Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB17/04/001

Address :
Seapatrick Parish Church Church Square Banbridge County Down BT32 4AA

Townland:
Ballyvally

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Survey 2:
B+

Date of Listing:
17/05/1976 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:
J1271 4621

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Owner Category

Church - C of I

Exterior Description And Setting

A large free-standing Gothic-revival stone Church of Ireland Church with square entrance tower and spire; built c.1834 to designs by William Farrell, altered in 1864 to include the north transept to designs by W.J Barre, in 1883 with a chancel and other additions to designs by Thomas Drew and again in 1987 to include a side chapel to designs by Gordon McKnight. Located to the north side of Church Square in Banbridge town centre. Set on a north-south axis, comprising double-height nave with clerestory and transepts (paired transept to west), porches to east and west, vestry to east and two-stage square entrance tower with spire to south. Pitched natural slate roof having profiled ridge tiles, raised stone skews and kneelers with finial to some gables. Cast-iron half-round rainwater goods on projecting sandstone eaves with brackets. Walling is roughly coursed rubble stone on a cavetto moulded stone plinth with cornices and buttresses in stone. Windows are gothic-arched leaded-and-stained glass bar-tracery in ashlar surrounds with hood moulds and chamfered sills (unless otherwise stated). The south gable elevation is abutted to centre by a square entrance tower; exposed sections of gable are blank and flanked by clasping octagonal sandstone buttress with square plinth and octagonal pinnacle. South gable flanked by lean-to side isle (that to left has a raking buttress) with tripartite cusped gothic window. Tower comprises opening to east with a depressed gothic-arched timber-sheeted door with ornate cast-iron strap hinges and handle in moulded chamfered ashlar surround with square-headed label mould, decorative diamond label-stops and plain spandrels (evidence in rubble stonework above of a former larger gothic opening now infilled). Above door is a cast-iron lamp. Leaded-and-stained glass lancet with hood mould to first stage of tower at south elevation; west elevation blank. Moulded string course with clock to centre to south and east (blank roundel at west elevation) between first and second stage of tower. Second stage has a louvered lancet with hood mould to all four sides and is surmounted by a cornice. Corner pinnacles surmount clasping octagonal sandstone buttresses with square plinths which rise the full height of the tower; octagonal stone spire with two levels of diminishing lucarnes on the cardinal points. The west elevation is abutted by a paired transept (1860s), which is abutted to south by a projecting lean-to porch, opening to west with a gothic timber-sheeted door having decorative cast-iron strap hinges and door furniture. Two quatrefoil windows to right cheek in ashlar surround. The north elevation has two paired cusped geometric windows and is abutted to left by the vestry and porch, accessed by two bull-nosed stone steps and a pointed-arch-headed timber-sheeted door with decorative cast-iron strap hinges. Vestry has paired mullioned leaded casement windows to north and a chimney flue and tall replacement chimneystack to west wall of chancel. Gable of transepts each has a geometric tracery window. The north elevation is abutted by the slightly lower north transept (1864) with corner buttresses and a five-paned geometric window to gable; cusped leaded-and-stained glass lancet to west elevation. Stone steps enclosed by metal railings run down to basement. The east elevation is four sets of tripartite mullioned windows wide to left; to right is a transept with a tripartite geometric window and an entrance porch (projecting to north). Porch opens to east with a timber-sheeted door having cast-iron strap hinges and door furniture in an ashlar surround with tripartite cusped Gothic leaded-and-stained glass transom. Setting Prominently sited on a large site at the junction of Church Square and Church Street, on the approach to Banbridge town centre. Lawned to three sides with a tarmacadam pathway and mature trees; to north is a large tarmacadam car-park and a large twentieth-century two-storey church hall. Bounded to all sides by a low roughly coursed granite wall with coping stones topped by metal railings and granite piers. Replacement metal gates to main entrance at south. Modern ramped access with stone parapet wall and metal handrail to porch at west elevation. Roof: Natural slate Walling: Stone Windows: Variety of leaded-and-stained glass RWG: Cast-iron

Architects

Barre, W.J & Drew, T. Drew, Thomas McKnight, Gordon Farrell, William (of Dublin)

