Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB16/06/054

Address :
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MARY ST. ROSTREVOR CO.DOWN

Townland:
Rosstrevor

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Survey 1:
B

Date of Listing:
22/09/1981 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
CHURCH

Former Use
CHURCH

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:

Vernacular:

Thatched:
No

Monument:

Derelict:

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OS Map No:

IG Ref:
J1772 1830

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Owner Category

CHURCH

Exterior Description And Setting

Architects

Historical Information

The Rostrevor Presbyterian congregation was founded in January 1850 with Rev. Thomas Morgan appointed as minister shortly afterwards. Both Morgan’s ordination and worship itself were initially held in St Bronach’s (CoI) parish church. A fundraising campaign for the construction of a purpose-built church was undertaken and the foundation stone of the present church was laid by local landlord David Ross-of-Bladensburg in summer 1851. The building was completed and opened the following year, with the manse (directly behind the church), finished around the same time. The identity of the architect is not known. The church is recorded in the 1861 valuation as measuring 10yds x 17yds 1ft x 2[storeys - although it had ‘no gallery’], with the manse ‘all very neat and nicely finished’ consisting of portions measuring 6yds 1ft x 6yds 1ft x 2 and 4yds 1ft x 5 x 2. Externally, the building appears to have been refurbished in the mid to later 20th century, the most notable change being the replacement of the original roof covering (presumably natural slate) with concrete pan-tiles. MARY STREET - WARRENPOINT ROAD This thoroughfare on the western side of Rostrevor lies along the original route between Kilkeel and Newry, and by the late 1760s it had come to form the western end of the village’s main northeast-southwest axis. A large house is shown in this general vicinity on James Kennedy’s map of 1755, and although the scale of the map makes it difficult to draw any conclusions as to the actual location of this building, it may relate to the fact that the present ‘Old Hall’ (see HB16.06.055A) takes its name from a pre-1800 mansion that is said to have stood on or close to this site. It is possible that this older house may equate to either the ‘castle’ built by Edward Trevor in 1611-12, or that (presumably earlier), said to have belonged to Rory Magennis, that stood ‘near the centre of the town between the main street and the shore’. The south-eastern corner of Mary Street is shown developed on a 1767 estate map, with buildings at the opposite junction with present Green Park Road and several more scattered structures along the southern side of the street depicted on James Williamson’s map of 1810 and on the OS map of 1834. The extent of development did not expand much beyond this until the 1960s, when the housing schemes to the north were created with the equally large schemes to the south following around the turn of the 21st century. Long before this, in 1877, what is now Shore Road was cut to the south of Mary Street in order to carry the Warrenpoint and Rostrevor Tramline. This horse-drawn service ran approximately three miles from Warrenpoint railway station to Rostrevor Quay. It was operated from July 1877 until January 1915, when a combination of falling revenue and damage sustained in a recent storm lead to its closure. References - Primary sources 1 OS map, Co. Down sheet 54, 1834 2 ‘Newry Telegraph’, 28 March 1850, p.3 3 OS map, Co. Down sheet 54, 1860 4 PRONI VAL2B/3/61C (1861) 5 12 OS map, Co. Down sheet 54, 1919 6 13 OS map, Co. Down sheet 54, 1950 7 ‘Belfast News-Letter’, 10 April 1950, p.4 8 OS map, sheet 277, 1979 Secondary sources 9 McCutcheon, W.A, 'The industrial archaeology of Northern Ireland', (HMSO Belfast, 1980), p.163

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

Historic Interest

Evaluation

General Comments

Date of Survey