Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB19/20/007

Address :
Dunmurry Presbyterian Church Ashley Park Dunmurry County Antrim

Townland:
Dunmurry

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Survey 2:
B+

Date of Listing:
03/12/1990 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:
146/15

IG Ref:
J2879 6876

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Owner Category

Commercial

Exterior Description And Setting

Free-standing double-height polychromatic brick Presbyterian Church with four-stage entrance tower, dated 1860. T-shaped on plan facing east, located on an elevated site to the southwest of Ashley Park and to the northwest of Queensway and the railway line. Pitched natural slate roof with roll-moulded terracotta ridge tiles set slightly below masonry coping to lead-lined gable ends. Moulded cast-iron guttering to deep yellowbrick eaves cornice and cast-iron downpipes. Redbrick walling laid in Flemish bond with yellowbrick corner pilasters and plinth course. Round-headed stepped window openings with yellowbrick decoration and continuous moulded render impost moulding and moulded render sills with yellowbrick aprons. Leaded coloured fixed-pane glazing throughout. Front gable abutted by slender square-plan four-stage polychromatic brick tower having steeply pitched and sprocketed pyramidal roof with rolled lead ridges and fish-scale natural slate covering, each pitch being broken by a small lead-lined gable to each elevation with deep corbelled yellowbrick cornice. Uninterrupted yellowbrick corner piers flank each elevation to the tower with paired round-headed window openings to the upper stage (on all four sides) formed in polychromatic brick and angled yellowbrick hood moulding with a central squat column and stiff-leaf capital all flanked by yellowbrick piers and matching stiff-leaf capitals. Angled oculus above paired windows and yellowbrick apron below. Below the upper stage window is a large yellowbrick oculus with timber louvres. The second stage has a further round-headed window opening with paired slender window openings and central squat column with stiff-leaf capital within recessed red sandstone panel and corbelled sandstone sill. Round-headed door opening with polychromatic brick arch having original double-leaf timber panelled doors and leaded fanlight flanked by columns on raised plinth blocks and stiff-leaf capitals. Door opens onto three stone steps to front bitmac area. Above the door opening is a stone date plaque with angled yellowbrick frame stating; 'MDCCCLX' To either side of tower is a round-headed window opening, as per nave elevations, now obscured by flat-roofed redbrick accretions, each having three round-headed window openings and leaded glazing. South nave elevation is three windows wide with a central pedimented breakfront having full-height yellowbrick corner piers and paired window openings, as per above, and blind polychromatic oculus above. The transepts to the rear project well beyond the nave elevation as large gables, detailed as per nave elevation with a pair of diminutive round-headed window openings to the basement level, detailed as per nave windows and a further window opening to the re-entrant angle. West rear elevation formed by two rear elevations to the transepts with a central plain redbrick pier and two windows to either side, detailed as per nave elevation. This elevation also has a series of round-headed window and door openings to the basement level, detailed as per above with timber sash windows having margin lights and vertically-sheeted woodgrained timber doors. North nave elevation as per south nave. Setting: Set on an elevated site to the southwest of Ashley Park and to the northwest of Queensway overlooking the railway line. Set in a mature landscaped
setting now enclosed by modern security railings. Former two-storey brick manse to the northwest also built in polychromatic brick. Materials Roof Natural slate RWG Cast-iron Walling Redbrick with yellowbrick dressings Windows Leaded coloured glass

