Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB01/19/001

Address :
St Columb’s Cathedral London Street Londonderry County Londonderry BT48 6RQ

Townland:
Londonderry

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Survey 2:
A

Date of Listing:
25/05/1976 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Church

Former Use
Church

Conservation Area:
Yes

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
36/8NW

IG Ref:
C4338 1647

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Owner Category

Church - C of I

Exterior Description And Setting

Planter’s Gothic-style church with a four-stage tower attached to a five-bay two-stage hall on a plinth, built c. 1633. Rectangular plan form, projecting porch tower with belfry and octagonal spire facing west; single storey extension to south-west c.1910. Located on an elevated site at the highest point within the city walls set within its own grounds with graveyard, with gated entrance to the north-east via the churchyard at London Street. South side access is directly from the city walls, between New Gate and Church Bastion and the north west side of the site is accessed via steps which are located between The Court House (HB01/19/002) and St. Columb’s Court (HB01/19/007A-F). Principal entrance faces west with hardwood sheeted moulded double doors; cusped Y-tracery fanlight set within a Gothic arch with hood mould above. Large-scale four-stage tower to north-west corner, castellated, and steeple typical of their date, with thin clasping buttresses, regular string courses, and early 19th century octagonal corner pinnacles. 191ft octagonal ashlar spire with roll mouldings of the arrises; two small-light cusped Decorated Gothic-style windows to each storey of tower, designed by John Bowden c.1822. Quasi-classical buttressed walls of coursed-rubble local schist set on regular cyma-recta base-course moulding; elaborated sandstone finials to buttresses of south elevation. Windows are in groups of four-lights, cusped, and set within a shallow segmental arch with a segmental hood mould above; clerestory has three-lights, and both aisle and clerestory end in crenellated parapets. Half round turret near East gable with crocketed finials to domed roof. East face has a large central foliated tracery window of Planters’ gothic style, with smaller version either side; cross on gable point and quatrefoil vents near base. Mix of sandstone dressing and past limestone replacement. Decorative wrought-iron entrance gates set in ashlar Dungiven sandstone pillars. Materials: Roof Natural slate RWG Cast iron Walling Derry schist / Barony Glen Sandstone dressings / ashlar spire Windows stone tracery / lancets Setting: Located on an elevated site at the highest point within the Historic City Walls, set within its own grounds with graveyard, with gated entrance of decorative wrought-iron entrance gates set in ashlar Dungiven sandstone pillars to the north-east via the churchyard at London Street. Adjacent to Derry Cathedral Primary School (HB01/19/066). South side access is directly from the city walls, between New Gate and Church Bastion and the north west side of the site is accessed via steps which are located between The Court House (HB01/19/002) and St. Columb’s Court (HB01/19/007A-F).

Architects

Parrott, William Bowden, John Welland, Joseph Ferguson, John Guy Drew, Thomas Buchanan, R Eccles

