Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB26/50/091 B

Address :
Indian Community Centre Former Carlisle Memorial Methodist Church Hall 86 Clifton Street Belfast Co Antrim BT13 1AB

Townland:
Town Parks

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Survey 2:
B1

Date of Listing:
31/01/1989 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Hall

Former Use
School

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
130-13 NE

IG Ref:
J3342 7515

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Owner Category

Miscellaneous

Exterior Description And Setting

Attached multi-bay two-storey with attic stone Gothic Revival former Sunday school, built c.1888, to the designs of J. J. Phillips for Alderman James Carlisle. Rectangular on plan with an advanced entrance tower and located on the south side of Clifton Street. Built as part of the Carlisle Memorial Methodist Church complex, now in use as an Indian Community Centre. Steeply pitched natural slate roofs with roll-moulded terracotta ridge tiles and set behind slightly raised gables having roll-moulded stone coping and poppy-head finials. Original cast-iron and replacement steel rainwater goods. Coursed rock-faced limestone ashlar walling with red sandstone courses, weathered buttresses and limestone plinth course with sandstone chamfered trim. Pointed-headed lancets arranged in groups with stepped red sandstone frames, hood mouldings, splayed sills and some original leaded coloured glazing. Front elevation comprises a central gable with an entrance tower to the left, an additional lower gable to the left of the tower and a further single-bay two-storey section to the right of the central gable. Single-bay gable to the left flanked by gableted weathered buttresses and having an oculus to the gable. Paired lancets to the first floor and group of five lancets to the ground floor, all having original leaded coloured glazing and continuous sill courses. Advanced entrance tower on a square plan with weathered broaches to an octagonal truncated tower and housing the principal entrance. The octagonal parapet is built in red sandstone with panelled recesses having quatrefoil piercings, weathered splayed sills and truncated colonettes all rising from a continuous string course. Sexfoil opening with leaded glazing to the middle stage. Shallow gabled entrance doorcase with poppy-head finial flanked by pair of gableted piers. Pointed-headed compound arched door opening with double-leaf vertically-sheeted hardwood doors having decorative iron furniture and corbelled lintel cornice with infilled overlight. Door opens onto concrete paved platform and steps enclosed by original cast-iron railing and partially intact standard lamp. Central gable is framed by a three-stage weathered buttress to the right surmounted by an octagonal finial with trefoil blind panels and conical weathered top. Oval opening to the gable with timber louvres and hood moulding and a further pair of oculi below with quatrefoil carvings and hood mouldings. Tripartite lancet windows to the first floor with compound moulded surrounds, slender colonettes and original leaded coloured glazing. Series of lancets spanning entire ground floor, the central six with coloured leaded glazing and the outer pairs blind. The single-bay section to the right has angled three-stage buttresses to the corner surmounted by pinnacle, as per principal gable. Parapet wall with moulded coping and decorative string course with rose nail mouldings. Tripartite lancet window openings to the first floor and six light lancets to the ground floor, all having original leaded coloured glazing. South side elevation almost abutting adjoining building (HB26/50/089). Symmetrical cement rendered rear elevation with central gable abutted by a lower gabled projection. Oval timber louvred panel to the apex with continuous hood moulding. Pair of oculi formed in redbrick flank the gabled projection having leaded coloured glazing. The sections to either side have a rendered brick chimneystack each with terracotta pots. The gabled projection has a tripartite window opening to the ground level with coloured leaded glazing. North side elevation comprises a triple-height gable to the left and a two-storey section to the right, three windows wide. The gable is surmounted by a poppy-headed finial and flanked by three-stage weathered buttresses, surmounted by octagonal finials, as per front gable. Trefoil carved panel to the apex and a large rose window with sexfoil frame and replacement leaded glazing. Series of six lancets to the first floor on a deep moulded sill course having leaded coloured glazing and two blind lancets. The ground floor has a central pointed-headed door opening flanked by tripartite lancets. Trefoil-headed door opening with bowtel moulding and deeply set double-leaf vertically-sheeted hardwood doors with iron door furniture and a lozenge-shaped overlight with leaded coloured glazing. Door set within pointed-headed opening having dagger panels to the spandrels a further bowtel moulded surround and a hood moulding with figurative label stops. Door opens onto stone paved front area. Three paired lancets to the first floor of the remaining elevation with leaded coloured glazing and paired square-headed window openings to the ground floor, largely boarded up. Setting Set on an elevated site as part of the Carlisle Memorial Methodist Church complex (HB26/50/091A & BC) on the south side of Clifton Street and enclosed to the street by decorative iron railings and gates on limestone plinth wall and red sandstone piers with tapered capstones. Roof: Natural slate Walling : Sandstone & limestone ashlar Windows : Leaded glass RWG : Cast-iron

