Gateway and walling of Quaker Graveyard, Belfast Road, Antrim, Co Antrim

Gateway and Walling of Quaker Graveyard

These structures enclose a graveyard of reputed 17th-century foundation on Belfast Road at Moylinny. While the graveyard itself is believed to date from around 1685, the gateway and walling likely date to the early 19th century, possibly the 1820s to 1830s. They are of local historic interest but limited architectural merit, their original character having been compromised by inappropriate alterations.

The graveyard is enclosed by four boundary walls of masonry and brick construction, arranged in roughly square plan, with an arched gateway positioned on the north side.

The north boundary wall is constructed of basalt rubble with later reticulated pointing. The stonework is roughly coursed, particularly in the upper portion to the left of the gateway. Angle-topped copings of Tardree granite cap the wall, though the extremities are broken and repaired with cement. At the left-hand end stands a circular pier of roughly coursed basalt rubble topped with a hump-shaped sandstone capstone. The gateway is positioned near the right-hand end, breaking forward slightly from the wall and rising above it with a rectangular parapet. It is built of basalt rubble with roughly chamfered edges and a swept coping of uncertain material. The gateway contains a slightly pointed arch dressed with smooth cement render and chamfered edge. An iron-railed gate with decorative fleur-de-lys finials is set below pavement level, accessed by one concrete step. A modern rectangular bronze plaque above the arch reads: 'Circa 1685. The Quakers Graveyard Moylinny. Burial place of the Reford family'. This plaque was installed during 1979–1980 repairs, covering an earlier painted date of '1707'.

The east boundary wall is basalt rubble with reticulated pointing and a smooth cement-rendered moulded coping of curved form, now cracked and crudely repaired with cement. The south, or rear, boundary wall is basalt rubble and fieldstones with original lime mortar pointing, topped with a smooth cement-rendered flat coping that steps down in sections towards the west. The west boundary wall is mixed construction: its left-hand extremity is basalt rubble with granite coping, returning from the north wall and terminating at a derelict basalt rubble nib wall with brick base that forms a retaining wall to the front pavement. To the right of this retaining wall, the boundary continues as basalt rubble for a portion, surmounted by a crumbling brick wall with basalt rubble copings; the remainder is old brickwork on a basalt base with some modern brickwork repairs. The coping is cement-rendered with humped form and heavily overgrown with creeper.

Interior walls are basalt rubble. The ground inside is uneven and grassed over with mature trees. A short concrete path runs immediately inside the entrance gateway. Some low iron-railed grave plots are present, though headstones and monuments are of no special architectural interest.

The burial ground stands set back from the main road by the public pavement, facing a modern housing development across the road. To the west lies rough ground at a lower level, overgrown with bushes and mature trees. To the south is rough ground, grassed over, with mature trees. To the east is a lane giving access to nearby houses. The southern and western grounds are separated from the graveyard by a basalt rubble wall abutting the south-west corner of the rear boundary.

Historical Context

The graveyard was established as a Quaker burial ground by the Reford family of Moylinny, originally part of their property at Moylinny farm, but placed in the hands of trustees sometime in the 19th century. The graveyard is reputed to date from around 1685, though the precise founding date and date of the enclosing walls are not known with certainty. The enclosure appears on the Ordnance Survey map of 1832, suggesting construction in the early 19th century.

The Reford family were originally a Devonshire family known as Wreyford, believed to have moved to Ireland around 1632 and changed their name to Reford. Around 1700, the family head was Lewis Reford, a Quaker in whose home Quaker meetings were held. The graveyard was established under his aegis; previous family members had been buried in Antrim churchyard. According to one source, the Moylinny property was not leased to Lewis Reford by the Massereene estate until 1733. On the failure of the Refords, the property was acquired by the Chaine family of Ballycraigy in the early 1830s. It is possible the graveyard was not formally enclosed by walls until this change in ownership was either imminent or recently effected.

The graveyard was in a run-down state by the 1970s and was repaired by the Reford family: the graveyard itself in 1977, and the walls and gateway in 1979–1980. During these repairs, rough stone walling was levelled at the top and provided with new coping. The structure was listed in 1979. The graveyard remains in use by the Reford family, who alone hold burial rights (restricted to male members). While still family-maintained, it is no longer confined exclusively to Quakers.