Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB26/15/008

Address :
St Polycarps Church Of Ireland Church Upper Lisburn Road Belfast County Antrim BT10 0BB

Townland:
Ballyfinaghy

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Survey 2:
B1

Date of Listing:
31/01/1992 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:
146-12

IG Ref:
J3063 7013

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Owner Category

Church - C of I

Exterior Description And Setting

A double-height gabled Gothic-revival style sandstone church, dating from 1930-1932 to designs by architect P. M. Jury of the Blackwood & Jury firm and constructed by the local firm J & R Thompson. Rectangular plan set on a west-east axis with a single-storey lean-to entrance porch to west, a gabled baptistry to northwest corner and a square plan tower to southwest corner. Located in its own grounds to the south side of Lisburn road. Pitched natural slate roof with raised stone verges and cross to apex. Lean-to natural slate roof to aisles. Moulded cornice supporting cast iron ogee guttering discharging to rectangular-section downpipes. Walling laid to random coursed rock-faced Scrabo sandstone with red Aspatria sandstone dressings and chamfered plinth course. Perpendicular tracery windows with stained leaded glazing. The gabled principal elevation faces west with a projecting single storey porch to centre flanked by a single-storey outshot with hipped slate roof and curved end to north and the square-plan four-stage tower with octagonal belfry to southwest corner. The main gable has a large three-part tracery window with carved stone supporting blocks to sill. Pointed arch door opening set within square-headed stone surround having double timber panelled door opening onto four stone steps. The outshot to north end has a smaller gable facing north with a four-part tracery window and a blind gable facing south. Angled two-stage buttresses topped by gablets. The west face of the tower has a two-part square-headed window to first stage and a square-headed window above. The south face has a projecting octagonal plan stair-tower with two round-arch windows and tapering stone roof; square-headed window to second stage and red sandstone carved band to the base of the belfry. The octagonal belfry has four lancet louvred openings and is topped by a castellated parapet. Three-stage diagonal buttresses to corners. The north elevation consists of the four-bay north aisle with the curved outshot to west and the chancel to east with two projecting gabled outshots. Each bay has a three-part tracery window and is separated by two-stage buttresses. Square-headed windows to the curved outshot. Four square-headed three-part clerestory windows to nave. The projecting gabled outshot to east of the aisle is flanked by two-stage buttresses and has a square-headed door opening with segmental-arched sheeted timber doors opening onto four stone steps. There is a small square-headed window to the west of the door with clear leaded glazing and a hexagonal chimney on a square base to apex. The gabled outshot directly to the east is slightly lower and has a two-part square-headed window with clear leaded glazing. Square headed door opening onto a small platform below ground level fenced with iron railings. The church is abutted to the east by a single-storey flat roofed modern corridor connecting the church to a double-height pitched roof modern hall dating from 1960 (of little interest). The east elevation is gabled with kneelers and has a large three-part tracery window with a moulded hood. Angled buttresses to corners and stone cross to apex. The south elevation consists of the four-bay south aisle and tower to west and the south elevation of the chancel with a projecting gabled outshot to east. Each bay of the four bay aisle is separated by a two-stage buttress and has a three-part tracery window. Four square-headed three-part windows to high level to nave. Angled buttresses to gabled outshot. Two-part square-headed window with clear leaded glazing to south end of chancel. The church is located within its own grounds with the adjoining 1960s Hall to east, a second Hall dating from c.1970 to southeast and two memorials to northwest. Square plan plots to both memorials surrounded by dwarf stone wall; geometrically arranged horizontally laid plaques within, some carved with inscriptions. Partly lawned with tarmac parking space to south, the site is enclosed by a hedge on all sides. Two replacement gates on the Lisburn road entrance are supported on caged square-plan pillars. Materials: Roof Natural slate RWG Cast iron Walling Scrabo sandstone with Aspatria stone dressings Windows Leaded stained glass

