First Presbyterian Church, New Street, Randalstown, Antrim, Co Antrim

First Presbyterian Church, New Street, Randalstown, is an early 19th century church in the Classical style, built in 1840–1 to the designs of Matthew McKenzie, architect of Belfast. The builder was Edmond Dickson of Antrim, at an overall cost of £700, and the church was opened on 29th August 1841. It has since lost a number of its original features and some of its original character through inappropriate alterations.

The building is rectangular with a hipped roof, constructed partly of random rubble blackstone and partly rendered. A projecting gabled two-storey entrance block forms the principal frontispiece, facing east.

The East Elevation and Entrance Frontispiece

The east elevation features a distyle-in-antis frontispiece comprising a pair of unfluted Ionic columns flanked by unfluted Doric pilasters, all carried on a deep base with a broad cornice. Above this sits a moulded entablature surmounted by a plain pediment of stilted form — a later addition, fitted with painted timber barge boards. The pediment has slightly projecting pilasters at each extremity, returning as plain walling to the sides. The walls of the frontispiece are smooth rendered, lined and blocked; the walls of the base and pediment are also smooth rendered. There is a plain projecting plinth to the base walls, and the columns and pilasters are smooth plastered and painted.

The central entrance contains a pair of rectangular timber double doors, each three-panel with faceted faces, fitted as replacements in 1980. These are set in a moulded plaster surround surmounted by a moulded cornice carried on decorative curvilinear brackets. Above the doorway is a rectangular sunk panel. The entrance is approached by a broad flight of ten stone steps, the sides of which have later smooth cement render; twin metal handrails of circular section are mounted on ornamentally treated cast iron posts.

The South Side of the Porch

The south side of the entrance porch is two-storey, with the entablature and lower cornice returning to meet the end wall of the main church. The lower window is a rectangular timber sliding sash, vertically hung, one over one panes (a replacement for original small panes), without horns, with translucent glazing, set in moulded surrounds with a projecting stone cill. The upper window is a modern rectangular timber horizontally pivoted window of translucent glass, set in a plain unmoulded recessed opening without a cill; this is a replacement for an original rectangular sunk panel. At base level there is a rectangular timber door leading down a step to a basement boiler house; this doorway appears to be a later insertion, cut through the original plinth. The roof of the porch is covered in Bangor blue slates in regular courses with dark blue ridge tiles; a plain smooth rendered chimney of square section projects on the southern pitch, with a plain projecting concrete cornice and a modern pot, blackened.

The North Side of the Porch

The north side of the porch is similar to the south, except that a small rectangular timber louvred opening set in a plain recess replaces the basement doorway found on the south side.

The South Elevation of the Main Block

The south elevation of the main church block is built of random rubble basalt with a projecting plinth of similar rubble and raised painted quoins to the extremities. The stone walling has modern strip pointing. There are four windows, each semi-circular arched with plastered surrounds, set in semi-circular arched recesses and all linked by a projecting platband at springing level; the projecting stone cills are painted. The windows are two-light with a tracery light between pointed Gothic arched heads. These are later replacements for what are believed to have been original timber sliding sashes, and feature decorative leaded glazing with stylised leaf and geometrical patterns in the manner of the late 19th century — they were replaced in 1898. Modern steel mesh protective grilles are affixed to these windows. The hipped roof is slated in the same manner as the porch, with a projecting rubble blackstone eaves course, metal gutter mounted on a wooden eaves board, and metal downpipes.

Extending to the left and slightly set back is a short side wall of church rooms to the rear, of random rubble blackstone with raised quoins to the corner and a projecting stone eaves course with metal gutter on a moulded eaves board. This wall returns at the rear with a short rendered, lined and blocked section abutting a later rear extension, containing a small rectangular window of modern timber fixed lights with a top-hung vent and double glazing. To the left is the projecting south face of the rear extension, of similar character, also with a modern window of similar type.

The Rear Elevation

The rear elevation comprises the rear wall of the main church block with a lower hipped block projecting forward. The main church rear wall is smooth rendered with raised quoins to the extremities, a projecting rendered eaves course with gutter on a timber eaves board, and a central projecting chimney breast, also smooth rendered, breaking through the hipped roof as a modern rustic brick stack with a plain concrete cornice and two modern pots. The lower projecting block is of smooth cement render, lined and blocked, with raised quoins to extremities, a metal gutter on a timber eaves board, and metal downpipes. There are two rectangular doorways and one rectangular window, all in unmoulded openings: the door to the left is a modern flush timber door; the door to the right is a modern ledged and glazed hardwood door; and the window has modern timber fixed lights with a top-hung vent, all double glazed. The north side of the rear extension is of snecked blackstone, with a metal gutter on a moulded wooden eaves board, and one rectangular timber window of fixed lights with a top-hung vent, double glazed, set in plain reveals with a flat arch to the head and a projecting painted concrete cill.

The North Elevation

The north elevation of the main church is similar to the south elevation, except that no protective grilles are fitted to the windows. Some rot has been noted to the sub-frames of the windows.

Historical Background

The congregation was formed following a dispute among members of what is now known as the Old Congregation church in Randalstown over the choice of a new minister in 1835–6. After dissident members seized the Old Congregation building in 1837, the remaining members were forced to worship elsewhere, moving first to the market house and then to their new church in New Street. The first minister was the Reverend Alexander Crawford.

In terms of alterations, the eight windows in the sides of the main block were replaced in 1898; the original ceiling was replaced in 1949; the church was re-roofed and the entrance porch altered to its present form in 1968; and a church hall was built in 1982.

Setting

The building stands facing the main road, set back within its own grounds. The grounds are laid out as a grassed graveyard containing no memorials of special architectural interest. A modern one-and-a-half storey gabled church, half constructed of concrete brick, stands in the southern corner. A modern path of concrete bricks is laid in front of the main entrance, leading from the entrance gateway and splaying to each side to meet raised concrete paths around the sides and rear of the church.

The front boundary is formed by a snecked rubble basalt wall with rough-hewn copings. The main entrance gateway comprises square piers of regularly coursed basalt topped by concrete caps, mounted with plain wrought iron gates. A secondary gateway to the northern extremity of the front boundary is of similar character, with modern steel gates of similar pattern giving direct access to the grassed graveyard. The front boundary wall extends south past a smaller modern concrete brick gateway leading to the church hall, and returns at an acute angle to meet the rear boundary. The rear boundary is formed by a hedge, and the northern boundary by a line of trees and shrubs.

The precise date of erection of the front boundary wall and main gateway is not known, but it cannot pre-date the building of the church, as no building was shown on the site on the Ordnance Survey map of 1829. By the Ordnance Survey map of 1858, twin paths are shown leading from near the front extremities of the site round to the rear of the church, but no gateways are indicated. A central gateway does not appear until the Ordnance Survey map of 1903 (revised 1921). The small pedestrian gateway was built around 1982 and the north gateway was inserted around 1989.