64 Church Street, Antrim, BT41 4BA

64 Church Street, Antrim is an early 19th century building of Gothic style, originally constructed as a Primitive Methodist Chapel in 1823 and converted to commercial shop use in the 1970s or 1980s. It retains considerable architectural and historic interest despite alterations to its front elevation.

The building is a gabled rectangular structure with rendered walls and smooth cement render finish, painted, with a slightly projecting plinth. The main entrance faces north. A high-level horizontal screen now obscures much of the original front, but behind this the original architectural character can be discerned. The front is arranged as a 3-bay gable with a central entrance, flanked by dentilled timber barge boards.

The central doorway contains a rectangular timber panelled door with square label moulding and shaped label stops. To each side of the entrance are Gothic arched openings containing Gothic arched timber windows. These windows comprise rectangular timber sliding sashes, 8 over 1 without horns, surmounted by a Gothic arched tracery light with intersecting glazing bars and arched label mouldings with shaped label stops. Above the door is a similar Gothic arched window. Above this window is a raised moulded shield panel, and in the apex of the gable is a quatrefoil sinking surmounted by a moulded semi-circular drip with shaped stops.

The side elevations are largely obscured by adjoining buildings, though parts of the rear can be seen. These are rendered with dry dash limestone chippings with smooth plinth, PVC guttering, and what appear to be asbestos roof tiles.

The rear elevation has a smooth cement rendered apex to the gable with a 2-storey flat-roofed block projecting below. The walls are rendered with dry dash, with timber eaves board, PVC guttering and downpipe. One doorway contains a rectangular flush timber door. Two window openings to the ground floor exist, one blocked and one party-blocked. The first floor contains a modern small-paned fixed light window with top-hung vent.

The building stands facing the main street, set back from it between adjoining buildings with a forecourt covered by a roof of corrugated iron and perspex sheets supported on a timber beam and joist framework resting on iron or steel brackets fixed to the building front. At the rear, the building stands within a large concrete-surfaced yard. To the east is a large modern pitched-roof building with a steel fire escape stairway. To the west is a gabled building of basalt rubble and brickwork with blocked-up window openings.