Architects

Phillips, JJ

Historical Information

The former church hall and Sunday schools of Carlisle Memorial Methodist Church were constructed between 1888 and 1889, approximately 15 years after the completion of the adjoining church (HB26/50/091A). The Irish Builder records that the building, which was designed in a similar Gothic style to the adjoining church, consisted of Sunday school rooms, a lecture hall, a church parlour, and a cloister which connected it to the church (see HB26/50/091C). The architect was James John Phillips (1841/42-1936), a Belfast-based architect who was also skilled as a water-colourist and provided most of the perspective drawing for John Lanyon (Charles Lanyon’s son). The Dictionary of Irish Architects records that from the 1880s until the early-20th century Phillips ‘was the preferred, perhaps even the official, architect of the Methodist church in the north of Ireland, designing or altering at least seventeen Methodist churches in Belfast and the northern counties.’ The builder contracted to carry out Phillips design was Henry Laverty & Sons (Irish Builder; Dictionary of Irish Architects). When completed the Carlisle Memorial Hall and Sunday School was valued at £300 in the Annual Revisions; there was no alteration to the site until the 1900 Belfast Revaluation. In that year the valuer noted that the hall consisted of 20 rooms and was fitted throughout with gas installations; the value of the hall, although exempt from taxation, was raised to £380. There was no further change to the value of the hall by the end of the Annual Revisions for Court Ward (this ward was cancelled in 1915 despite the remainder of Belfast’s electoral wards continuing to be included in the valuation project until 1930). The church was not revalued until the First General Revaluation of property in Northern Ireland which was carried out in 1935 and rated the building at £680. Like the adjoining church, the lecture hall and Sunday school survived the Belfast Blitz of 1941 receiving only superficial damage; the Church History notes that ‘many carved stone ornaments were shattered and windows in the church, cloisters and Sunday schools were destroyed’ (Carlisle Memorial Church, P. 41). In the aftermath of the Second World War the hall was included in the second general revaluation and by the end of the survey in 1972 the value of the building stood at £1,280. Carlisle Memorial Methodist Church was erected in 1874-75 as a memorial to the son of Alderman James Carlisle (who had died at the age of 18). Carlisle died on 25 November 1882 less than a decade after the completion of the church; in his will he provided £7,630 to the Trustees of Carlisle Memorial Methodist for the construction of a building to provide Sunday schools, a lecture hall, church parlour etc. for the congregation. Prior to the construction of the hall the church’s Sunday school was carried out in a variety of locations including the church itself and the nearby Orange Hall on Clifton Street (HB26/50/089). When originally designed by Phillips the plan of Carlisle Memorial’s hall called for the construction of a spire similar to that adorning the adjoining church, however this aspect of the design was never installed. The church hall was completed in 1889; the opening of the building was carried out on 23rd November of that year by the widowed Mrs. Carlisle. The church history of Carlisle Memorial Methodist Church states that ‘the building consists of Assembly Hall, 60 feet by 40 feet, with gallery at sides and end. Off the ground floor and galleries the 23 class rooms open, as well as a Minor Hall and a special room for young children. There are also the usual cloakrooms, Secretary’s room and library.’ The author also noted that the building originally possessed two transepts, however in 1945 one of these was converted into a Lounge room and was installed with a separate entrance that led from the cloisters (Carlisle Memorial Church, pp 43-45). Carlisle Memorial Methodist Church was listed in 1980, however due to the construction of the Westlink and the church’s position at a major community interface, the Methodist congregation of the area dwindled, resulting in its closure in 1982. Prior to its closure the church Trustees sold the adjoining hall in the 1970s; the hall fell vacant for almost a decade, however in 1981 the hall was occupied by the Indian Community Centre. Carlisle Memorial Hall was listed in 1989, and although the adjoining Church remains vacant and has fallen into a state of disrepair, the hall continues to be occupied by the Indian Community Centre which ‘has long been a hub for arts and cultural activities for the Indian Community in Northern Ireland, and has always sought to include the wider community wherever possible’ (Indian Community Centre Belfast Website). The connecting link building (No. 88 Clifton Street) which incorporated the church’s cloisters is currently utilised as office space for the Ulster Provident Housing Association. References Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/1/61/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1901-02 2. PRONI OS/6/1/61/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1931 3. PRONI OS/6/1/61/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1938 4. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/C/12+26 – Annual Revisions 1882-1905 (St. Anne’s Ward) 5. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/G/1 – Annual Revisions 1906-1915 (Court Ward) 6. PRONI VAL/7/B/2/1 – Belfast Revaluation 1900 7. PRONI VAL/3/B/3/7 – First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1935 8. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/7 – Second General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1956-72 9. Irish Builder, Vol. 31. (1 Feb 1889) 10. Belfast Street Directories (1843-1943) 11. First Survey Record – HB26/50/091B (No Date) 12. First Survey Image – HB26/50/091B (1976) 13. Ordnance Survey Map –130-13NE (1959-60) Secondary Sources 1. ‘Carlisle Memorial Church: 1876-1946’ Belfast: Carlisle Memorial Methodist Church, 1946. 2. ‘Buildings at Risk: Vol. 8’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2008. 3. Brett, C. E. B., ‘Buildings of Belfast: 1700-1914’ Belfast: Friar’s Bush Press, 1985. 4. Larmour, P., ‘Belfast: An illustrated architectural guide’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1987. 5. Walker, S., ‘Historic Ulster Churches’ Belfast: The Institute of Irish Studies, 2000. Online Resources 1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie 2. Indian Community Centre Belfast website – http://www.iccbelfast.com/about-us

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 K. Group value

Historic Interest

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

Evaluation

Attached multi-bay two-storey with attic stone Gothic Revival former Sunday school, built c.1888, to the designs of J.J Phillips for Alderman James Carlisle. Rectangular on plan with advanced entrance tower. Formerly connected to the Memorial Church(HB26/50/091A) by a connecting cloister building (HB26/50/091C), the halls reflect the High Victorian style of the church and, together they comprise a significant architectural group, both here and with respect to the City as a whole. The building has been adapted for use as a community centre with much historic fabric and detailing surviving, of good quality and craftsmanship. This building forms part of the Carlisle Memorial Methodist Church complex. As a whole, the complex represents the changing history of the Methodist Church in Belfast and the ebb and flow of population in the 20th century.

General Comments

Address amended to include info wrt Carlisle Memorial Methodist Church

Date of Survey

04 October 2012