Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB09/15/001

Address :
St Luran's Church of Ireland Church 96 Church Street Cookstown Co Tyrone BT80 8HX

Townland:
Gortalowry

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Survey 2:
B+

Date of Listing:
24/10/1975 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Church

Former Use
Church

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
124-07

IG Ref:
H8124 7722

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Owner Category

Church - C of I

Exterior Description And Setting

A 19th century church built of sandstone in Gothic Revival style consisting of a two-stage nave, a chancel, and transepts, with a western tower and spire, a small porch on the north side of the nave and a vestry on the north side of the chancel, and a modern lavatory added on to the east end of the chancel. It stands in a built-up area facing the main street of the town but set back from it within its own spacious grounds. The main entrance faces west. The west elevation consists of the two gables of the two stages of the nave, one projecting forward from the other, but itself in turn largely obscured by the tower in front of it. The tower is of square plan, of three storey height, and has diagonal buttresses at the corners which rise to large pinnacles with ball finials. The parapets are crenellated and are supported on a corbel course, and behind them rises a tall octagonal stone spire. The walling of the tower and spire is squared sandstone rubble in regular courses. The main entrance in the west face of the tower contains a pair of rectangular ledged timber doors with decorative ironwork hinges, surmounted by a sheeted timber tympanum, recessed in a Tudor-arched opening above which there is a diamond shaped timber lattice paned window. Above that in the upper part of the tower is a pair of coupled lancet openings containing timber louvres, with canted arched drip mouldings. The side elevations of the tower are of similar design except that there is a pair of coupled small rectangular windows containing leaded glazing in the ground floor, with the diamond shaped panel above blank. The rest of the church beyond the tower is of snecked sandstone rubble with ashlar sandstone dressings. There are diagonal buttresses to all corners, projecting plinths, and small shaped stone corbels to the eaves. Roofs are of Bangor blue slates in regular courses, with decorative ridge cresting. On the ridge of each transept there is a small square stone chimney surmounted by a red pot. Rainwater goods are of cast iron. On the north elevation the nave windows and side windows in the sides of the transept are two-light cusped Gothic-arched, mostly containing small iron lozenge-shaped panes with margins, while the transept gable contains a large three-light cusped Gothic window incorporating a large cinquefoil tracery light, similarly glazed. The north porch has a doorway containing a pair of arched timber boarded doors with decorative ironwork hinges and nail heads set in a chamfered Gothic arch, flanked by lateral buttresses. There is a small Gothic-arched window in each side wall of the porch. The vestry is of lean-to form and contains a rectangular timber boarded door set in a shouldered surround in its exposed north and east faces, along with simple Gothic-headed windows in coupled and triplet form. The east gable of the chancel has a very large four-light cusped Gothic window incorporating a large wheel window, containing stained glass. Below it is a small inappropriate modern lavatory of lean-to form with oversailing eaves, built of rusticated artificial stone, and containing simple Gothic arched doorways and windows which have projecting surrounds not matching the original church. The south elevation of the church is essentially similar to the north except that the wall of the chancel is revealed. It contains three windows, two of which vary in pattern from the two-light windows elsewhere. Most windows on the south elevation contain stained glass. SETTING: The grounds are laid out with lawns to the front and to the south side of the church, with a large tarmac car park area to the rear and to the north. Tarmac forms the immediate surround to the building and has encroached slightly on the plinth of the tower. The front boundary is formed by modern railings on a low stone plinth, and contains two sets of gateways from which two driveways proceed to the main entrance to the church. Between the front boundary and the pavement is a tarmac parking area enclosed by a post and chain fence.

Architects

Historical Information

Built in two main phases, the main entrance tower and spire along with the first bay of the nave all dating from 1822 to the designs of the English architect John Nash, and a cruciform arrangement of later nave, chancel, and transepts, with a north porch, all of 1859-6, by the Dublin architect Joseph Welland, chief architect to the Irish Ecclesiastical Commission from 1843 until 1860. The church of 1822 by Nash comprised, in addition to the tower and spire, a three-bay nave with projecting flat-roofed side chapels at the centre of each side, one containing a pew for the Stewarts of Killymoon, the other containing the pulpit. It was built for £3000 of which Col W. Stewart of Killymoon Castle contributed £500. The interior of that church, which was replaced in 1859-61, was “fitted up in the Saxon style”. A plan, elevations and section of the church, evidently in Nash'sown hand survived in the parish rectorywhere they were copied in the 1970s by the Monuments and Buildings Branch of the DOE. Copies of these drawings are currently held in the MBR, Hill Street. Although not built until 1822, the church by Nash was apparently designed as early as 1814. The 1859-61 portion was built to provide a larger nave to Nash's 1822 original church. In the RCB Library there are a number of plans from the office of the Ecclesiatical Commissioners, including an undated design for the enlargement, probably by Welland, and a ground plan and S elevation signed 'J. Welland & Son'. Further improvemeents were made in 1887 by John Henry Fullerton, including a large addition to the chancel and the provision of a new organ (Contractor James Burnet, Cookstown). The font is dated 1684 and so presumably was brought here in 1822 from the previous church for the parish which still survives, known as Derryloran Old Church, now a roofless ruin on the outskirts of the town. The first church was consecrated on 8 August 1822; the present church was consecrated on 19 November 1861. References – Primary Sources 1.OS Map 1833, Co Tyrone 29. 2. Nash Drawings. Copies in MBR, Hill Street 3. Undated design for enlargement RCB Library, portifolio 2A 4. Welland ground plan c.1859, S elevation, signed 'J. Welland & Son' RCB Library, Ms 139 (C/WP51/Arch) 5. Dublin Builder 1, 1 July 1859, p89 6. Irish Builder, 29, 1st February (1887), p46. Secondary Sources 1.S. Lewis, A topographical dictionary of Ireland (London, 1837), Vol 1, pp 395 and 454. 2.J.B. Leslie, Armagh Clergy and Parishes (Dundalk, 1911), pp 211-214. 3.T. Davis, John Nash: The Prince Regent’s Architect (London, 1966), pp 51 and 106. 4.UAHS, Dungannon and Cookstown (Belfast, 1971), pp 27-30. 5.A.J. Rowan, The Buildings of Ireland: North-West Ulster (Harmondsworth, 1979), p 215. 6.M. Mansbridge, John Nash: A complete catalogue (London, 1991), p 241, cat no 205. 7.C.J. Donnelly, Living Places (Belfast, 1997), pp 109-110.

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form I. Quality and survival of Interior J. Setting

Historic Interest

V. Authorship X. Local Interest Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance

Evaluation

This is an impressive stone-built 19th century church in Gothic Revival style consisting of two main phases of building, a main entrance tower and spire, along with the first bay of the nave, all dating from 1822 to the designs of the famous English architect John Nash, and a cruciform arrangement of later nave, chancel, and transepts, with a north porch, all of 1859-61 and attributed to the well known Dublin architect Joseph Welland. It has a plan typical of its period, with an appropriate degree of ornamentation for its style, including some good quality stained glass windows. Its interior is almost entirely unspoiled and displays a very impressive roof of King-post trusses. Despite a few later inappropriate alterations and additions, it stands as an impressive example of its type, enjoying a prominent position in its urban setting, with an architectural interest which extends to the national context due to the involvement of John Nash.

General Comments

Date of Survey

02 November 2007