-iron gates and railings at the front are also of good quality. Flanked by the Edwardian Old Technical School (HB17/06/020) at right and the classically-styled mid-nineteenth century Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church (HB17/06/003) at left, the Methodist Church is part the character of the Downshire Road here and represents the development of this area of the town. It is a good example of the type in original condition.

General Comments

Date of Survey

22 February 2012