The Orange Hall, Belfast Road, Templepatrick, BT39 0AT

The Orange Hall, Templepatrick

A detached three-bay two-storey gable-fronted Orange Hall dated 1923, located on the south side of the A6 on an elevated site near Templepatrick. The building faces north and is rectangular on plan with a single-storey gabled entrance porch.

The walls are rendered cement with a low projecting plinth course. The pitched roof is covered in natural slate with roll-moulded clay ridge tiles and plastic rainwater goods. Windows throughout are uPVC with concrete sills.

The principal gable front elevation is symmetrical and highly decorated. Above the roofline rises a shaped gable with torus moulded coping and a further moulded string course below, terminating in a skew corbel to either side. At the centre is a diamond-shaped panel with ovolo moulding containing a white marble panel and hood moulding. The inscription reads: "Templepatrick / War Memorial Hall / erected 1923 / in Memory Of Our Gallant Dead / 1914-1918 / These Do Not read Our Praise Or Tears / We Need Their Courage Through / The Coming Years". The ground floor has square-headed window openings with torus-moulded reveals and lugged and kneed architrave surrounds with semi-circular moulding to the head. The first floor features round-headed windows with torus-moulded reveals, flanked by pairs of fluted pilasters on plinths with an archivolt over.

The entrance porch has a pitched natural slate roof with terracotta roll-moulded ridge tiles behind a raised gable with simple moulded coping. The round-headed door opening has a heavy moulded architrave with keystone. Rendered soldier quoins to either side may have replaced original pilasters. The original timber-framed fanlight with coloured glass margin lights remains, though the timber doors are replacements. The porch opens onto a pair of nosed concrete steps leading to the front gravel area.

The east elevation is four-bay two-storey with plain square-headed window openings. A single square-headed door opening has a sheet metal door. An inset rectangular Portland stone panel records: "The Stone / Was Laid On 8th September 1923 / By Sister (Mrs) Janet Cunningham".

The south rear elevation has been recently re-rendered with plain square-headed windows to the first floor and glass bricks to the ground floor. A square-headed door opening with sheet iron door and concrete step provides access.

The west elevation is four-bay two-storey with plain square-headed window openings and a cast-iron vent pipe.

The site is enclosed by a low rendered boundary wall with saddle-back cement coping and a moulded string course, accessed by a pair of octagonal squat rendered piers with stepped cement octagonal capstones. Higher cement render walls bound the site to the east, south, and west, built circa 2007.