Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB05/04/020

Address :
Culfeightrin Parish Church Cushendall Road Ballyvoy Co. Antrim BT54 6QY

Townland:
Ballynaglogh

---

Survey 2:
B1

Date of Listing:
23/10/1980 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Church

Former Use
Church

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
Yes

Derelict:
No

---

OS Map No:
9/9NE

IG Ref:
D1477 4077

---

Owner Category

Church - C of I

Exterior Description And Setting

Free-standing double-height stone Gothic revival Church of Ireland Church, erected c.1831. Rectangular on plan facing approximately west with gabled entrance porch attached to west gable and gabled chancel projection to east gable with small vestry to the northeast. Set on an elevated site on the north side of Cushendall Road. Pitched natural slate roof with roll-moulded black clay ridge tiles and set behind slightly raised gables with saddleback sandstone coping. Replacement metal guttering supported on iron brackets and replacement steel downpipes. Random coursed rough-hewn squared basalt walling with tooled squared sandstone quoins and plinth course and lime pointing. Lancet window openings with projecting sandstone ashlar surrounds, splayed flush sills and metal-framed leaded windows with coloured glazed panels and storm glazing. Gabled west front elevation surmounted by sandstone bell-cote having iron bell and flanked by full-height octagonal sandstone ashlar piers surmounted by tapered pinnacles. Full-height slender lancets to the west gable flank the lower gabled entrance porch having a single lancet to the front (west) elevation and a pointed-arched door opening to the south cheek with stop-chamfered sandstone ashlar surround and deep set pointed-arched door opening having original pine door with nine stop-chamfered flat panels and leaded glazed overlight. North nave elevation is two windows wide with rough-cast rendered walling. Recent single storey gabled extension, also constructed in basalt, to north face of entrance porch. To opposite end of north elevation, a modern lean-to abuts the building. Gabled east elevation has a central gabled chancel projection with Tudor-arched east window opening having chamfered sandstone surround, triple-light stone tracery with leaded and coloured glazing. To the northeast re-entrant angle is a lower gabled vestry with an early paired lancet window opening having iron latticed glazing. Modern lean-to at opposite side of chancel. Two-bay south nave elevation. Materials Roof Natural slate RWG Replacement metal Walling Random coursed rough-hewn squared basalt / rough-cast render Windows Steel-frame leaded Setting: Located on an elevated site on the north side of Cushendall Road surrounded by graveyard, enclosed by rubblestone walls and accessed via winding gravel driveway opening onto the road via pair of wrought-iron gates hung on square-plan stone piers with pyramidal capstones. Within the graveyard is a scheduled monument ANT 009:008, comprised of standing pre-historic stones and bronze age cists.

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

Culfeightrin Parish Church, a basalt Gothic Revival-style Church of Ireland building located in the townland of Ballynaglogh, was constructed in 1830-31. The Ordnance Survey Memoirs (1835) described the church as ‘a well-finished building. The windows are Gothic and have cutstone mouldings and there is a handsome little cutstone spire over the doorway.’ Lewis’ Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) records that the church, ‘a neat edifice in the later English style,’ was built with the aid of a £600 loan from the Board of First Fruits and was erected on the site of the medieval Parish Church of Culfeightrin. Three ancient basalt standing stones located within the graveyard of the church (two standing and one utilised as a grave marker) indicate the importance of the site which has been occupied since prehistoric times. The architect of Culfeightrin Parish Church is unknown, however the Natural Stone Database notes that the building was constructed utilising locally-quarried Basalt with Ballycastle Sandstone used as a secondary material. Construction of Culfeightrin Parish Church began in 1830 and the church was officially dedicated in the following year (Lewis; DIA; NSD). The church was originally recorded on the first edition Ordnance Survey map (1832) which depicted it along its current layout. The contemporary Townland Valuation (c. 1834) set the value of the church at £7 and 12 shillings (exempt from taxation). There was little change to the layout of the church by the second edition Ordnance Survey map (1857) but Griffith’s Valuation (c. 1859) increased the value of the site to £10 and noted that the land on which the church was constructed was leased by a Mr. John McGilloway. There were few further changes made to the church over the following century and Culfeightrin Parish Church appears to have remained remarkably unaltered since its construction. The value of the church was raised to £30 under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57), but this was lowered to £24 by the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72). In 1972 the UAHS Guide for the Glens of Antrim described Culfeightrin Parish Church in the following terms: ‘A very simple stone belfried building, with extremely tall, slim, narrow lancet windows, and two needle-sharp pinnacles at the west end; porch somewhat late; the architraves in a softer yellowish sandstone, now much weathered.’ Culfeightrin Parish Church was listed in 1980 (UAHS Guide, pp 54-55; NIEA HB Records). References Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/1/9/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1832) 2. PRONI OS/6/1/9/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1857) 3. PRONI OS/6/1/9/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1903-04) 4. PRONI OS/6/1/9/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1922-31) 5. PRONI VAL/1/A/1/9 – Townland Valuation Map (c. 1832) 6. PRONI VAL/1/B/133 – Townland Valuations (c. 1830) 7. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/27A – Griffith’s Valuation (c. 1859) 8. PRONI VAL/12/B/2/11A-F – Annual Revisions (1864-1929) 9. PRONI VAL/3/C/1/5 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) 10. PRONI VAL/4/B/1/11 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72) 11. Ordnance Survey Memoirs; Co. Antrim (1835) 12. Lewis’ Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) 13. Ulster Town Directories (1861-1918) 14. First Survey Record – HB05/04/020 (1972) 15. NIEA HB Records – HB05/04/020 Secondary Sources 1. ‘The Church of Ireland: An illustrated history’ Booklink, 2013. 2. Brett, C. E. B., ‘List of historic buildings, groups of buildings and areas of architectural importance in the Glens of Antrim’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1972. Online Resources 1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie/ 2. Natural Stone Database - http://www.stonedatabase.com/

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation J. Setting

Historic Interest

Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance R. Age S. Authenticity T. Historic Importance X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Free-standing basalt stone Gothic revival church, erected c.1831 on an elevated site on the Cushendall Road. Modestly scaled and of simple gabled form, the principal façade faces west with projecting entrance porch; and projecting chancel to east. The church is symmetrical, embellished with restrained Gothic detailing in yellow sandstone that largely determines its character. The standing stone (ANT 009:008) at the church entrance clearly indicates the prehistoric importance of this site which retains its religious function to the present day and adds great interest to the religious traditions of the local community. Orientated parallel to the road, the church sits prominently within a walled graveyard and the gate screen that marks its entrance significantly enhances the character of its setting.

General Comments

Date of Survey

15 June 2015