St Catherine's C. of I. Church, Seacash, Crumlin Road, Aldergrove, Crumlin, Co Antrim

St Catherine's Church of Ireland, Seacash, Aldergrove, is a Church of Ireland parish church of early 18th-century foundation, now largely of late 19th-century character and appearance, built in the Gothic Revival style. It was remodelled in 1886 to designs by the architect J.J. Phillips, and its detached lychgate was added in 1912 to designs by R.M. Close, with Messrs Laverty & Sons of Belfast as builders. Together, the church and lychgate form a very attractive architectural group in a pleasant rural setting, and the lychgate is an uncommon feature in Northern Ireland. Further interest is provided by fine gate pillars and the former coachhouse and stables.

HISTORY

The original church was built in 1712, as recorded by an inscribed keystone over the original west doorway and by the original weathercock now kept within the nave. In 1838 it was described as "a plain roughcast building of an oblong square form, measuring internally 60 by 23 feet 8 inches. It has neither tower nor architectural ornament of any description." In 1837, the Ecclesiastical Board carried out repairs comprising a new roof, new pews, new windows and a pulpit, and raised the walls by almost two metres; the aisle at that time was described as eight feet wide. The alterations of 1886 by J.J. Phillips, as recorded by Ewart, replaced the low ceiling with panelling of pitch pine under the rafters, replaced the old irregular windows with lancets filled with cathedral glass, and added a new porch. This work transformed what Ewart described as the building's "very barn-like" character and established the appearance of the church as seen today. The lychgate of 1912 by R.M. Close was built for the Reverend Canon Clarke M.A., and its design was described at the time as "partly modelled on the medieval example at Beckingham in Lincolnshire, this being considered one of the best examples." Doors in the west end of the church were installed in 1985; the porch was renovated and its glazing restored in 1987; and the porch grille gate was installed in 1989.

EXTERIOR

The church consists of a nave and chancel, with a gabled porch on the north side and a gabled projection on the west front. The main entrance is in the north porch.

The north elevation of the nave has four Gothic-arched lancet windows. The nave walls are of smooth cement render, lined and blocked with raised quoins at the left-hand extremity, with a projecting plinth stepping down from left to right at the second lancet from the left, and a projecting eaves course. There is a slight batter to the main wall, with a more distinct batter to the plinth. The windows have raised rendered surrounds chamfered on both edges, with projecting sandstone cills, and brown varnished wooden frames — replacements — fitted with storm glazing; the first and third lancets from the left incorporate a modern aluminium cylindrical ventilating grille at the base of the leaded glazing. The fourth lancet from the left has spalling to its cill. The roof is of Bangor blue slates in regular courses with flush verges, and metal guttering.

The north porch is of square plan. Its base walls are of basalt rubble with chamfered sandstone copings, supporting an oak-framed Gothic arcading filled with tinted leaded glazing: three bays to the east and west faces, and four bays to the north face. The central bay on the east face forms the doorway, which contains an open wrought iron gate below a fanlight. The porch roof is slated in regular courses with overhanging eaves sprocketed to east and west and shaped rafter ends, with metal gutters and cast iron downpipes to east and west. Red terracotta ridge tiles are used throughout, with a large foliated finial on the north gable. The gable has tongued-and-grooved sheeting in a herringbone pattern in four bays, with shaped and chamfered barge boards on shaped brackets.

Set back to the left of the nave is a small chancel projection of lower height, with similar walling and similar slate roofing contained by sandstone gable copings, a moulded cast iron gutter, and a cast iron downpipe. Later cement repairs are of a lighter tone than the original render.

The east elevation comprises the main east gable of the nave, with the chancel projecting from it. The nave gable walling is as on the north side, with the apex surmounted by a wheel cross; overhead cables are attached to the gable, an inappropriate addition. The chancel gable has a coved edge to the gable coping, and features a large Gothic-arched east window of sandstone with three lights and tracery; the stonework of the tracery is crisp, but there is spalling to the lower part of the outer surrounds. The window is fitted with storm glazing over leaded lights which incorporate aluminium ventilators at the base of the outer lancets, and a moulded hood moulding above. The south side of the chancel projection is similar to the north, but some later cement repairs to the rendering obscure the block joints.