Historical Information

Seapatrick Parish Church was constructed in the 1830s to replace the first Parish Church of Seapatrick, originally located in the townland of Kilpike, approximately one mile to the north-west of Banbridge. The Ordnance Survey Memoirs note that ‘the church, situated on the west side of the road between Banbridge and Lurgan ... is a very plain building, 69 feet 6 inches long and 27 feet 6 inches broad. It accommodates 300 persons, which is not enough for the attendance. The date and cost of building are not known by any person or record in the parish, but it is said to be one ordered by King William III who crossed the Bann River near its site.’ The writer also noted that the Glebe house associated with the original 17th century church was located in Kilpike, to the south of the church (OSM, Down III, Vol. 12, p. 132). Due to the limited capacity and distance to the original church, plans were made to construct a more suitable Parish Church in the centre of Banbridge Town. Construction of this new church began in 1834 and was completed in 1837, consecrated on 7 November of that year. Design of the church was carried out by William Farrell, a Dublin-based architect, who was architect to the Board of First Fruits for the ecclesiastical province of Armagh from 1823 until 1843. Although assigned to Armagh during this period Farrell also completed restoration and additional work to churches in Co. Down, beginning construction of Seapatrick Church in 1834 (Dictionary of Irish Architects). In April 1837 the Ordnance Survey Memoirs gave a description of the new Parish Church, which was named Holy Trinity, writing that the ‘church is of modern Gothic Architecture with a tower at the east end 60 feet high;’ at that time the spire had not yet been added however the writer noted that the intended height of the steeple was an additional 60 feet. The church was originally constructed without a gallery and was designed to accommodate a congregation of 550 persons. The writer records that the estimated cost of the church was £3,100 (£1,500 set aside by the Ecclesiastical Board, £800 provided by the Marquis of Downshire and the remainder supplied by subscribers). It was constructed of whinstone and granite quarried locally, however the buttresses, cornices and the spire were constructed of freestone transported from Scotland (OSM, Down III, Vol. 12, p. 128). The Townland Valuation of c.1830s initially valued the church at £40; the contemporary Townland Valuation map depicted the church as a cruciform structure. In 1856 a marble memorial plaque was unveiled within the Parish Church which commemorated Captain Francis Rawdon Moira Crozier (1796-c.1848) the famous Arctic explorer who was lost at sea attempting to navigate the North-West Passage during the mid 1840s. Crozier was born at Avonmore House (HB17/07/009) and is also commemorated by a large monument on Church Square (HB17/07/011); the memorial in Holy Trinity Church records that ‘this tablet has been erected/in his native place by his/surviving brothers and sisters/in heartfelt and affectionate/testimony to his fraternal love and Christian character.’ The second edition of the Ordnance Survey maps in 1860 depicts the church as a cruciform-shaped building whilst the contemporary Griffith’s Valuation recorded that the value of the church had increased to £60 since its construction in the mid-1830s. Between 1864 and 1867 a number of alterations were made when the current double-transept on the west side of the church was added. This work was carried out by William Joseph Barre (who had also designed the Crozier Memorial on Church Square 1861-62) and cost £2,000; Holy Trinity Church was reopened in April 1867 (Clergy of Down & Dromore). However, it was closed again in 1883 due to further alteration work when Sir Thomas Drew raised the roof of the church by six feet, removed a west gallery (which presumably had been installed by Barre as Holy Trinity was originally constructed without a gallery) and enlarged the chancel, this work cost £3,000. As a result of these alteration works the church was greatly increased in size and capacity; Linn notes that after the completion of Drew’s work the total accommodation of the church was increased to 800; the Annual Revisions accordingly increased the value of the church to £98 (Linn, p. 17). There was no further alteration to the valuation of Seapatrick Parish Church until the end of the Annual Revisions in 1930. Quail and Young state that the original Parish Church was constructed in the late 17th century; this was later purchased by the Hayes family who demolished the structure and used the stones to build the walls of the graveyard that is now located on the site in Kilpike. Only one gable wall of the original church now survives (Quail & Young, p. 45). The foundation stone of the new church was laid in 1834 and the first church abandoned in 1835 (Brett, p. 7). Bassett records that the brass lectern within the church was the gift of the Canon Hayes and his family, whilst the pulpit was erected in memory of the