Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB23/07/006

Address :
First Presbyterian Church 100 Main Street Bangor Co Down BT20 4AG

Townland:
Corporation

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Survey 2:
B+

Date of Listing:
06/01/1975 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:
115/12SE

IG Ref:
J5045 8165

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Owner Category

Church - Presbyterian

Exterior Description And Setting

A double-height classically-ordered Presbyterian church built c.1830 with tower added c.1880 and vestibule extended c.1930. D-shaped plan with abutting square plan vestibule. Located on Bangor, Main Street, set back from the principal building line. Natural slate roof; leaded ridge, hips and valleys. Walling random basalt with ashlar sandstone surrounds to earlier part; matching cement details to extended vestibule. The tower is dressed with red and yellow sandstone. The rainwater goods are cast iron with some extruded replacements. Windows to the ground floor are segmental arched with moulded surrounds and large cills; those to first floor are round arched with matching surrounds and continuous cill course. The doors have moulded architraves with plinth-stop and entablature over. The principal elevation faces south-east and is abutted by a two-storey vestibule and tower. The vestibule has four giant-order Doric pilasters rising to entablature with pediment over. The principal entrance is via three sets of modern glazed doors; sliding timber outer leaf doors recessed into the wall when not in use; small red sandstone pediment with open-book carved into the tympanum over the central door. Round-arched windows to first floor with aprons and corbel stones. Clock face located in tympanum with hood moulding and stops. South-west face of vestibule comprises earlier portion to the left with the extension to the right; central pilaster with various door and window openings. The north-east face of the vestibule matches the south. The tower is a three-stage Gothic-style square plan with octagonal spire and decorative pinnacles constructed of Scrabo freestone with Scottish red sandstone dressings; centrally located over the original part of the vestibule. Lower stage basalt with sandstone quoins and surrounds to oculus. Second stage with paired tall round arched windows embraced by dressed stone with oculus centrally positioned over. Third stage paired arcaded openings with dressed stone surrounds rising to parapet level, surmounted by spire with three levels of lucarnes to alternating facets. The pedimented south-west elevation is part abutted by a modern extension built 2010. Curved wall forming part of the main body of the church to the right. The rear elevation is completely encompassed by the modern extension. The north-east elevation matches the south-west with partial modern abutment. Setting The church grounds to the front of the building are bounded by a cast-iron railing with associated gates. A large ash tree is located in the centre. The Church is set back from the Main Street which is lined with two/three storey commercial buildings. To the south-west of the church is the Guild Hall and former school erected in 1894, now adjoined via a large modern extension encompassing most of the north, south and west elevation. Roofing Natural slate Walling Rubble masonry Window Timber/ stained glass RWG Cast-iron