Historical Information

St. Columb’s Cathedral is the earliest known building within the city of Londonderry having been originally constructed between 1628 and 1633, less than two decades after the Plantation of Ulster (1609) and the laying out of the walled city by the London companies (1613-1619). The building was the first Protestant Cathedral to be constructed in the British Isles following the Reformation and was designed in a contemporary Gothic style, similar to the type of churches erected in London during this period; Ó Baoill states that St. Columb’s Cathedral was the last ‘large scale’ application of the Gothic style in Ireland until its revival in the 18th century (Ó Baoill, pp 127-135). Ian Nairn has described the Cathedral as the ‘size of an English town church [but] every detail hammers home the London connection … the design is purely Gothic [and] goes straight back to those city churches that survived the fire [of London]’ (UAHS, pp 16-19). The earliest plans of Plantation-era Londonderry record that alternate locations were considered for the site of the Cathedral before the current area between London Street and Bishop Street was selected. Thomas Raven, the surveyor who directed the construction of the walls, drew up two plans; the earliest (1622) depicted a church building in the area of Linen Hall Street whilst his plan of 1625 (drawn up shortly before the construction of the Cathedral commenced) noted that the area between London and Bishop Street was used as private gardens. Before the Cathedral was built the Protestant settlers had met in the 12th century Augustinian abbey known as ‘Dub Regles’ (Black Abbey) which was located in the area between Bishop Street and Society Street (Ó Baoill; Lacey, pp 99-101). The delay in erecting an adequate house of worship resulted in a number of complaints being sent to the London Corporation and in 1628 a Royal Commission reported that ‘although the citizens of London have not hitherto built any church in the city of Londonderry, yet now they have begun to build a fair church there’ (Ordnance Survey Memoirs, pp 102-107). St. Columb’s Cathedral was constructed by The Honourable Irish Society with the foundation stone of the new church being laid in 1628. The society employed a Mr. William Parrott as contractor with the building work placed under the direction of Sir. John Vaughan (Governor of Londonderry – 1611-43); the Cathedral was completed in 1633. A contemporary late-17th century engraving of the south elevation of the Cathedral (included in the Ordnance Survey Memoirs and Ó Baoill) depicts the original form of the building which was a simpler structure that lacked the current spire and chancel and possessed a south-facing entrance porch. In the years prior to the siege of Londonderry the Cathedral’s tower was topped with a wooden spire; however this first spire was dismantled before the siege leaving the roof to its tower completely flat to the extent that cannon were purportedly placed upon it during the siege (UAHS). The Ordnance Survey Memoirs state that the Cathedral was completed at a cost of £4,000; to mark the completion of the building project a stone plaque was installed at the entrance porch which reads: ‘IF STONES COULD SPEAKE / THEN LONDONS PRAYSE / SHOULD SOUND WHO / BUILT THIS CHURCH AND / CITTIE FROM THE GROUND / VAUGHAN AED.’ Prior to the erection of the wooden spire, the bell tower of the Cathedral rose 66 feet in height; the first church bells were installed within the bell tower in 1638. The Cathedral was primarily constructed of locally quarried Derry Schist, with Barony Glen Sandstone employed as a secondary material (Natural Stone Database). Situated on the top of a hill St. Columb’s Cathedral was the tallest building in Londonderry and was a target of the Jacobites during the Siege of Derry (1688-89); the Cathedral currently holds a number of relics from the siege including a hollow mortar ball (which the Jacobites filled with terms of surrender) and the original keys and locks to the city gates that thirteen apprentice boys closed in the face of King James II in 1688, beginning the siege. In the aftermath of the conflict Archbishop William King described the Cathedral in the following terms: ‘The Cathedral … is a goodly fabric … it has an organ, a square steeple, and a good ring of six bells. The lead [of the wooden spire] was preserved (in order to build it again) till the late siege, during which it was used for bullets. The church suffered much in the roof from bombs and other accidents. Their majesties [King William III and Queen Mary II] allowed £200 towards repairing it, and £200 more will not finish the necessary repairs of it’ (OSM). The first major alterations to St. Columb’s Cathedral took place in 1778 when the steeple was raised in height by 21 feet and a new spire installed; the octagonal spire cost £1,000, was crowned with a copper ball and vane, and raised the height of the Cathedral to 228 feet (making the Cathedral 37 feet taller than it is currently). The spire proved too weighty for the structure and was subsequently dismantled in 1802 when cracks were found in the stonework of the tower; the congregation met at the Presbyterian Church on Upper Magazine Street whilst repairs were undertaken and the spire replaced. The current stone spire, as well as the Gothic pinnacles to the steeple, were added in 1822 (Rowan suggests the design was by Dublin-based architect John Bowden); the new octagonal spire was modest compared to its predecessor, lowering the height of the Cathedral to 191 feet and being capped with a simple cross (UAHS; Rowan, pp 376-383). Further structural changes were carried out in the early-19th century. In 1813 the original church bells were recast; a plaque (dated 1815) states that the new bells were hung ‘in place of those presented by his Majesty, Charles the First, which had suffered by time and accident and become totally useless.’ Bishop Knox had the lead roof of the Cathedral reslated in 1822, the south porch was removed in 1825 and in 1827 the eastern turrets (formerly crenellated) were rebuilt to accommodate domes. The interior of the church underwent similar changes in 1829 when the church organ was replaced; the current Baroque church organ case, which was gifted by Bishop Stone and dates from 1745-47, was used to house the new organ (OSM; UAHS; St. Columb’s Cathedral website). By the first edition of the Ordnance Survey map (1830) the ground plan of the Cathedral had not been discernibly altered; the accompanying Memoirs (1837) record that ‘the body of this edifice, which has no transepts, is divided into a central and lateral aisles … the length of the church, independent of the belfry, is 114 feet, the breadth 66, and the height 46 … the belfry [is] 32 feet square. The central east window is divided by mullions into five lights, and has one transom. It is of elegant form and characteristic amplitude [and] contains accommodation for above 1,000 people’ (OSM). The contemporary Townland Valuations (1831) set the total rateable value of the Cathedral at £365 2s. 1d., however this was reduced to £250 under Griffith’s Valuation (1856); the value of the Cathedral remained at this rate between 1856 and the end of the Annual Revisions in 1929 despite the numerous alterations that took place during this period. The most significant structural modifications to the Cathedral were carried out during the Victorian period when the 17th century building took on its current appearance. In 1859-62 Joseph Welland, architect to the Board of First Fruits and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, removed the Georgian galleries from the aisles, refitted the entrance porch in the tower, remodelled the eastern mullioned window, and removed the Cathedral’s box pews (Rowan). A more ambitious building project was undertaken in 1885-87 when John Guy Ferguson, a local architect, extended the Cathedral. Mid-19th century photographs (see Ó Baoill, pp 128) show that the building originally ended on a line with the domed turrets, however in 1885-87 Ferguson added the current chancel which incorporated Welland’s mullioned east window. In additional, Ferguson renovated the interior of the Cathedral, removed the stucco groining in the nave and aisles, remodelled the gallery and restored the roof; a new heating system and the current church organ were also installed at this time (the original 1745-47 church organ case was once again used to house the new organ). In 1889 Sir Thomas Drew was appointed consulting architect to the Cathedral for which he designed a new pulpit and reredos for the new chancel. Drew, who was based in Dublin and was arguably the leading ecclesiastical architect of the period, returned to St. Columb’s Cathedral in 1910 when he designed the current chapter house and vestry at the southwest corner of the building, thereby completed the structural evolution of the building; the current ground plan of the Cathedral has not been significantly altered since 1910 (Rowan, UAHS, Ó Baoill; DIA). Throughout the 20th century a number of minor additions and remedial works were undertaken; R. E. Buchanan carried out general repairs and installed a new roof in 1911, the crenellations and turrets were rebuilt in 1925, and in the same year the organ was renovated. The church bells were taken down and recast in 1929 and in 1933 the current entrance gates were erected on London Street in celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Cathedrals completion. Thomas Drew’s chapter house suffered fire damage in 1935 and further restoration work was undertaken between 1954 and 1968 under the supervision of A. T. Marshall (UAHS; Byrne & McMahon, pp 23; 49-50). St. Columb’s Cathedral was listed Category A in 1976; during the Northern Ireland Troubles the building was the target of repeated bomb attacks which damaged the Cathedral’s stained glass windows. In 2011 a major renovation of the Cathedral was completed at the cost of almost £4 million pounds; this most recent work included the restoration and replacement of the internal and external stonework, restoration of the stained glass windows, the refurbishment of the chapter house and the restoration of the church bells (Cathedral Restoration Report). References Primary Sources 1. Thomas Raven’s plans of Londonderry (1622; 1625) 2. Porter’s plan of Londonderry (1799) 3. PRONI OS/6/5/20/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1830) 4. PRONI OS/6/5/20/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1853) 5. PRONI VAL/1/B/547A-F – Townland Valuations (1831) 6. PRONI VAL/2/B/5/16C – Griffith’s Valuation (1856) 7. PRONI VAL/12/B/32/11A-11ZD – Annual Revisions (1860-1897) 8. PRONI VAL/12/B/33/1A-1B – Annual Revisions (1897-1929) 9. PRONI VAL/3/B/6/11 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1935) 10. PRONI VAL/4/B/5/14 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72) 11. Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Londonderry (1837) 12. Lewis’ Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) 13. Ulster Town Directories (1843-1943) 14. O’Hagan’s plan of Londonderry (1847) 15. First Survey Record – HB01/19/001 (No Date) 16. First Survey Image – HB01/19/001 (No Date) 17. NIEA HB Records – HB01/19/001 18. St. Columb’s Cathedral Restoration Final Report (2011) Secondary Sources 1. Byrne, A; McMahon, S., ‘Derry in old photographs’ Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 2003. 2. Calley, D., ‘City of Derry: An historical gazetteer to the buildings of Londonderry’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2013. 3. Ferguson, W. S; Rowan, A. J; Tracey, J. J., ‘List of historic buildings, groups of buildings, areas of architectural importance in and near the city of Derry’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1970. 4. Lacey, B., ‘Siege city: The story of Derry and Lononderry’ Belfast: The Blackstaff Press, 1990. 5. Lacey, B., ‘Discover Derry’ Londonderry: The Guildhall Press, 2011. 6. Ó Baoill, R., ‘Island city: The archaeology of Derry – Londonderry’ Belfast: Northern Ireland Environment Agency, 2013. 7. Rowan, A. J., ‘The Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster’ London: Yale University Press, 2003. Online Resources 1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie/ 2. Natural Stone Database - http://www.stonedatabase.com//stone_types.cfm?stc=45 3. St. Columb’s Cathedral website - http://www.stcolumbscathedral.org/page5.html

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form H-. Alterations detracting from building H+. Alterations enhancing the building I. Quality and survival of Interior J. Setting K. Group value

Historic Interest

V. Authorship S. Authenticity U. Historic Associations T. Historic Importance R. Age W. Northern Ireland/International Interest Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance Z. Rarity

Evaluation

St. Columb’s Cathedral is the earliest known building within the city of Londonderry having been originally constructed between 1628 and 1633, less than two decades after the Plantation of Ulster (1609) and the laying out of the walled city by the London companies (1613-1619). The building was the first Protestant Cathedral to be constructed in the British Isles following the Reformation and was designed in a contemporary Gothic style. St. Columb’s Cathedral was constructed by The Honourable Irish Society with the foundation stone of the new church being laid in 1628. It was built c.1633 by architect-contractor William Parrott. The exterior has retained much of its character, style and proportions. External additions have been carried out over the years using sympathetic materials, adding to the historic charater. The interior has been largely retained with minimal loss of original historic fabric and character. The cathedral also possesses the oldest peal of bells in Ireland. It has group value with the adjacent Derry Cathedral Primary School (HB 01/19/066) and is of national and international interest.

General Comments

Date of Survey

20 January 2014