Rev. Daniel Dickinson (Bassett, pp 226-27). Daniel Dickinson, who was Rector of Holy Trinity Church for 38 years, was incumbent minister during the initial construction of the church and is also commemorated by a marble portrait on the left wall of the chancel. Linn states that the red floor tiles of the church are copies of those in Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin and that in 1881 a church of ease was established in the village of Seapatrick, close to the site of the original 17th century church, this cost £800 to construct and was designed to accommodate 200 persons from the rural parts of the parish (Linn, p. 17). Due to the extensive alterations made during Holy Trinity’s reconstructions in the 1860s and 1883 the only portions of the original church to survive from the 1830s are the tower and spire, as well as portions of the east transept (Rankin, p. 232). Later changes to the church include the installation of a chime of ten bells and a tower clock in 1920; the installation of these features cost £2,750 and were the gift of a Mrs. White in memory of her husband and father-in-law. The original bell provided to the church by William Waugh (a linen merchant and Justice of the Peace for Banbridge in the late-19th century) was relocated and is now situated in the chapel-of-ease in Seapatrick village. On 26 March 1922 a memorial service was held to commemorate those that had died during the First World War; during this service the memorial stained glass window, a marble tablet with names of the fallen and the Roll of Honour were unveiled. 371 men from Seapatrick Parish fought during the First World War, 80 of which died at the front and are commemorated within the church (Linn, pp 25-26). A large number of other commemorative stained glass windows and plaques adorn the church, the most recent of which was installed in 1994. In 1987 a side chapel, dedicated to All Saints, was fashioned from one of the west transepts to celebrate the church’s 150th anniversary; this work was completed by Gordon McKnight and the window for the chapel was provided by the Mother’s Union (Rankin, p. 233). References Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/3/27/1 – First edition Ordnance Survey map 1833 2. PRONI OS/6/3/27/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey map 1860 3. PRONI OS/6/3/27/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey map 1903-1918 4. PRONI VAL/1/B/348/A – Townland Valuations c. 1830 5. PRONI VAL/1/D/3/3 – Banbridge Town Plan c. 1830 6. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/64/C – Griffith’s Valuation 1863 7. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/6/A – Annual Revisions 1864-1874 8. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/6/B – Annual Revisions 1874-1884 9. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/6/D – Annual Revisions 1885-1894 10. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/7/A – Annual Revisions 1899-1910 11. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/7/B – Annual Revisions 1911-1922 12. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/7/C – Annual Revisions 1921-1930 13. Ordnance Survey Memoirs, Co. Down III, Vol. 12 (1833-38) 14. Bassett, G. H., ‘County Down: One hundred years ago: A guide and directory 1886’ Belfast: Friars Bush Press, 1988. 15. First Survey Record – HB17/04/001 (1976) Secondary Sources 1. Brett, C. E. B., ‘List of historic buildings, groups of buildings, areas of architectural importance in the Borough of Banbridge’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1969. 2. Clarke, R. S. J., ‘Gravestone inscriptions: Heart of Downe – Old Banbridge families from gravestone inscriptions’ Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation, 1989. 3. Linn, R., ‘A history of Banbridge’ Banbridge: The Banbridge Chronicle Press, 1935. 4. Rankin, F., ‘Clergy of Down and Dromore’ Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation, 1996. 5. Quail, D; Young, A. F, ‘Old Banbridge’ Catrine: Stenlake Publishing, 2002. Online Resources 1. Dictionary of Irish Architects Website - www.dia.ie

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form H+. Alterations enhancing the building I. Quality and survival of Interior J. Setting

Historic Interest

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

Evaluation

A large free-standing Gothic-revival stone Church of Ireland Church with square entrance tower and spire; built c. 1840 and altered in 1864 to designs by W.J Barre and again in 1883 to designs by Thomas Drew. The tower, spire and south transept are the original 1840 design. Its Victorian quality has been largely retained including the interior fabric and demonstrates the robust character of the style. However, the historic additions have compromised the overall composition and a modern church hall has been built in the car-park to north, impinging somewhat on the setting of the church. Seapatrick Parish Church is a fine example of a Gothic-revival church, to designs by prominent local architects.

General Comments

Date of Survey

24 November 2011