Ballynure Methodist Church, Main Street, Ballynure, Co Antrim, BT39 9TU

Ballynure Methodist Church is a modestly scaled single-cell Gothic Revival building located on the edge of the rural village of Ballynure in County Antrim. Erected in 1846, it represents the architectural expression of Methodist worship in the area during the mid-19th century.

The church is rectangular on plan, constructed of coursed basalt rubble with granite quoins and buttresses. The pitched roof is slated with clay ridge tiles and finials, though the character of the building is diminished by exaggerated timber bargeboards to the gable-ends. Attached to the south is a Sunday school, and a porch projects from the north-east elevation. The church was abutted to its south in 1992 by a modern L-plan hall, which, while appropriately scaled, affects the setting of the historic building.

The principal architectural interest lies in the window treatments and decorative detailing. Windows are pointed-arched-headed with voussoirs, though concrete reveals indicate later replacement. The north elevation contains two plate tracery windows with hood-mouldings and label stops, each with paired lancet windows and a cusped oculus above. The east elevation features pointed-arched windows including ogee Tudor-arched examples with lattice leading. Windows throughout contain leaded stained glass. The porch entries employ Tudor-arched-headed chamfered surrounds with hood-mouldings and stepped surrounds. The west elevation is divided into three bays by buttresses, with varied window patterns including a window with reticulated tracery.

Rainwater goods are cast iron, comprising half-round guttering and round downpipes. The boundary to Main Street is defined by rubble walling with rough coping, supported by octagonal rendered pillars carrying cast-iron vehicular and pedestrian gates.

Methodist meetings were established in Ballynure in 1834, initially held in a schoolroom. The construction of the church in 1846 was sponsored by Robert Beatty, a prosperous local merchant who oversaw fundraising, design and construction. The Griffiths Valuation of 1859 recorded the building as a 'Methodist chapel and yard' valued at £4 15 shillings. The land was leased from Conway R Dobbs of Castle Dobbs, Carrickfergus, who held extensive property in the area at that time. A datestone on the east elevation confirms the 1846 construction date.

The church is worthy of record as a representative example of rural Methodist architecture of the period, though it remains of a relatively common type and does not rank among the finest surviving examples.