Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church, Antrim Road, Templepatrick, Co Antrim

Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church, Antrim Road, Templepatrick

A detached single-celled barn-style Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church, dated 1784, located north of Antrim Road in the village of Templepatrick. This modest eighteenth-century church features simple Gothic detailing and is well preserved, including its interior roof structure, fittings, and ornate stained glass windows. The church stands within the boundary of Castle Upton estate.

The church is rectangular in plan with a small lean-to extension at the north-west corner housing a WC. The roof is pitched natural slate with raised verges on simple profiled kneeler stones, and a chimney to the rear gable. The eaves are cavetto moulded. The walling is roughcast over a smooth rendered plinth.

The main south elevation is gable-ended, consisting of a Gothic-headed entrance opening surmounted by a window with hood moulding, with diminished windows to either side. A roundel with hood moulding sits at the apex. All windows on this elevation have stained glass with Y tracery containing roundels. The double-leaf entrance doors are diagonally-sheeted replacements with a cast iron knocker.

The west elevation is four windows wide with a date stone to the centre. The two central windows contain stained glass, while the outer windows have plain glass with cusped tracery and transoms framing casements. The north gable has two windows to each floor, with the upper floor windows diminished in height. Ground floor windows are inset with bottom-hinged casements, while upper floor windows have a single transom with fixed glazing. All windows have plain architraves.

The east elevation mirrors the west, with access to a minister's room located at the north end. The third window from the left contains stained glass. A pointed-arch-headed entrance door with diagonally T&G sheeting and bead-moulded architrave is accessed by four sandstone steps.

The church is bounded to Antrim Road by the Castle Upton estate boundary wall and accessed through double wrought-iron gates with a wrought-iron overthrow, inscribed "Old Presbyterian Church Templepatrick" and bearing a beaten copper crest of a burning bush dated 1626. The church grounds are bounded to the north and east by rubble stone walls and to the west by a timber fence. A modern church hall of no architectural interest stands to the east. Rainwater goods are ogee-profiled aluminium gutters.

Historical Context

According to the Ordnance Survey Memoirs of 1838, the current church was erected by subscription in 1784 at a cost of £850, partly contributed by Lord Templeton. In 1816, a donation of six poor boxes was made by Mr James Blow, owner of the mill at Dunadry. The church was noted as being associated with the Remonstrant Synod.

In 1838, a small hexagonal session house was attached to the east side of the church, now removed. The interior was recorded as having an earthen floor and two galleries. This church is recorded as the Unitarian congregation and the original Presbyterian Church in the Parish of Templepatrick, and one of the earliest Presbyterian settlements in Northern Ireland. It was first established in 1622, initially connected with the Synod of Ulster, but later became connected with the Remonstrant Synod. In 1830, Dr Henry Montgomery, Minister of Dunmurry, led three presbyteries—Armagh, Bangor, and Templepatrick—representing seventeen congregations out of the Synod of Ulster and formed the Remonstrant Synod in 1830. The minister of the Templepatrick church at that time was Reverend Robert Campbell.

The Townland Valuation of 1836 records the building as the Presbyterian Meeting House Remonstrant, valued at £8 5s 0d. Griffiths Valuation of 1859 records the church along with a two-storey return, with a total value of £24 1s 0d. The church was remodelled circa 1860.