Architects

Corry, John Young & Mackenzie

Historical Information

This Presbyterian Church at Dunmurry first appears on the third Ordnance Survey map for the area (1901) where it is depicted as an L-shaped building situated near the modern Kingsway road, and in the vicinity of an old Unitarian Meeting House which appears in the area from the first Ordnance Survey (1832). Dunmurry Presbyterian Church does not appear on the second edition map of 1858, however it is recorded in Griffith’s Valuation of 1860 as a ‘Presbyterian Meeting House’ valued at £6 and let by a Mr. Samuel Duffield. The earlier Unitarian Church is recorded separately; the construction date of the Presbyterian Church therefore rests sometime between 1858 and 1860. In 1903 the Irish Builder recorded that the Church was enlarged by Messers Young and Mackenzie, the most successful architects of the period based in Belfast and leading designers for the Presbyterian Church. Young and Mackenzie built many Churches in Ulster including the Presbyterian Assembly Building. By the fourth edition of the Ordnance Survey maps (1920-21) the rear chancel of the church had been added.; the architect’s specifications tell us that a new roof was also installed at this time. The Irish Builder states that in 1931 a Church Hall was added to the church by Messers Ferguson and McIlveen, who were known for constructing private houses in the years before the Second World War (Irish Builder Vol. 45, 4 June 1903, p. 1810). Kelly tells us that the church congregation was originally formed between 1676 and 1683; however he does not specify where it met. In 1829 the Rev. Henry Montgomery led a large number of his congregation in seceding from the Synod of Ulster whilst retaining possession of the church and manse (Kelly, p. 152). In response to this schism a new congregation was organised for the Synod by the Rev. Dr. John Edgar in March 1860; the Rev. Robert James Arnold was installed as its first minister later in that year. This new congregation was established in the wake of the 1859 Revival, a period of great religious renewal throughout Ulster. Kelly tells us that the church built in 1860 was only a temporary structure and that the present church was constructed in 1863 along with a school house and a teacher’s residence. The First Survey record states that the architect of Dunmurry Presbyterian Church was John Corry (1831-1908), a Belfast based amateur architect who also designed Elmwood Presbyterian Church in Belfast during the same period. The church hall was greatly extended at the cost of £20,000 during the incumbency of the Rev. William Cowper Lynas (1961-1989); however, this hall was destroyed during a sectarian bomb attack in 1971. A new hall was constructed in 1973 and in 1990 the Church was listed (NIEA File). The current Rector, the Rev. John Braithwaite, replaced Lynas in 1990 and in 2008 both the church and the manse were sold to make way for the construction of a new modern Church building. The congregation continued to have the use of the church until the end of 2010 when the new building was expected to be completed. Field research has found that the new owners intend to convert the church into offices or a number of private apartments. Dunmurry Presbyterian Church is one of many churches that sprung up throughout Ulster in the mid-19th century, a result of the 1859 Religious Revival; it is also notable as it was erected in an attempt to restore a weakened congregation after many of its members seceded from the Synod of Ulster in 1829. References: Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/1/64/1 – First Edition OS Map 1832 - 1833 2. PRONI OS/6/1/64/2 – Second Edition OS Map 1858 3. PRONI OS/6/1/64/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1901 4. PRONI OS/6/1/64/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1920-1921 5. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/20 – Griffith’s Valuation 1859 6. PRONI D2194/60/1 – Specification of works to carried out at Dunmurry Presbyterian Church. 7. Irish Builder Vol. 45, 4 June 1903, p. 1810 (Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie/). Secondary Sources 1. Kelly, D., ‘Lisburn’s rich church heritage: Churches and places of worship in the Lisburn city area’ Lisburn: Impression Print and Design, 2009. 2. First Survey Records – HB19/20/007. 3. NIEA file – HB19/20/007. Online Resources 1. Dunmurry Presbyterian Church website – http://www.lisburn.com/churches/Lisburn-churches/dunmurry-presbyterian-church.html

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

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

Historic Interest

V. Authorship R. Age S. Authenticity T. Historic Importance X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Free-standing Presbyterian church with four-stage entrance tower dated 1860 to designs by John Corry, extended 1903 by Young & Mackenzie. Located within a mature landscaped setting, the church holds a prominent position overlooking Kingsway in Dunmurry. The unusual use of polychromatic brick, well ordered fenestration, robust detailing and emphatically vertical composition make this a unique church with a particularly striking tower placed centrally on the main facade. Cruciform on plan and largely symmetrical and with relatively intact interior, the building is a good example of an ecclectic style mid-Victorian church, with both Romanesque and Gothic influences. Its associated manse in the same polychromatic brick survives within the church grounds. Erected following the 1859 Religious Revival, it is of social and cultural importance to the local community.

General Comments

This record was completed without access to original source material held by the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.

Date of Survey

01 February 2010