Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB17/08/024

Address :
Glascar Presbyterian Church Glascar Road Glaskermore Banbridge Co Down BT32 5DT

Townland:
Glaskermore

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Survey 2:
B2

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:
238/9

IG Ref:
J1407 3710

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Owner Category

Church - Presbyterian

Exterior Description And Setting

A simple double height Presbyterian Church, five windows wide, dated 1814 with later added tower erected 1939. Rectangular plan form with rear return and side porches. Located approximately 2 miles north east of Rathfriland. Pitched natural slate roof with clay ridge tiles; roof vents; masonry skews; replacement uPVC rainwater goods. Painted roughcast walling. Replacement timber framed Y-tracery pointed-arch windows; painted masonry cills. Modern timber sheeted double-leaf entrance doors to single-storey gable-ended porches added c.1855. The principal elevation faces north east and is symmetrically arranged. Centrally positioned two-stage square-plan bell-tower with parapet and leaded pyramidal roof; upper portion smooth rendered; front elevation comprises single window at lower level with paired timber louvered pointed arch openings; the left and right cheeks comprise single timber louvered openings at the upper levels. The tower is flanked either side by two windows. The left gable has ground floor porch to right of centre; first floor door left of centre accessed by modern galvanised steps. Smooth rendered gable head. The rear elevation is asymmetrically arranged; all windows are replacement casements. Centrally positioned gable-ended rear return with kneelers; matching eaves and lower ridge level; chimney located over the apex; single ground floor window to the left of the left cheek; single first floor window left of centre to the gable, further abutted by a single-storey gable-ended store; door to the right cheek, single window to the gable and left cheek; the left cheek of the return comprises double leaf timber panelled door to the right and a single window to the left at first floor. Either side of the return are two windows to the ground and gallery level. The right gable is blank; abutted by a porch located left of centre. Setting Rural Setting; the northeast of the site is bounded by a wrought-iron railing with associated gates fixed to decorative cast-iron piers; further to the left are rubble masonry walls with soldier coping. Right of the gates is the former National School(HB17/08/025); further to the right is an earlier school building associated with Patrick Brontë, now functioning as the church hall and caretakers houses respectively. To the south and south-east are the burial grounds. Hedgerows bound the remaining sides. Roofing: Natural slate Walling: Roughcast Windows: Timber RWG: uPVC replacement

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

A datestone records that Glascar Presbyterian Church was reconstructed in 1814, built on the site of a previous meeting house dating from the mid-18th century. The current meeting house appears on the first edition of the Ordnance Survey map (1833) as a rectangular building captioned ‘Seceders Meeting Ho[use];’ at that time the meeting house did not possess its current tower (which was added in the 1930s). The contemporary Ordnance Survey Memoirs (1834) noted that the meeting house held the largest seceding Presbyterian congregation under the Synod of Ulster, a congregation that stood between 400 and 500 people (OSM, p. 4). The Townland Valuations valued the building at £10 10s. The second edition of the Ordnance Survey map (1853) notes that a National schoolhouse had been constructed, at the entrance to the site, in the intervening period; the map also notes that a return had been added to the rear of the building giving it a distinct T-shape on the map (this return has since been replaced with a larger modern one). As a result of the extension and additional construction work, by c. 1862 the value of the building had been increased to £17. The schoolhouse was valued at £5 and between the 1860s and the end of the Annual Revisions in 1923 there was no alteration to the value of either structure. The congregation of Glascar Presbyterian Church was originally founded in 1756 as a seceding church (the seceding branch of the Presbyterian Church was formed in 1712 following a split in the Church of Scotland over issues of official patronage). The congregation was established with the aid of the Rev. Thomas Mayne of Drumgooland Presbyterian Church (see HB 17/09/001) however its first minister was not appointed until 1778. The first meeting house on the site was erected in 1769; this was a simple barn-church constructed with stone and clay with a thatched roof and an earth floor. The current church was constructed in 1814 during the ministry of the Rev. John Rogers and originally possessed an earthen floor and a gallery, however there were no pews and no ceiling; families were required to provide their own seating whilst the rafters and beams of the roof were exposed to the congregation. Walker states that the current flat plaster ceiling was probably added around 1827, whilst the current pine pews were installed between 1853 and 1861. During this period other additions to the building were made including the addition of the side porches and the minister’s room (Kirkpatrick, p. 272; Walker, p. 74). Glaskermore national schoolhouse was constructed in 1848 on the site of a former schoolhouse which dated from the late-18th century. Before travelling to England to study for a career in the church, Patrick Bronte, the father of the famous literary sisters, Anne, Charlotte and Emily Bronte, worked as a teacher in the first schoolhouse, however he was dismissed from this post in 1798 at which time he became schoolmaster of Drumballyroney schoolhouse (see HB17/09/012). Local tradition states that Bronte was ejected from the school as he was discovered to be in a romantic relationship with one of his pupils (Cannon, p. 84; Walker, p. 75). Like the majority of Seceding congregations throughout Ireland, Glascar was readmitted into the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Ireland in the mid-19th century. During the 19th century a number of clergy were recognised with memorials erected within the church; the Rev. John Rogers, who supervised the erection of the current building (a moderator of the Seceding church who died 1854), and his son the Rev. James Rogers (died 1939) are commemorated by a tablet located under the gallery. In the 20th century the most significant addition to the church was the erection of the square bell tower at the north-east side. The tower was erected c. 1939 in memory of the Rev. John Brown Lusk by his family; the Rev. Lusk is also commemorated by a monument within the church (Walker, p. 75). Glascar Presbyterian Church was united with Donaghmore Presbyterian on 1st December 1973 and was listed in 1977. The congregation of the church currently stands at over 90 families (Kirkpatrick, p. 272). References Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/3/41/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1833 2. PRONI OS/6/3/41/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1853 3. PRONI OS/6/3/41/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1903 4. PRONI OS/6/3/41/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1903-1918 5. PRONI VAL/1/A/3/41 – Townland Valuation Map 1830s 6. PRONI VAL/1/B/351 – Townland Valuations 1830s 7. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/55B – Griffith’s Valuation c. 1862 8. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/14A – Annual Revisions 1864-1878 9. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/14B – Annual Revisions 1879-1889 10. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/14C – Annual Revisions 1890-1908 11. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/14D – Annual Revisions 1909-1923 12. Ordnance Survey Memoirs, Co. Down III Vol. 12. 13. First Survey Record – HB17/08/024 (1970) Secondary Sources 1. Cannon, J., ‘The history of the Bronte family: From Ireland to Wuthering Heights’ Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing Limited, 2000. 2. Kirkpatrick, L., ‘Presbyterians in Ireland: An illustrated history’ Booklink, 2006. 3. Walker, S., ‘Historic Ulster Churches’ Belfast: The Institute of Irish Studies, 2000.

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

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

Evaluation

A simple double height Presbyterian Church, five windows wide, dated 1814 with later added tower erected 1939. Its character survives although changes to the windows have detract somewhat. The traditional internal layout has surviveded; with some changes to the fittings. Rural setting with gates, railings and burial ground. The adjacent former school buildings also add interest. As a surviving example of an early 19th century meeting house, with a congregation originating in the mid 18th century, the church is of note.

General Comments

Date of Survey

09 January 2012