St Judes Church (C 0f I), Oldstone Road, Muckamore, Antrim, Co Antrim

St Judes Church

This is a Gothic Revival church built in 1841, comprising a nave, chancel, western tower, and small vestry. The main entrance faces north through the tower.

The church is built of snecked hammer-dressed basalt with Tardree granite quoins. The roof is laid in Bangor blue slates in regular courses with a dark tiled ridge, set between gable upstands, and features two cylindrical metal ventilators with conical caps.

The north elevation of the nave is four windows wide. Windows are Gothic arched lancets set behind painted cast iron frames with cusped heads, recessed in chamfered surrounds of smooth cement render, colour washed, with deeply splayed sandstone cills set in Gothic arched block surrounds of smooth cement render. Recessed basalt panels sit below the cills. The glazing comprises later leaded quarries incorporating stained glass vesica pisces medallions, with modern aluminium ventilators at the base of each window. Cast iron gutters and downpipes run along the walls, which have been newly pointed.

The square entrance tower rises from the right-hand end and comprises two stages of the same walling as the nave. The lower stage contains a Tudor arched doorway with chamfered moulding, sandstone steps, and a moulded sandstone drip. The doorway holds rectangular timber double doors, flush panelled, set in a moulded timber frame with an arched and panelled tympanum panel integral with the doors. The west face of the lower stage contains a tall narrow Gothic lancet of stained glass set in a timber frame, recessed in a granite block surround with a moulded sandstone drip. The south face of the lower stage is blank. Above an angled projecting weathering, the upper stage is set back, with angled crenellations to the top above a moulded cornice. Corbelled pinnacles to each corner feature sunken Gothic panels with floriated crockets to the apex. The north face of the upper stage has a pair of tall narrow Gothic lancets in block surrounds containing patterned timber louvres, with moulded sandstone drips and plain projecting cills. The west face and south face have similar louvred openings. The west face also bears a circular datestone dated 1841 in raised numbers, with a moulded sandstone surround below the cill.

The east elevation comprises the east gable of the nave with a central lower gabled chancel projecting from it. Both gables are built of snecked basalt with granite quoins, shaped granite kneelers, and angled stone copings with lead dressings turned down over the gable verges. The chancel roof is slated as the main nave, with side walls of blank stonework, cast iron gutters and downpipes. A modern metal flue pipe is fixed to the nave gable to the right of the chancel, rising from a low modern boiler house built in the angle of nave and chancel. This boiler house has red brick walls painted dark grey, a hipped slated roof with dark ridge tiles, unpainted timber fascia, and PVC guttering with a PVC downpipe fixed to the north wall of the nave. Timber louvres occupy a rectangular opening in the east wall, with a rectangular sheeted timber door in the south wall. The east gable of the chancel contains a large two-light Gothic arched window of stained glass with a raised sandstone surround and sandstone tracery, and a slightly raised cement rendered outer surround. Modern steel mesh protective grilles cover this window.

In the angle of chancel and nave gable wall to the left stands a gabled single storey vestry. Its roof is slated as before, and the walls are of roughly coursed basalt rubble with granite quoins, and a projecting granite plinth and eaves course. Cast iron guttering and downpipes run along the walls. The north gable is blank. The east wall contains a rectangular timber vertically hung sliding sash window, one over one, with horns, set in a smooth cement rendered surround in two stages, chamfered, with a deep splayed sandstone cill; iron bars cover the window. The south side projects slightly beyond the south wall of the nave, and is gabled with shaped granite kneelers and granite copings with down-turned flashing over the verges. The walling comprises two qualities: rock faced basalt for the main part, with a hammer-dressed face to the left above the doorway. The Gothic arched doorway has a smooth cement rendered raised surround and contains a rectangular timber flush-panelled door, original, with an iron knob handle, surmounted by a Gothic arched fanlight containing reeded glass; a sandstone step leads to it. A cast iron downpipe to the left of the doorway is broken, with a moulded cast iron hopper. The south elevation of the nave is similar to the north elevation.

The church stands in a rural setting, with its west end facing the main road but set well back within its own grounds, approached by a rough tarmac driveway which extends around the church as a parking area, bordered by concrete kerbing. Immediately to the west of the tower stands a gnarled tree surrounded by concrete kerbing. Grassed areas to the north of the church are partly laid out as a memorial garden bordered by beech hedges and timber fencing. This garden contains a granite Celtic cross of approximately 1921, erected to the memory of various members of the Thompson family.

To the south of the church stands a single storey gabled building with a Neo-Grec entrance façade in granite, originally a mausoleum to the Thompson family who built the church. It contains a rectangular eight-panelled door but is now used as a gardener's store. The entrance is flanked by twin yew trees. The sides are finished in smooth cement render, new work, with timber fascias, PVC guttering and downpipes. The roof is of Bangor blue slates in regular courses. A modern rectangular metal framed window is set in the west side; the east side is blank. Connected to the rear is a later gabled church hall of similar walling, with an asbestos slated roof and rectangular sheeted door and flush doors. Rectangular timber fixed lights with top-hung vents occupy the rear wall.

The entrance to the front driveway is formed by a pair of square sandstone piers with chamfered edges and broad capstones. New replacement ironwork gates with spear finials now stand here. The original ironwork archway springing from the tops of the piers and original iron gates have been removed and dumped behind the front boundary wall. The front boundary comprises a basalt rubble wall with rock copings. The driveway is bordered by low hedges, with mature trees surrounding the site. To the east, the boundary is marked by a modern ranch-style timber fence, with agricultural land beyond.