Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB26/50/091 A

Address :
Carlisle Memorial Methodist Church Carlisle Circus Belfast Co Antrim BT13 1AB

Townland:
Town Parks

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Survey 2:
B+

Date of Listing:
28/03/1980 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:
Yes

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OS Map No:
130-13 NE

IG Ref:
J3349 7518

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Owner Category

Exterior Description And Setting

Attached double-height limestone and sandstone Gothic Revival former Methodist church, built c.1875, to the designs of W.H.Lynn by Alderman James Carlisle. Rectangular on plan with a square-plan entrance tower rising to an octagonal spire to the north end, pair of side aisles and gabled transepts crossing the nave. Deconsecrated c.1985 and undergoing conservation works at the time of survey. Built as a complex along with a connecting cloister (HB26/50/091C) and former Sunday School (HB26/50/091B). Triple span natural slate roofs with roll-moulded terracotta ridge tiles and set behind slightly raised gables having sandstone coping and stone cross finials. Roofs set behind parapet walls with sandstone coping and replacement metal rainwater goods breaking through at corbelled eaves course. Rock-faced limestone ashlar walling with sandstone quoins, string courses and plinth trims and two-stage weathered buttresses (angled to east gables) and surmounted by gableted Gothic pinnacles with trefoil-headed niches. Largely lancet window openings with compound sandstone surrounds and slender colonettes with splayed sills and fragments of leaded glazing. Square-plan three-stage tower with octagonal belfry stage and octagonal tapered spire. Angled buttresses with offsets at each stage surmounted by pinnacles, as per above and octagonal tourelles framing each elevation of the belfry stage. Pointed-headed door opening to the front elevation with deeply set compound arch mouldings enriched with dog-tooth mouldings and rising from compound colonettes. Vertically-sheeted timber door with elaborate iron hinges. Slender timber-louvred gabled opening to each elevation at belfry stage with crocketed hood and foil tracery. Three tiers of louvred lucarnes adorn the spire surmounted by an iron Celtic cross. Octagonal tourelle between the gable and the tower having leaded lancet windows over trefoil panels and flanked by colonettes, housing stone spiral stair to the tower. Front elevation has three triple lancets to the north aisle and an advanced gabled transept having three lancets and tourelles rising from the angled buttresses (that to the south removed). Entrance porch to the re-entrant angle of chancel and transept having slate roof, shouldered door opening with timber door and diminutive lancets. Northeast elevation comprises the east gable with three lancets comprising compound moulded surrounds with colonettes and stone tracery to the centre light in the form of a Venetian arch having original leaded glazing to the roundel. The south aisle terminates in a lower gable flanked by tourelles, as per above, and having twin lancets with a quatrefoil over. Rear elevation runs flush with the south gabled transept with a gabled entrance porch to the east. The transept has tourelles, as per north transept, a Catherine-wheel window and four lancets. To the ground floor is a single-storey wing (HB26/50/091C) formerly connecting the church to the former Sunday School (HB26/50/091B). The entrance porch has a pointed-headed door opening to the nave elevation with compound arched surround and double-leaf sheeted timber doors having decorative iron hinges. Door opens into porch with a further dog-tooth enriched compound arch surround rising from colonettes having a trefoil-headed niche to the apex and opening into the front area via seven stone steps. Triple gabled chancel elevation with a five lancets to the chancel and flanked by a pair of circular stone chimneystackas. The flanking gables have paired lancets with oculi over and diminutive square-headed window openings to the ground floor. Setting Set on an elevated site on the south side of Carlisle Circus and enclosed to the street by decorative iron railings and gates on limestone plinth wall and red sandstone piers with tapered capstones. Safety sheeted iron wall and canopy to the front pavement. Roof Natural slate RWG steel Walling Sandstone/limestone Windows Lancets

