Whitehouse Presbyterian Church, 143-145 Shore Road, Newtownabbey, Co Antrim, BT37 9SY

Whitehouse Presbyterian Church is a double-height Venetian Gothic brick Presbyterian church built around 1865, located on the east side of Shore Road in Whitehouse. The church was largely destroyed by fire in August 2002 and underwent substantial rebuilding from 2005 onwards, with further flood damage to the interior occurring in 2008.

The surviving structure comprises the original gabled west front flanked by lower two-storey wings, abutted by a single-storey flat-roofed vestibule. The remainder of the church is of modern construction designed to support rather than compete with the historic elements. The pitched roof uses natural slate with lead ridges.

The walling is Flemish-bonded red brick with a brick plinth to the vestibule and square basalt plinth to the wings. The wings have sandstone platbands at ground and first floor cill level and at window arch springing level, with corners featuring stop-end chamfered detailing and cusped gablets. Windows throughout are cusped Gothic lancets with aluminium frames, chamfered brick reveals, and sandstone ashlar cills. All have ashlar sandstone heads with black brick voussoirs.

The principal gable is framed by slightly projecting piers and displays an intricately detailed raking cornice and frieze over cogged polychrome brick banding. At first floor level, a triple recessed pointed arched opening is divided by brick pilasters with foliated capitals, supporting flush bead-moulded sandstone ashlar heads. Within this opening are three cusped sandstone windows, with a roundel inset to the sandstone head of the central window. The opening is framed by partially engaged colonnettes with decorated foliated capitals. A string course runs at springing arch level.

The vestibule at ground floor has a parapet with cornice and decorative frieze, with the central section breaking forward to contain paired pointed arched double-leaf diagonally timber-sheeted doors. These are set beneath an M-profile ashlar sandstone canopy with raking cornice, supported on limestone colonnettes with carved capitals on stepped chamfered pedestals. A gauged brick roundel decorates the centre, with single lancets (without voussoirs) flanking either side. The porch cheeks are blank, each containing two circular drainage openings.

Each wing comprises openings at both ground and first floor levels on each face. The remainder of the building is of modern construction in Flemish-bonded red and yellow brick with sandstone detailing and aluminium windows.

The Presbyterian congregation of Whitehouse was formed in 1866, and the foundation stone of the church was laid on 1 January 1867, with a capacity of 640 people. The first minister was Reverend Hugh Smyth, brother of Dr Richard Smyth, Member of Parliament for Derry. The church first appears on the third edition Ordnance Survey map of 1902, captioned as 'Presbyterian Church'. In 1959 a hall was added to the rear of the church, which was enlarged in 1972. The devastating fire of August 2002 destroyed nearly the entire original structure, leaving only the gable façade. Rebuilding commenced in 2005, with subsequent flood damage requiring major refurbishment of the interior.