Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB20/04/029

Address :
St McNissi's old church (RC) Magheralane Road Randalstown Antrim Co Antrim

Townland:
Ballygrooby

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Survey 2:
B1

Date of Listing:
20/09/1974 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Store

Former Use
Church

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
95/7

IG Ref:
J0861 9051

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Owner Category

Church - RC

Exterior Description And Setting

A cruciform building originally built as a church, with rendered walls and slated roofs, consisting of a nave, transepts, and shallow chancel backed by a pinnacled and crenellated tower. Main entrance in liturgical west end, actually faces south west. Main entrance gable is smooth rendered, lined and blocked, with raised quoins to broad projecting pilasters at each extremity; projecting plinth; projecting stringcourses at intermediate levels; ashlar stonework to upper portion of gable, in raking courses; similar stonework in regular courses to end pinnacles which are Gothic panelled. Gable surmounted by a stone cross with pedestal below inscribed '1824'. Central doorway contains a modern rectangular timber panelled door, recessed in moulded reveals, and surmounted by a raised cross contained within a Gothic arched drip moulding with floreated label stops moulded in render; cement rendered steps to entrance. Entrance flanked each side by raised medallions containing quatrefoil, shield and shamrock motifs in stucco. Above doorway is a large Gothic arched lancet window of modern wired glass, with timber frame, set in plain reveals; moulded drip springing from stringcourse. Roof of Bangor blue slates in regular courses. Each side wall of nave is rendered as previous, with ashlar stonework in regular courses to the top; moulded cornice; gutter of indeterminate material, with PVC downpipe. Nave contains two windows to each side wall but lower one to left-hand side has been later altered to form a doorway. Windows are rectangular timber tripartite sliding sashes, vertically hung, 1 over 1 with horns with Gothic arched heads, set in plain reveals surmounted by moulded labels; windows either boarded up or with modern metal security grilles; glazing where visible is modern wired glass. Ground floor opening in left-hand wall contains a pair of modern rectangular timber panelled doors with a cement rendered panel to the head. Modern metal ventilator grilles set in walls. Liturgical north transept is similar to nave in general form except complete gable is rendered, with quoins to extremities, but no end piers; ashlar pinnacle to west end only, and panelled only on west face; other end of gable has a shaped rendered kneeler only. Gable contains a plain Gothic lancet of modern wired glass, as previous, above a central doorway. Doorway contains a pair of modern rectangular panelled timber doors set in plain reveals surmounted by a rendered date panel inscribed '1894' but only the 4 now remains as a raised numeral; floreated label stops to step-form drip mould. Side wall of transept facing west is of similar character and materials to side wall of nave, including ashlar stonework to top portion; PVC downpipe. Contains two windows, one above the other as previous to nave, upper one originally lighting the gallery. Windows are Gothic headed tripartite sashes as previous to nave, but with security grilles affixed. East side wall of north transept is rendered with roughcast, with smooth rendered plinth and raised quoins to right-hand extremity. Cast iron downpipe. Modern metal ventilator panels. South transept is similar to north except rectangular section cast iron downpipe to west wall; gable has a large pinnacle to each extremity, but only the one to the west is of ashlar stonework, the one to the east being of smooth rendered brickwork; datestone of doorway in gable is inscribed 'Built by the Revd. Peter O'Boyle 1784'. Chancel has both side walls rendered with roughcast; smooth rendered plinth and surrounds to Gothic arched window openings which are now blocked with smooth cement render; projecting granite cills. Moulded rendered cornice; moulded cast iron gutter with cast iron downpipes; new PVC soil pipe to north side. East gable of chancel is of coursed basalt rubble with a projecting granite stringcourse; flush verges to roof. Projecting centrally from the chancel gable is a square belfry tower in coursed basalt rubble with three stages marked by projecting granite stringcourses. Entrance is in ground floor, but elevated, reached by a flight of stone steps. Entrance is a Gothic archway containing a rectangular ledged timber door surmounted by a ledged timber Gothic headed panel. The top stage contains timber louvres in Gothic lancet openings in each face; granite block dressings to openings. Surmounting the belfry stage is a crenellated parapet with four corner pinnacles in ashlar stonework with Gothic panels to outer faces. Flanking the tower at ground level are single storey flat roofed blocks, with rendered walls of roughcast with smooth rendered borders and plinths. The block on the south side contains a Gothic arched doorway to the south and a small Gothic arched window to the east. Window blocked up; doorway contains a new Gothic headed ledged timber door. The block on the north side contains a blocked up Gothic arched window and a similar doorway to the north along with a modern rectangular timber louvred double door. SETTING: The building stands within the built-up area of the town, facing the main road but set back from it within its own grounds which are shared by a former parochial house and a modern church. It stands facing a tarmac area in front which extends from the gateway from the road round to each side of the church. Front boundary formed by a basalt rubble wall rendered to the road, and plain iron railings on a low plinth, in which is set a gateway. Gateway comprises a pair of original spear headed iron gates mounted on plain square rendered piers with sandstone caps; front area bounded to the west by a hedge. To the east it extends to the open grounds around the modern church, but with a single storey parochial house adjacent to the gateway. To the rear is a graveyard containing 19th and 20th century memorials, none of any special interest.

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

Built as a Roman Catholic church, in stages, from 1784 to 1894; consisted originally of a rectangular block standing north and south, comprising the present transepts, built in 1784; western nave added in 1824, when the whole church was "almost rebuilt"; exterior finish in the 1830s described as roughcast, with cut stone pinnacles at its angles and surmounted by a cross, with a gallery in the west end but not in the transepts; date of tower to east uncertain, but appears to be subsequent to 1830s; exterior walls rendered, presumably in 1894 when rendered datestone appears; superseded as the church when a new one was built alongside in 1972, and old church remained vacant until used as a youth club c 1974; by 2000 it had ceased to be used as a youth club and was used as a store. New church destroyed by arsonists in 1997 and a replacement built in 1999 to designs of architects Rooney and McConville, of Belfast. References – Primary Sources 1. Inscription panel dated 1784 over south doorway. 2. Datestone of 1824 in apex of west gable. 3. Datestone of 1894 over north doorway. 4. OS Map 1829, Co Antrim 43. 5. Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland, Vol 19: Parishes of County Antrim VI, 1830, 1833, 1835-8 (Belfast, 1993), pp 43, 82. Secondary Sources 1. Rev J. O'Laverty, An Historical Account of the Diocese of Down and Connor, Ancient and Modern, Vol III (Dublin, 1854), p 321. 2. UAHS, Antrim and Ballymena (Belfast, 1969), p 25.

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form H-. Alterations detracting from building K. Group value

Historic Interest

X. Local Interest Z. Rarity Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance

Evaluation

This is an unusual and rare example of a pre- Catholic emancipation church which was founded in the late 18th century, and was then enlarged over the course of the 19th century to achieve its fully developed form.

General Comments

Date of Survey

07 October 2000