Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB26/30/031 B

Address :
Church Hall May Street Presbyterian Church May Street Belfast County Antrim BT1 4NU

Townland:
Town Parks

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Survey 2:
B1

Date of Listing:
11/03/1988 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Hall

Former Use
Hall

Conservation Area:
Yes

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
130/13 SE

IG Ref:
J3403 7393

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Owner Category

Church - Presbyterian

Exterior Description And Setting

Attached two-storey church hall, formerly school house, built 1859 to designs by architect John Boyd, located to the south side of May Street, to the east of Belfast city centre. Rectangular-on-plan; comprising two-storey block to north abutted by single-storey hall to south elevation; further abutted to south by three-storey hipped return (adjoining returns abutted to rear elevation of church HB26.30.031A). Roof to two-storey block is hipped natural slate with leaded hips behind stone cornice and parapet; roof of hall is pitched natural slate behind shallow parapet with concrete coping; steel framed glazed rooflights to apex. Walls are painted ruled-and-lined render. Windows are round-arched-headed timber framed 2/2 sliding sashes with margin lights within painted moulded sandstone reveals with keyblock depicting stylised fluted Ionic columns; steel mesh protection over openings. Principal elevation faces north; walls at ground floor are painted with banded rustication. Central round-arched-headed entrance at lower ground floor contains double-leaf timber panelled entrance doors; surmounted at first floor by single window; entrance flanked at left and right by pair of square piers at ground floor surmounted at first floor by columns with Doric capitals, each separated by round-arched-headed niche at ground floor surmounted by window at first floor. Moulded entablature with triglyphs and dentil mouldings to cornice; parapet consists of balustrade with moulded cornice surmounted by acroterions over columns. East elevation is blank and comprises single-storey hall at centre flanked at left by return and at right by two-storey block. South elevation is abutted by return; exposed south elevation of two-storey block is exposed brickwork, containing two square headed steel framed casement windows. Return (also described under record HB26.30.031A) contains, at lower ground floor, door opening flanked at right by two square-headed windows; at ground floor, three round-arched-headed timber framed 1/1 sliding sash windows with margin lights; at first floor, three windows. West elevation is abutted by church (HB26.30.031A); exposed section of two-storey block at north contains round-arched-headed niche at ground floor surmounted by window at first floor. Church hall set within own grounds on restricted site with church attached to west (HB26.30.031A). Site is bounded to May Street at north and Alfred Street to west by painted rendered plinth wall with painted sandstone coping surmounted by cast iron railings, hall accessed through double-leaf cast-iron gates. Rear entrance to lower ground floor accessed directly from Little May Street. Roof Hipped natural slate; pitched natural slate to single-storey hall Walling Painted ruled-and-lined render Windows Round-arched-headed timber framed 2/2 sliding sashes RWG Cast-iron half-round gutters and round downpipes

Architects

Boyd, John

Historical Information

The classical schoolhouse adjoining May Street Presbyterian Church was originally constructed in 1858-59 to designs by John Boyd, a Belfast based architect who was active between c. 1850 and 1895. Boyd mainly designed churches and schoolhouses and, after completing construction of the school on May Street, undertook an extensive renovation and refurbishment of the church itself during the 1870s (HB26/30/031A; Dictionary of Irish Architects). Boyd’s schoolhouse was designed in a distinct classical style with Roman Doric columns and a triglyph entablature; construction of which began in September 1858 and was completed by the end of 1859 with L & T Brown contracted as builders. When the building was constructed it consisted of two schoolrooms and a two-storey library (Builder, Vol. 16, 11 Sept 1858, p. 615). Griffith’s Valuation originally valued the school together with the church at £300 describing the schoolhouse as an A class (‘Not Cut Stone’) school that measured 28 by 7 yds. The church and its schoolhouse continued to be valued together until 1906 when the school was first individually valued at £280 (Windsor Ward was also first valued separately from the rest of central Belfast in that year). The value of the school was not altered again by the end of the Annual Revisions in 1930; it was not until 1935 that a revaluation of property in Northern Ireland took place at which time the schoolhouse and church were once again valued together, at £610. In the Second World War May Street Presbyterian Church received minor damage during a Luftwaffe attack on the Belfast shipyards; however it is not known whether similar damage was inflicted on the adjoining schoolhouse. A second revaluation of the church and its school (now recorded simply as a hall) took place in 1956 by which time the value had greatly increased to £1,350, however this was reduced to £1,080 under the 1957 Rent and Valuation Act. Williamson records that May Street Presbyterian possessed two Sunday schoolrooms prior to the construction of the adjoining hall; however these were not deemed sufficient for the needs of the church and the church committee asked John Boyd to design a new schoolhouse for the congregation. The school was erected 1858- 59 and was constructed at a total cost of £650 (Williamson, p. 52). The school continued to operate until sometime between 1935, when the first general revaluation of property in Northern Ireland recorded the building as a Sunday school, and 1956, when the second revaluation first described it as a church hall. The hall was listed in 1988 along with the adjoining Church and continues to be used for church functions with little alteration to the church interior having taken place (May Street Presbyterian Church Website). References Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/1/61/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1832-33 2. PRONI OS/6/1/61/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1858 3. PRONI OS/6/1/61/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1901-02 4. PRONI OS/6/1/61/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1931 5. PRONI OS/6/1/61/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1938 6. PRONI VAL/2/B/7/1A – Griffith’s Valuation 1859 7. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/A/1 – Annual revisions 1863-1881 8. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/A/24 – Annual revisions 1882-1905 9. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/A/35 – Annual revisions 1897-1905 10. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/P/4 – Annual revisions 1906-1915 11. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/P/8 – Annual revisions 1916-1930 12. PRONI VAL/3/B/3/22 – First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1935 13. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/52 – Second General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1956-1972 14. Builder, Vol. 16, 11 Sept 1858 15. Belfast Street Directories (1861) Secondary Sources 1. Larmour, P., ‘Belfast: An illustrated architectural guide’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1987. 2. Patton, M., ‘Central Belfast: An historical gazetteer’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1993 3. Williamson, J., ‘May Street Presbyterian Church centenary: A history of the congregation’ Belfast: The Linenhall Press, 1929. 4. First Survey Record – HB26/30/031A (1988) Online Resources 1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie 2. May Street Presbyterian Church Website - http://www.maystreetchurch.co.uk

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form F. Structural System I. Quality and survival of Interior J. Setting K. Group value

Historic Interest

R. Age S. Authenticity Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance V. Authorship X. Local Interest

Evaluation

An attached symmetrical two-storey church hall, formerly schoolhouse built 1859 to designs by architect John Boyd, located to the south side of May Street, to the east of Belfast city centre. Set within an urban setting, with original boundary wall and gates, there is group value with the adjoining Presbyterian Church (HB26/30/031A). Displaying proportions and detailing typical of the Classical style, the church hall has retained much of its original character and has a relatively well-preserved interior. Externally, the building has a classically detailed façade with heavy rustication at ground floor; fluted Ionic column details to keyblocks provide an unusual feature to the large double-height windows lighting the first floor office. The church hall is of considerable social importance.

General Comments

Date of Survey

15 April 2011