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

The ‘Presbyterian Meeting House’ is shown on the first edition OS map of 1833, having been built in 1831 at a cost of £2,600. The Belfast Newsletter reported the laying of the foundation stone on 1st June 1831 and emphasised the debt that was due to the Sharman Crawford family in bringing the project to fruition. A weeping ash tree still stands before the church which, according to the church history, was planted not long after its construction. (350th Anniversary, p.17) There has been a Presbyterian congregation in Bangor since 1623 when a minister’s son, Robert Blair, was brought over from Scotland by James Hamilton, later Lord Clandeboye, who had been granted lands in the area. The first known meeting house was built during the ministry of Mr Gilbert Ramsay at the top of Fisher Hill (now Victoria Road) in around 1668. (History of Congregations) In the mid-eighteenth century the congregation moved to a meeting house near the junction of Quay Street and High Street, but as Bangor began to expand in the nineteenth century, a more substantial meeting house was called for. The present site in Main Street was selected and a ‘new and beautiful building’ was begun in 1831. OS Memoirs note that it was completed in 1834 and that the cost was defrayed by subscription. (Lewis’s Topographical Dictionary, Vol I, p.183; OS Memoirs, p.24) A photograph showing the church in its early form, prior to the addition of the spire, has survived. (Wilson, p.58) The church is listed in Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64) as a ‘Presbyterian Church and yard’ valued at £75, and an additional £1 for the yard, a considerable sum, reflecting the church’s quality and size. The lease is held from Viscount Bangor. (Griffith’s Valuation) Schools for boys and girls were added to the site in 1877-8. The tower and spire, of Scrabo freestone with Scottish red sandstone dressings, was built to commemorate the jubilee of the meeting house in 1881 by Sandy McFerran of Bangor. Small porches to the north and south of the main building appear also to have been added at this time, but these are now gone. (Patton, p.132) Although Brett notes that the tower and spire are a somewhat incongruous addition to the classical facade of the church, the spire appears to have been well thought of at the time it was built, Bassett commenting in 1886, “About 5 years ago this stately old edifice received the addition of a very high and most graceful tower and spire”. (Brett, p.56; Bassett, p.287) A Guild Hall comprising two schools and a hall was built in 1894 to designs by Young & Mackenzie, who also erected a new wooden ceiling in the main church in 1905 (350th Anniversary, p.21, www.dia.ie, Young & Mackenzie specifications). The church organ was donated in 1907 by Mr W K Crosby, a citizen of Nebraska, USA who had been accustomed to holidaying in Bangor each year. (History of Congregations) Patton carries a photograph showing the church in about 1900 with its original portico. (Patton, p.133) In 1927 it was decided to carry out alterations to the church which included improving the exits from the gallery. The porch was therefore brought forward by a bay to accommodate new stairways and reconstructed to replicate the former facade, work that was carried out by James Thomson. The cost of the new vestibule and stairways was over £2,000. It was at this time that a clock was added to the front facade by Mr Henry Montgomery in memory of his wife. The church grounds were at the same time remodelled by Mr Thomas Houston, who gave his services free. (350th Anniversary, p.31) In 1932, £2,266 was spent adding new apartments to the church including a vestry, Sessions Room, Minor Hall, Choir Room and Ladies’ Parlour. It would appear that these have now gone. The church roof was restored using steel trusses in 1933 and in 1934 electric lighting was installed. The interior of the church was repaired and re-decorated at this time. The gift of a communion table and other church furniture in 1954 resulted in the re-siting of the organ console and the re-seating of the Choir. In 1960 the church was again renovated and redecorated and in 1961, following a fire in the Guild Hall, this building was also renovated. (350th Anniversary, p.32-46) A very large extension joining the rear of the church to the Guild Hall was completed in 2010 to designs by Brian Knox. References: Primary Sources 1.PRONI OS/6/3/2/1 – First Edition OS Map 1833 2.PRONI OS/6/3/2/2 – Second Edition OS map 1858 3.PRONI OS/6/3/2/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1901 4.PRONI OS/6/3/2/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1919-26 5.PRONI OS/6/3/2/5 – Fifth Edition OS Map 1939 6.PRONI VAL/1/A/3/2 – Townland Valuation Map (1828-40) 7.PRONI VAL/1/B/31 – Townland Valuation (1828-40) 8.PRONI VAL/2/B/3/2 – Griffith’s Valuation Map (1856-64) 9.PRONI VAL/2/B/3/1C – Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64) 10.PRONI VAL/12/B/23/7A-K – Annual Revisions (1866-99) 11.PRONI VAL/12/B/23/9A-S – Annual Revisions (1900-1930) 12.PRONI VAL/12/E/129/1 – Annual Revisions Town Plans (c.1864-1899) 13.PRONI VAL/12/E/129/2 – Annual Revisions Town Plans (1898-c.1916) 14.PRONI D2194/15/8 – Young & Mackenzie Specifications and working papers, 1894 15.PRONI D2194/60/2 – Young & Mackenzie Specifications, 1905 16.Builder, Vol 87, 3rd December 1904, p.590 17.Lawrence collection, image 3883 18.W A Green collection, image 395 19.Welch collection, image 35 Secondary Sources 1.“A History of Congregations in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland 1610-1982” authorised by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Belfast: Presbyterian Historical Society of Ireland, 1982 (available at www.presbyterianhistoryireland.com) 2.Bassett, G H “County Down One Hundred Years Ago: A Guide and Directory 1886” Belfast: Friar’s Bush Press, 1988 3.Brett, C.E.B. “Buildings of North County Down” Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2002 4.Day, A. and P. McWilliams, eds. “OS Memoirs of Ireland, Parishes of County Down II, 1832-4, 1837, Vol. 7.” Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies, 1991. 5.Lewis, Samuel. “A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland” London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837. 6.Ministry of Finance, Government of Northern Ireland “An Archaeological Survey of County Down” Belfast: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1966 7.Patton, M, “Bangor, An Historical Gazetteer” Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1999 8.Wilson, I “Bangor, Historic Photographs of the County Down town” Belfast: Friar’s Bush Press, 1992 9.Wilson, W “350th Anniversary of First Bangor Presbyterian Church” Bangor, 1973 10.www.presbyterianhistoricalireland.com – History of Congregations online 11.www.dia.ie – Dictionary of Irish architects online

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

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

Evaluation

A double-height classically-ordered church built c.1830 with tower added c.1880 and vestibule extended c.1930. The tower and spire are unusual for a meeting house but the classically styled main body of the church is representative of Presbyterian architecture of this period and is a particularly elegant example. Although altered and extended the overall scale and proportion of the original building, together with Much of the historic fabric, have survived. Also of significant importance with the congregation dating back 1623. The large extensions at the rear and both sides of the church compromise its setting but the original composition of the church and tower remains.

General Comments

Date of Survey

07 September 2010