Architects

Lynn, William

Historical Information

Carlisle Memorial Methodist Church, a Gothic-Revival church situated at Carlisle Circus, was constructed between 1874 and 1875 to designs by William Henry Lynn (1829-1915). Lynn, a Belfast-based architect, was a pupil of Charles Lanyon; in 1854 Lynn entered into the partnership with his former tutor, however he formed an independent practice in 1872 after the partnership dissolved. Carlisle Memorial Methodist Church was one of the first commissions Lynn undertook upon breaking with Lanyon; his design was in a Gothic-Revival style carried out in Armagh limestone and red Dumfries stone and possessing a 170ft tower and spire. The Methodist meeting house was intended to seat a congregation of approximately 1,000; the total cost of construction is not known but was estimated at between £15,000 and £20,000 and the builder contracted to carry out Lynn’s design was a Mr. Henry (about which nothing is known) (Irish Builder, 1874-1876; Dictionary of Irish Architects). Upon completion Carlisle Memorial Methodist Church was valued at £700 in the Annual Revisions. There was no subsequent alteration to the value of the church until c. 1900; however the (similarly designed) Gothic-Revival hall and connecting cloisters adjoining the church were both constructed between 1888-89 to designs by James John Philips (see HB26/50/091B and HB26/50/091C). The Belfast Revaluation (1900) slightly decreased the value of the church to £625 and noted that the building was leased to the church trustees by the Belfast Charitable Society (originally established in 1752). There was no further change to the value of the church 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 £900. The Church History notes that the building escaped direct damage during the 1941 Belfast Blitz, however ‘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 conflict the value of the church was subsequently increased by the second revaluation which began in 1956. Partially as a result of a renovation carried out in 1966 the value of Carlisle Memorial Methodist Church had been raised to £1,464 by the end of the second revaluation in 1972. The Methodist church on Carlisle Circus was commissioned as a memorial to the son of Alderman James Carlisle (1810-1888) who had died at the age of 18; the church was constructed at the sole expense of Carlisle. When completed Carlisle Memorial Methodist Church was home to one of the largest Belfast congregations, however its Gothic-Revival design has received much disapproval from architectural critics. Brett states that Carlisle Methodist is amongst [Lynn’s] least happy works, and though [once] much beloved by a loyal congregation, must have a fighting claim to be Belfast’s ugliest church,’ the opinion believed to result from the use of contrasting materials such as the pink sandstone and coarse limestone; ‘this curious choice of colours lends unfortunate emphasis to an uncommonly ungraceful spire’ (Brett, p. 50). Walker similarly disapproved of the design but stated that although ‘there is little grace about the building, it might be fairer to say that it has a jarring aspect … at worst, when the stonework was cleaner, the building must have had a rather startling appearance’ (Walker, p. 127). The only clear supporter of the design was Larmour who wrote in 1987: ‘A very good example of a Gothic-Revival Church in Early English style, excellent in composition and in details, and well-proportioned with a tower and rich spire on a really grand scale’ (Larmour, p. 43). A renovation to the exterior stonework of the church was undertaken in 1966, however Brett states that this ‘served only to emphasise the unfortunate choice of materials.’ Carlisle Memorial Methodist Church was listed in 1980, but due to its position at a major community interface and the urban redevelopment of area (including the construction of the Westlink in 1981-83) the Methodist congregation dwindled over time resulting in the closure of the church in 1982. With the closure the church’s Conacher organ was dismantled; sections of the organ were sent to Cooke Centenary Presbyterian Church whilst the 32ft pipes were transported to a church in Salt Lake City, Nevada (Walker). The church has remained vacant since the 1980s and is in an advanced state of disrepair. In 2008 the church was included in the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society’s list of buildings at risk; the writer stated that although the criticisms of the church design are well documented ‘it is without doubt an extremely important and prominent building in a ‘gateway’ location at the junction of the Crumlin and Antrim Roads. The regeneration of this part of the city would not be complete without the conservation of this historic landmark’ (UAHS, p. 44). The future of Carlisle Memorial Methodist Church appears hopeful; in 2010 the church was recognised by the World Monuments Fund as one of the 100 most endangered historic buildings in the world (others on the list included the Great Wall of China and the Taj Mahal). The World Monuments Fund suggested a new use for the church aimed at alleviating the sectarian tension of the interface area: ‘despite its religious associations, the building is now perceived as neutral territory in a deeply polarised area and holds symbolic potential for North Belfast in particular and the city as a whole. This public perception and the church’s interface location lend credence to renewed proposals for the adaptive reuse of this shared heritage resource.’ The WMF concluded that ‘such a project would foster significant civic engagement with stakeholder communities and deepen the successes of the Northern Ireland peace process’ (World Monument Fund website). In February 2012 the Department of the Environment provided £400,000 to the Belfast Building Preservation Trust to carry out maintenance work to the Methodist Church, securing the building prior to its, longed for, future conversion or restoration (Belfast Telegraph). 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. 16 (15 Jan; 15 Dec 1874); Vol. 18 (15 Jun 1876) 10. Belfast Street Directories (1843-1943) 11. First Survey Record – HB26/50/091A (1971) 12. First Survey Image – HB26/50/091A (1976) 13. Ordnance Survey Map –130-13NE (1959-60) 14. Belfast Telegraph (9 Feb 2012) 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. World Monument Fund website - http://www.wmf.org/project/carlisle-memorial-methodist-church

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form J. Setting K. Group value

Historic Interest

Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance W. Northern Ireland/International Interest V. Authorship

Evaluation

Attached double-height limestone and sandstone Gothic Revival former Methodist church built c.1875 to the designs of W.H.Lynn by James Carlisle. Rectangular on plan with a square-plan entrance tower and octagonal spire to the north. Although compromised by the loss of most internal fabric, much historic fabric and detailing survive of good quality and craftsmanship. Formerly connected to the Church Hall(HB26/50/091b) Memorial by a connecting cloister building (HB26/50/091C) together they comprise a significant architectural group, both here and with respect to the City as a whole. 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. It is one of the principal works of an architect of note.

General Comments

Date of Survey

04 October 2012