St Comgall's Church, Castle Street, Antrim

St Comgall's Church, Castle Street, Antrim

St Comgall's Church is a cruciform church in Italianate style, comprising a nave, chancel, transepts, and a prominent western tower. The main entrance faces west. The walls are constructed of coursed basalt rubble with a granite plinth and sandstone dressings throughout.

The west elevation displays the gable of the nave with a central projecting tower. The nave gable features clasping buttresses of squared basalt rubble that rise to orb-and-cross finials, with moulded coping to the gables. The square tower has three stages marked by stringcourses and set-backs, with clasping buttresses of squared basalt rubble at each corner. These corner buttresses rise through three weathered stages to frieze-blocks with circular sunkings, surmounted by a moulded cornice, parapet and blocking course. The parapet is finished with orb-and-cross finials and has circular piercings.

The tower contains four principal openings. The ground storey has a semi-circular arched doorway with a recessed moulded arch and keystone, containing a pair of rectangular timber panelled doors with an arched fanlight above featuring margin lights. At the first floor stringcourse level is an ocular window with plate glass in a moulded surround, with the stringcourse arching over it and a keystone. A semi-circular arched niche at the first floor or second stage contains block surrounds, a bracketed cill, and a sculptured figure of a male saint. The second storey has a semi-circular arched window with block surrounds and bracketed cill, containing timber louvres. Similar louvred openings occur in the other faces of the top stage. The first floor sides have similar surrounds but are filled with arched timber fixed windows with margin lights. The ground floor sides of the tower contain curved bays returning back to the main nave gable, with lead dressing to the roofs of these curved bays and metal gutters and downpipes.

The north elevation of the main body shows a 2-storey structure with roofs of Bangor blue slates in regular courses. The nave is three windows wide. The upper windows are semi-circular arched with block surrounds and projecting cills, containing arched timber fixed lights with margins of modern tinted glass. The lower windows are small rectangular timber, 3-light openings comprising a central bottom-hung vent flanked by margins with modern tinted glass.

The projecting transept has similar roofing and walling, with clasping buttresses. It comprises a 2-storey gable with a central projecting single storey porch with parapet roof. The transept gable has a Venetian window at first floor below a segmental relieving arch, comprised of a semi-circular headed window with keystone coupled with rectangular sidelights, with block surrounds. The centre light is glazed as the upper windows of the nave. An empty semi-circular headed niche appears in the apex of the gable above a stringcourse, and the gable is surmounted by a stone cross. The west side of the transept is 2-storey, 1-bay, containing similar windows to the nave. The east side is similar but contains a later single storey ground floor projection in snecked rock-faced concrete blocks, painted to match the stonework. The projection has concrete coping to a flat parapet roof, cast iron hopper and downpipe, and a PVC soil pipe. A modern rectangular flush timber door with louvres provides access.

The porch on the north side has walling of snecked basalt rubble with sandstone plinth, moulded stringcourse, moulded cornice and blocking course to the flat parapet roof, with sandstone ball finials at the corners. The doorway is square-headed with a lugged sandstone moulded surround containing a pair of rectangular timber panelled doors. The east side is blank. The west side contains a pair of coupled semi-circular arched timber windows in a square lugged and heeled sandstone surround with stop-chamfered reveals.

The north elevation of the chancel is 2-storey with similar roofing, walling and rainwater goods as the nave. Two windows at first floor level are arched as those of the nave. The ground floor contains a modern rectangular flush timber door with plain glazed fanlight and wired glazing to sidelights, set in a sandstone block surround with keystone and curved corners, and stop-chamfered reveals.

The east elevation of the chancel has similar walling with a projecting moulded stringcourse at main eaves level. Orb and cross finials on stepped pedestals sit at the base of the gable coping, with a stone cross finial at the apex. It contains a large semi-circular arched window in a block surround as previously described, with radially spoked glazing to the head and a central horizontally pivoting opening light.

The south elevation of the chancel end is similar to the north except the ground floor contains a rectangular timber fixed window of 2 panes plus margin glazing, set in stop-chamfered block surrounds of horizontally tooled reconstituted stone, with modern steel bars affixed. To the left is a later flat parapet roofed projection similar to the north elevation but with no openings.

The south elevation of the main body is similar to the north except the transept niche contains a sculptured figure of a female saint.

The building stands in its own grounds, which it shares with the presbytery to the north and other associated buildings, on a corner site facing the main road but set back from it. Tarmac paths surround the church with steps and pavings to the west. A burial ground lies to the south, and a grassy slope to the east. The boundary to the west is formed by a low basalt rubble wall backed by a hedge, with an original gateway in front of the main entrance. The gateway comprises a set of four cast iron pillars of square section with ornamented panels to the main piers, moulded bases, and pyramidal caps, with the name 'St Congal' inscribed on each pillar. A name plaque reading 'Riddel & Co. Belfast' appears on the bases. A pair of central vehicular gates flanked by pedestrian gates in ornamented ironwork completes the entrance feature.

The presbytery, of mid-to-later 19th century date, is constructed of red brick with painted quoins and dressings, and hipped roofs, though the original windows have been replaced by inappropriate modern glazing. The grounds are well kept with trimmed shrubs and lawns.