Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB24/16/053

Address :
Ravara Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church, Saintfield Road, Ravara, Ballygowan, Co. Down BT23 6HB

Townland:
Ravara

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Survey 2:
B1

Date of Listing:
04/03/1977 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:
167/9

IG Ref:
J4255 6302

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Owner Category

Church - Other

Exterior Description And Setting

Small, single storey (with upper room above porch/lobby), hipped roof church of 1838, set on a slight rise to the E side of the Saintfield Road, half a mile SW of Ballygowan. The building is rectangular in plan an the entrance is located on the short N facade. The entrance consists of a broad, timber sheeted door, with two steps and a plain stone surround. Directly above it is a small double sash window, with Georgian panes. To both the longer E and W facades there are four tall, narrow sash windows with small Georgian panes. The Short S facade is blank. The entire facade is finished in rough cast with smooth render to base and to wall edges. The facade is painted an attractive [?and historically correct], light ‘terracotta’ tone. The hipped roof is covered Bangor blue slates with red clay ridge tiles. The presence of such ridge tiles suggests the roof may have been re-slated in the [?mid] 20th century. Cast iron rw goods. Small graveyard to N with a small number of headstones (c.11), the earliest dating from 1851. Simple gate screen to roadside with what may be original wrought iron gates.

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

The Ravara ‘Unitarian’ or Non-subscribing Presbyterian congregation was founded in 1837, the period just after the ‘Arian’ or ‘New Light’ controversy had reached a head. The church was built the same year, apparently by the same builders who went on to construct near by Ballygowan Presbyterian church the following year. A service is now held in this church only once a month. Primary sources 1 PRONI OS map 1st rev. 1858, Co. Down 16. Secondary sources 1 ‘Ballygowan Presbyterian Church…1838-1938’ (Belfast 1938), pp.3-4. 2 R.S.J. Clarke ‘Gravestone Inscriptions…Vol.5’ (UHF 1970), pp.115-117.

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

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

Evaluation

Charmingly plain and unassuming single storey Non-subscribing Presbyterian church of 1837 with hipped roof and largely original interior.

General Comments

Date of Survey

27 January 1999