Architects

Historical Information

The growth of Belfast’s suburbs in the interwar years led to the building of new churches and formation of new congregations. The Finaghy area was one district that witnessed rapid expansion in the 1920s and 1930s. In the mid 1920s the Church of Ireland began a Sunday School in Finaghy school-house (afterwards the Hamill Memorial Hall). The work progressed and in 1928 Rev. F. J. Mitchell was appointed curate-in-charge of Finaghy. The first Sunday service was held on 29 April 1928 in the school-house. In 1929 services were transferred to Finaghy Recreation Hall. Having decided to build a church for the new parish, a site on the Lisburn Road was acquired from W. Martin. Tenders for the design of the new church were invited in September 1929. The plans prepared by Morgan Jury of the firm Blackwood and Jury were accepted and on 27 September 1930 the foundation stone of the new church was laid by Sir Robert Ewart. The building work was carried out by the firm J. & R. Thompson of Roden Street, Belfast (which also built the nearby and contemporary Lowe Memorial Presbyterian Church). The Representative Church Body provided £9,000 towards the building costs, and the Diocesan Church Extension Committee another £2,260. The parishioners had to find £2,000 towards the basic structure. The vestry and organ chamber cost another £1,150, the pews £621, and organ itself £350 (a Compton organ was acquired). The new church was consecrated on 2 April 1932 – one of ten Anglican churches in Belfast to be dedicated in the period 1930-33. The new church was dedicated to St Polycarp, a 2nd Century bishop of Smyrna, in what is now Turkey, who died a martyr in AD 155. This saint had been chosen by Archdeacon John Frederick MacNeice. The new church was designed in the Gothic style and built of Ballycullen sandstone with red Aspatria dressings. In discussing the new churches built in this area during this period, Larmour (p. 83) comments, ‘All show the dominance of traditional styles in ecclesiastical work of the time’. The stained-glass windows were made by Shrigley and Hunt of Lancaster. They follow a common theme showing the life of Christ from the Annunciation to the Ascension. In January 1940 MacNeice, by this time bishop of Down, Connor and Dromore, dedicated the east window; this shows the ascended Christ in the centre light with St Patrick and St Polycarp in the side lights. In 1960 a new church hall was built at a cost of around £16,500 to designs by K. Kenmuir. It was dedicated in February 1961 named the Canon Butler Hall. In 1968 new electrical heating was installed in the church. In the same year a new organ by Smethurst & Co. of Manchester was installed at a cost of £5,000. In 1971 a new minor hall was built at a cost of £14,000. The oak choir stalls in the chancel were installed in memory of Canon Butler. Alterations in the late 1970s included the creation of a side chapel. In 1992 repairs to the church included cleaning and repointing the stonework, and reroofing the church using the original slates. References Public Record Office of Northern Ireland First Northern Ireland General Revaluation Books – VAL/3/B/1/15 (1935-1954) Ordnance Survey 6-inch maps – OS/6/1/64/6 (1920-1939) Northern Ireland Environment Agency First Survey Record – HB/26/15/008 HB Records – HB/26/15/008 Published sources John Frederick MacNeice, The Church of Ireland in Belfast (Belfast, 1931) – includes perspective view of exterior John Frederick MacNeice, Some Northern Churchmen and Some Notes on the Church in Belfast (Belfast, 1934) Ernest V. Scott, Churches of the Diocese of Connor: an illustrated history (no date) James R. Hall, St Polycarp’s Church, Finaghy: the first fifty years, 1932-1982 (no date) Paul Larmour, Belfast: an illustrated architectural guide (Belfast, 1987) Online sources Church website: http://stpolycarpsfinaghy.com Natural Stone Database: www.stonedatabase.com Dictionary of Irish Architects: www.dia.ie (which
references the following editions of the Irish Builder: 28 September 1929, 27 February, 10 September, 19 November 1932)

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

Evaluation

A very good example of a Gothic-revival style church dating from 1932 to designs by architect P. M. Jury of the firm Blackwood & Jury and constructed by local builders J & R Thompson and still retaining its character, style and proportion. Rectangular plan set on a west-east axis with a single-storey lean-to roof porch to north, a gabled baptistery/outshot to northwest corner and a square plan tower to southwest corner. Pitched natural slate roof, walling laid to Scrabo sandstone with red Aspatria sandstone dressings. Elaborate perpendicular tracery windows throughout with stained leaded glazing. The main body of the church comprises a double-height four-bay nave, north and south aisles. Beyond the segmental chancel arch is a two-bay chancel. The most notable characteristic of the church’s interior are the stained glass windows; having elaborate depictions of the life of Christ from the Annunciation to the Ascension.

General Comments

Date of Survey

10 February 2014