St. John'S Church Of Ireland Church, Shore Road, Newtownabbey, Co.Antrim

St. John's Church of Ireland is a detached Gothic-Revival church built around 1840, constructed in coursed and squared rubble blackstone with sandstone detailing. The building is positioned on its own grounds on the east side of Shore Road in Newtownabbey, facing west.

The church comprises a double-height gable-fronted nave with a two-stage tower at the northwest corner, transepts extending to the north and south, a gabled chancel to the rear with gabled projections on either side, and a north vestry with a catslide roof. A church hall dating to around 1970 stands to the south, with a rectory of similar date to the northeast.

The roof features steeply pitched natural slate with ridge tiles and lead valleys, recently re-slated around 2006. The front gable rises above the principal roof line with chamfered sandstone coping and a diminutive raised gablet containing a blind Gothic panel. The rear and side gables have moulded sandstone copings, with some replacements. Replacement ogee metal guttering sits on sandstone corbelled eaves, with metal downpipes.

The tower rises to a crenelated parapet wall with sandstone coping and a corbelled string course. At each corner stands a decorative sandstone corbelled pinnacle with blind panels. The tower's lower stage has angle buttresses with offsets. The northwest corner of the front gable features an angle buttress that rises to form a square pinnacle with four gablets.

A chamfered sandstone stringcourse rests on the buttress offsets and continues around all four sides, with a plain frieze below. The front elevation frieze displays a Gothic arcaded moulding. The walls are coursed and squared rubble blackstone with a projecting cement plinth course simulating sandstone ashlar. The transepts are constructed in rubble stone with sandstone ashlar quoins.

The belfry stage of the tower contains paired lancet openings with a single sandstone hood moulding, shared splayed sandstone sill, splayed sandstone reveals, and diamond-shaped timber louvers. The front gable displays a large Gothic window with hood moulding and flush sandstone surround. The window is divided by carved sandstone tracery into three trefoil-headed panels with a cinquefoil panel above and several spandrel panels, all containing stained glass and weather glazing. A small lancet opening sits above the door opening to the lower tower stage. A double-height lancet opening to the north has a hood moulding and stained glass.

Lancet window openings to both side elevations feature cement hood mouldings, stepped cement deep reveals and surrounds that drop to the plinth course, with splayed sandstone sills and iron trefoil-headed window frames containing stained glass. Both transept gables display a tripartite arrangement of lancet openings in red sandstone (the northern example mostly replaced by red cement) with a stone relieving arch above and stained glass with weather glazing. The rear gable contains a further large Gothic window opening with sandstone hood moulding, flush splayed surround, and sandstone Gothic tracery with stained glass and weather glazing. Trefoil-headed sandstone window openings appear to the other elevations with stained glass, whilst a paired square-headed opening to the vestry is carved in stone with leaded lights.

The main entrance is a four-centred arch door opening to the front of the tower with deep moulded sandstone surround. The hood moulding is terminated by a fleuron on either side. The door is vertically-sheeted timber with iron furniture and opens onto a sandstone flagged front area. A square-headed door opening set within the catslide section of the vestry has a chamfered sandstone surround with a vertically-sheeted timber door and iron furniture.

The church sits within its own grounds with a bitmac forecourt enclosed by a low rubble stone wall. Two sandstone piers with decorative ogee-shaped capstones support decorative iron gates, flanked by a matching pedestrian gate. A further pier in red sandstone with decorative capstones is of later date.

The church underwent recent restoration at the time of the 2008 survey, with new roof slating and replacement stone detailing added.