Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB18/14/006

Address :
St John's C of I Church 161 Central Promenade Newcastle Ballaghbeg County Down

Townland:
Ballaghbeg

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Survey 2:
B2

Date of Listing:
11/07/1977 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:
255/15 NW

IG Ref:
J3754 3036

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Owner Category

Church - C of I

Exterior Description And Setting

Picturesquely set on the W side of Central Promenade on a slight rise, St John’s is a small and relatively simple gothic church of 1832, with a centrally positioned tower and spire to front. The nave was extended in 1876 and the transept added in 1902. The three storey tower is surmounted by an octagonal spire (which in turn is surmounted by a ball finial) at the base of which are four small and relatively plain octagonal minarets; these in turn surmount stepped diagonal buttresses which frame the tower. The ground floor of the E front of the tower has a ‘flat’ (almost Tudor) pointed arch headed door opening with double timber panel doors. The door opening has in/out stone dressings. The door panels have gothic arch heads. The doors are surmounted by a fan light which also has a gothic arch motif. Directly above the door is a stone panel with Latin inscription which records that the church was erected by William Richard, Earl Annesley, in 1832. Above the inscribed panel and set within a rectangular recess, is a carved panel which depicts the Annesley crest with two military figures (one ?Roman and one ?Moorish) supporting a shield surmounted by a coronet. The N face of ground floor of the tower is blank while that to the S has a lean-to porch with pointed arch door opening to the E and a small lancet window to the S. The lean-to porch now forms the main entrance to the church. The original entrance doors are now permanently closed and have had the steps removed. At first floor is a roundel to the N, S and E faces. That to the E face has a traditional clock with black face, gilded hands and Roman numerals. To the second floor there is a tall lancet opening to all faces. Each of these openings has a louvered infill. The tower is further articulated with string courses above ground and first floors. That to the first floor continues on the gable of the church suggesting a pediment. To either side of the tower, on the exposed gable of the church are tall lancet windows with small leaded panes. To the S face of the nave are two tall evenly spaced lancet windows. To the left of this is the projecting face of the gabled transept, the E face of which has a pointed arch doorway. The S face of the transept has three lancet windows, the centre one being slightly taller. The W face of the transept is blank. The square enclosed by the sanctuary and the transept is now filled with a large flat roofed extension used as a minor hall. The extension enfolds a former lean-to extension enclosing the organ. The N face of the nave has three evenly spaced lancet windows as before. The right side of this face is overlapped by a projecting lean-to porch which merges with a larger lean-to extension. The E face of the first lean-to has an arch headed door opening. The N face has a single lancet window opening to the first lean-to and two lancet windows to the left and one square headed door opening to the right of the second lean-to. The second lean-to houses the choir stalls. The W face of the chancel has three lancet windows, the centre one being slightly taller. To the right is the blank side of the flat roofed extension while to the left is the side of the ‘second lean-to’ which has one almost centrally placed lancet window. The building is generally finished in random granite. The tower is finished in slightly more squared blocks while in the rear walls the stones are slightly more rounded. The spire is finished in ashlar coursing. The transept and the S face of the nave are finished with lined render. The N face of the nave appears to have been finished in lime render but this has almost all fallen from the wall surface. The pitched roofs are finished in Bangor Blue slates. The nave, chancel and transept roofs are both gabled and are finished with parapets. The pitch of the chancel roof is much shallower than that to the nave. The lean-tos have even shallower pitches. Window openings have stone dressings.

Architects

Seaver, Henry Lynn, John

Historical Information

St John’s Church was built in 1832, after local landlord and patron Lord Annesley commissioned builder cum architect John Lynn to design a chapel of ease. This was to be a ‘plain gabled building’ with provision for a tower and spire and though the original estimate was £700 it eventually cost his lordship £1,500. In 1876 the building was enlarged (presumably lengthened and the porch added) at a cost of £1,195, and in 1902 the transept was built to designs by Henry Seaver, at a cost of £300. In the same year the organ was installed. In 1970 the flat roofed choir robing room was added to the west of the transept and the bells were replaced in 1979. References- Primary sources 1 PRONI D.1503 Annesley Papers. 2 PRONI OS/1/3/49 OS map, first ed., Co Down 49. 3 ‘Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland Vol.3: Parishes of County Down I’, ed. Angelique Day and Patrick McWilliams (QUB1990), p.43. 4 PRONI VAL/1D/3/10 Valuation town plan of Newcastle, 1838. 5 PRONI OS/6/3/49/2 OS map, first rev., Co. Down 49. 6 PRONI Second (‘Griffith’s) valuation, Kilcoo, 1863. 7 PRONI OS/8/136/1-4 OS plans of Newcastle, 1901. Secondary sources 1 P.J. Rankin, 'Historic Buildings, Groups of Buildings, Areas of Architectural Importance in the Mourne Area of South Down', (Belfast UAHS 1975), p.73. 2 J.G. Jackson ‘St John’s Church, Newcastle- A brief history 1832-1982’ (Mourne Observer Press, Newcastle, 1982). 3 Grenfell Morton ‘Victorian and Edwardian Newcastle’ (Belfast 1988).

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation E. Spatial Organisation H-. Alterations detracting from building

Historic Interest

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

Evaluation

Two storey gothic C of I church of 1832, with tower and spire and a façade of granite and render. The nave was extended in 1876, the transept added in 1902 and the flat roofed rear extension in 1970. The church occupies a mature, well-established site, and is a significant local landmark

General Comments

Date of Survey

22 November 1999