The south elevation of the nave has five lancet windows similar to those on the north; the second and fourth incorporate aluminium ventilators as described previously. The roof and walling are as on the north elevation, but some later rendering between the second and third lancets is of a lighter tone than the rest. There is a cast iron gutter and a cast iron downpipe at the left-hand extremity, which discharges into an original sandstone gully of square shape with a circular recess. Projecting to the west and flush with the nave wall is a lower block containing a Gothic-arched doorway; its walling is similar but has no quoins; the roof is of Bangor blue slates in regular courses, with a metal gutter and cast iron downpipe on the left-hand side discharging into a sandstone gully. The doorway contains a ledged timber door, painted, set in a moulded wooden frame with a chamfered raised cement rendered surround, and fitted with an iron latch and handle.

The west elevation comprises the main west gable of the nave with a lower gabled block projecting from it. The nave gable walling is as previously described, without quoins, and is surmounted by a gabled bellcote containing a bell hanging in a segmental-headed opening, with a moulded sandstone coping to the bellcote and a scrolling wrought iron cross at its apex. Later repairs to the cement render on the left-hand side of the nave gable, along the line of a downpipe, are of a lighter tone. A cast iron downpipe with a shaped hopper is located on the left-hand side of the nave gable, below a short return of gutter along the north side of the nave, and discharges into a sandstone gully. Cables and wires are attached to the west gable. The west face of the lower projection has similar walling with flush verges and two Gothic-arched lancets, storm-glazed, similar to those on the nave side walls. The north side of the projection is blank, with similar walling and a cast iron gutter at the right-hand extremity discharging into a sandstone gully; there are two cast iron circular ventilators in the plinth. The roof is slated as previously described, with a bell-ringing chain housed within it.

LYCHGATE

In front of the church stands a detached lychgate. Its base walls are of snecked greystone with chamfered grey sandstone copings, surmounted by an open arcaded framework of oak painted grey and white. The base wall is open at the front on the east side but contains a pair of white-painted wooden gates to the rear on the west side, fitted with large wrought iron hinges. The roof has sprocketed eaves with coupled collars, tongued-and-grooved sheeting to the underside, and a hipped covering of green slates. The floor is of stone slabs. A broad wooden bench seat is provided on each side within the side walls, supported on curved sandstone corbels; the bench on the north side is rotting.

INTERIOR

The interior ceiling consists of panelling of pitch pine under the rafters, installed during the 1886 remodelling to replace the earlier low ceiling.

SETTING

The church stands in its own grounds, set well back from the main road and approached by a main entrance gateway. This consists of a pair of Victorian red sandstone stop-chamfered piers with capstones of swept profile surmounted by foliated finials, and double gates of wrought iron; the gates do not appear to be contemporary with the piers and look like mid-20th-century replacements. To each side of the piers are short curving screen walls of greystone rubble with roughly shaped triangular greystone copings filled in with mortar and greystone splinters. The front boundary to the road is formed by horizontal wooden fencing and a hedge. The gateway leads to a broad tree-lined driveway up to the churchyard, flanked on each side by roughly grassed areas. Standing adjacent to the entrance gateway is a single-storey church hall, formerly a Public Elementary School, of little architectural interest.

The churchyard itself is entered through the lychgate, which is flanked on each side by short screen walls of greystone rubble with rubble copings, forming retaining walls to the banked-up graveyard behind. The front boundary of the churchyard to the left of the lychgate is formed by a low earthen bank, terminating at the south end in a pair of white-painted timber gates of similar design to those of the lychgate, connecting the car park with the graveyard. To the right of the lychgate, the screen wall meets a single-storey former coachhouse, which is open to the front and has a double-pitch natural slate roof supported on one side at the front on a circular cast iron column. Attached to this is the former stables, built from rubble stone with a double-pitched natural slate roof. Both buildings have modern roof construction. Internally, the former stables retains two wrought iron tethering rings fixed to the walls and evidence of a high-level door to the rear.

The churchyard is grassed, with a tarmac path to the porch lined by yew trees, and a concrete path around most of the perimeter of the church itself. There are no graveyard memorials of special architectural interest, but of more general interest are three lines of standard Royal Air Force gravestones and some associated military memorials on the south side of the church. Other memorials of general interest include a stone cross to the west of the church, carved in the form of a tree trunk and incorporating carvings of a frog and a snail, to the memory of Rebecca Clarke who died in 1884 (date uncertain).