Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB25/13/002

Address :
Castlereagh Presbyterian Church 79 Church Road Castlereagh Belfast County Antrim BT6 9SA

Townland:
Castlereagh

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Survey 2:
B+

Date of Listing:
07/07/1986 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:

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OS Map No:
147/7SW

IG Ref:
J3744 7085

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Owner Category

Church - Presbyterian

Exterior Description And Setting

A symmetrical double-height Presbyterian Church in the Greek-revival style with bell tower, built c.1835 to designs by John Millar on the site of an earlier church, and located on the west side of Church Road, Castlereagh. T-shaped plan with entrance bay (higher) and two-storey modern extension to rear. Pitched natural slate roof with blue/black angled ridge tiles and rendered bell-cote to hipped east end. Cast-iron half-round rainwater goods. Walling is painted smooth render with a chamfered base. Windows are leaded-and-stained glass timber casements to ground floor and round-headed multi-paned casements to upper floor. East-facing with distyle in antis Ionic portico (right capital head is a replacement); antae framed by pilasters; entablature and parapet with central piers supporting a square podium with oculus to four sides; circular turret with eight facets divided by pilasters and surmounted by a moulded entablature, copper cupola and ball finial. Antae cheeks each have a 3/3 window with side-lights to first floor and modern timber double-leaf doors to ground floor. The south elevation is four windows wide to each floor. The west (rear) elevation is almost entirely abutted by the modern extension. The north elevation is four windows wide to each floor. Setting: Situated on a large site with mature trees overlooking Belfast to west; cemetery to south acced via a set of rough-cast rendered Ulster gate piers with a variety of tombs and headstones, the earliest dating from 1779. Bounded to road to east by original gates and railings having fluted round piers with Greek-key frieze, topped by round masonry caps and surmounted by ornate urns. Lawned to front with central pathway. Tarmacadamed car-park and meeting house to north. Roof: Natural slate Walling: Smooth render Windows: Leaded-and-stained glass RWG: Cast-iron

