Camlin Church, S.W. of Cross Hill Bridge, Poplar Road, Ballydonaghy, Crumlin, Co Antrim is a listed building in the Antrim and Newtownabbey local planning authority area, Northern Ireland.

Camlin Church, S.W. of Cross Hill Bridge, Poplar Road, Ballydonaghy, Crumlin, Co Antrim

WRENN ID
unlit-crypt-ochre
Grade
Local Planning Authority
Antrim and Newtownabbey
Constituency
South Antrim MP: Robin Swann (UUP)
Country
Northern Ireland
Irish grid reference
J 160 767
Coordinates
54.62568, -6.20365
Source
NI Environment Agency listing

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Description

Camlin Church stands on a ridge overlooking the River Crumlin, south-west of Cross Hill Bridge near Crumlin in County Antrim. This is a scheduled ancient monument.

The church is a derelict medieval rectangular single-cell building with gabled ends, constructed of fieldstones. The east gable stands fairly intact with a central window opening, slightly narrower towards the top but lacking architectural detail; the west gable survives to roughly half its original height; the side walls are much reduced. The north wall contains a large opening at its west end, probably marking the original main entrance. The south wall has a window opening of roughly segmental form, also without surviving detail.

The interior contains eight Gothic arched recesses, four on each side wall in the eastern half of the church. These have been variously described as sedilia, niches, or sepulchral arches, though their original function remains unknown. Two smaller recesses appear in the inner face of the east gable flanking the window, which may be identifiable as an aumbry and a piscina.

The church probably dates from the 13th century, though the date of foundation and founding details are unrecorded. The earliest documentary reference comes from the Taxation of the Dioceses compiled in 1306. The building remained in use through the mid-17th century—an ordination was held here on 1 December 1661 by Jeremy Taylor, Bishop of Down and Connor, as recorded in the Diocese of Connor register. Local tradition holds that the church was destroyed during the wars of James II, when the King's army maintained a depot at this location in 1689. By the 1830s it was described as "a venerable ruin overgrown with ivy".

The church stands within an irregularly shaped earth-banked enclosure with some remaining stone revetments. The grassed enclosure is ringed by mature trees along its perimeter bank and is entered through a pair of conical-capped rubble stone piers with an iron gate, now derelict. The site is surrounded by agricultural grazing land, with a medieval motte visible on the opposite bank of the River Crumlin.

Local climate

Camlin Church, S.W. of Cross Hill Bridge, Poplar Road, Ballydonaghy, Crumlin, Co Antrim receives an average of 930 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 71% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 60% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 21 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 78% of listed buildings. Of these, 11 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.2°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

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Nearby listed buildings

  1. Cross Hill Bridge, Poplar Road, Ballydonaghy/Crosshill, Crumlin, Co Antrim 244 m
  2. Glen Oak House, 1 Nutts Corner Road, Crumlin, Co Antrim, BT29 4BW Grade Record Only 492 m
  3. Glenoak Mills, Mill Road, Crumlin, Co Antrim Grade Record Only 574 m
  4. Railway viaduct, Mill Road, Crumlin, Co Antrim Grade B1 650 m
  5. Crumlin Bridge, Mill Road, Crumlin, Co Antrim Grade B1 659 m
  6. Former National Schools, Crumlin Primary School, 27 Mill Road, Crumlin, Co Antrim, BT49 4XL 768 m
  7. 25 Mill Road, Crumlin, Co Antrim, BT29 4XL 799 m
  8. Bridge over railway, Main Street, Crumlin, Co Antrim 810 m
  9. R.U.C. Station, Mill Road, Crumlin, Co Antrim 817 m
  10. Pakenham Memorial, Main Street, Crumlin, Co Antrim Grade B2 841 m