Architects

Millar, John

Historical Information

The present church building dates from 1834-5 and was erected for Castlereagh congregation to the designs of John Millar, architect of several Presbyterian churches in a neo-Greek style including Antrim and Portaferry. (Belfast Newsletter; www.dia.ie) There has been a congregation in Castlereagh district since at least 1652 when it is thought the first minister, Rev Hugh Wilson, a native of Scotland, was ordained. The congregation was originally a joint charge, with one section worshipping at Knock and the other at Breda. However, the congregation came together in 1720 to erect a church on the present site and from that time became known as Castlereagh. (History of Congregations) An engraved tablet in the porch of the current building suggests that the church of 1720 may have been replaced or remodelled in 1754, but further evidence for this is lacking. All the Presbyterian churches on the County Down side of Belfast are daughters of this first church, which was the only Presbyterian church in the district for many years. (Little) The ‘Meeting House’ shown on the first edition of 1834 is T-shaped in plan and would appear to be an earlier church on the site. The church is listed in the Townland Valuation (1828-40) as a ‘Presbyterian Meeting House’, with return, valued at £9.6s. Dimensions are also given for a session house, caretaker’s house and carriage house. Structures shown to the north of the church on the OS map of 1834, some of which appear to have survived to the present day, may correspond to these buildings. In 1826 a school house was built which is shown on the first edition OS map to the north of the church and was later (1939) converted to a church hall. With the expansion of population into the surrounding area as Belfast began to become more prosperous, the old church became insufficient for the needs of the congregation. Building work on the new church, under the supervision of the architect John Millar, commenced in June 1834 and the building was opened on 16th August 1835. (Belfast Newsletter) The Northern Whig commented at the time “This house…has been erected at a very heavy expense, by the exertions of the congregation and the friends of their respected Pastor, the Rev. Mr Haslett. The new house has been erected from a design and under the superintendance of our talented young townsman, Mr John Millar, architect, to whom the lovers of classical architecture owe a debt of gratitude. This house does the utmost credit to Mr Millar’s talents. Viewed in its design, its altitude, or even its decorations, as a whole, or in part, it pleases the eye and satisfies the taste. It is adorned by a Belfry (the first instance of the kind we know of, on a Presbyterian house of worship, in Ireland), whose picturesque appearance, and commanding situation, render it very conspicuous”. (Northern Whig) However the OS Memoirs spoke rather more disparagingly about the process that lead to the completion of the new church, “The parishioners who held seats in the former old meeting house were obliged to raise 300 pounds. There was 1,100 pounds raised by subscription, making the total amount of the cost 1,400 pounds. They employed some country architect to execute the plan and before 6 months it almost fell to the ground. It is now partly refinished. There are 47 seats in the gallery and 68 in the aisle. It is capable of containing 800 persons, there is 700 of a congregation.” (OS Memoirs) Larmour has expressed the opinion that the idiosyncratic Ionic capitals used by Millar on the portico, which derive from, “the interior columns of the Temple of Epicurus at Bassae…may be the earliest external use of the order in the British Isles. Millar would have known the details from the plates in the fourth volume of ‘The antiquities of Athens’, published in 1830, of which he had a copy.” (Larmour, quoted in Brett) Griffith’s Valuation (1861) gives dimensions for a Presbyterian Church with return and sexton’s house, valuing the whole at £50 for the buildings and £2 for the graveyard. The new church first appears on the second edition of 1858, captioned ‘Meeting Ho[use]’. The gates and railings are not mentioned in primary sources but stylistically would appear to have been built at around the same time as the church itself. A manse was erected and a church bell presented in 1874. During the ministry of the Rev John Boyd Thomson (1877-1915) the church was ‘thoroughly renovated’. It was renovated again in the 1930s and a new church room was erected at the rear. A pipe-organ was installed c1920 and Mr Robert McDowell presented a clock. (Little) During the ministry of Rev James Little (1915-46), a sexton’s house was erected as a First World War Memorial and this is reflected in a rise in the valuation of the church buildings to £58 in 1922. The Rev James Little was a particularly distinguished minister, serving as MP for County Down from 1939 until his death in 1946. (Little; History of Congregations; Kirkpatrick) A larger church hall was built on a site opposite the church in 1966 and a minor hall shortly afterwards. (History of Congregations) A three-storey extension, housing administrative facilities, was added to the rear of the church in 2001, replacing the church’s original rear return and a previous extension. (Griffith’s Valuation; Brett) References: Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/3/9/1 – First Edition OS Map 1834 2. PRONI OS/6/3/9/2 – Second Edition OS map 1858 3. PRONI OS/6/3/9/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1901-2 4. PRONI OS/6/3/9/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1920-21 5. PRONI OS/6/3/9/5 – Fifth Edition OS Map 1920-31 6. PRONI VAL/1/B/332 – Townland Valuation (1828-40) 7. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/18D – Griffith’s Valuation (1860) 8. PRONI VAL/12/B/17/6A-H – Annual Revisions (1863-1930) 9. PRONI VAL/12/F/4/4/2 – Annual Revisions (1930-35) 10. Belfast Newsletter, 21st August 1835 11. Northern Whig, 13th August 1835 Secondary Sources 1. “A History of Congregations in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland 1610-1982” authorised by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Belfast: Presbyterian Historical Society of Ireland, 1982 (available at www.presbyterianhistoryireland.com) 2. Brett, C.E.B. “Buildings of North County Down” Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2002 3. Day, A. and P. McWilliams, eds. “OS Memoirs of Ireland, Parishes of County Down II, 1832-4, 1837, Vol. 7.” Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies, 1991. 4. Kirkpatrick, L “Presbyterians in Ireland, An Illustrated History” Ireland: Booklink, 2006 5. Little, J “Castlereagh Presbyterian Church 1650-1935, The Story of an Historic Church” Belfast: John Adams, 1935 6. www.dia.ie

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 K. Group value

Historic Interest

R. Age S. Authenticity T. Historic Importance Z. Rarity V. Authorship W. Northern Ireland/International Interest Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance

Evaluation

A symmetrical double-height Presbyterian Church in the Greek-revival style with bell tower, built c.1835 to designs of John Millar on the site of an earlier church, and located to the west side of Church Road, Castlereagh. A well-preserved example of Millar's ecclesiastical design, in his preferred neo-classical style, and a precursor to the distinguished Portaferry Presbyterian Church (1841). Of particular interest is the belfry which appears to be the first example of its type on a Presbyterian church in Ireland. A modern extension has been added to the rear in recent years, replacing an original return. The interior is relatively unchanged, retaining a typical Victorian interior including box pews. Situated on an attractive mature elevated site with a cemetery to south, sexton’s house to north, and original boundary wall, gates and railings to east, all add to the historic integrity of the site. Of special architectural and historic interest by a prominent local architect, the church is also of social interest to the local community.

General Comments

Now incorporates HB25/13/003

Date of Survey

09 May 2011