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

First Presbyterian Church, New Street, Randalstown

A rectangular hipped-roofed building, part random blackstone rubble and part rendered, with a projecting gabled two-storey entrance block. The east-facing entrance features a distyle-in-antis frontispiece of unfluted Ionic columns flanked by unfluted Doric pilasters, all carried on a deep base with broad cornice. The moulded entablature is surmounted by a plain stilted pediment, a later addition with painted timber barge boards. The pediment has slightly projecting pilasters to each extremity, returning as plain walling to the sides. The walls of the frontispiece are smooth rendered, lined and blocked, while the base and pediment are smooth rendered. A plain projecting plinth runs beneath the base walls. The columns and pilasters are smooth plastered and painted.

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

The south side of the porch is two-storey, with an 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 (replacement for original small panes), without horns and 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, replacing an original rectangular sunk panel. In the base area is a rectangular timber door leading down a step to the basement boiler house, which appears to be a later insertion cut through the original plinth. The north side of the porch is similar to the south except for a small rectangular timber louvred opening set in a plain recess in place of a basement doorway. The porch roof is Bangor blue slates in regular courses with dark blue ridge tiles. A plain smooth rendered chimney of square section projects on the southern pitch, and there is a modern pot, blackened, mounted on a plain projecting concrete cornice.

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

Extending to the left and slightly set back is a short side wall of church rooms to the rear, built 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 returns at the rear with a short rendered, lined and blocked wall to abut a later rear extension and contains a small rectangular window, a modern timber fixed light with top-hung vent, double glazed. To the left is a projecting south face of a rear extension, of similar character to the previous wall and with a similar modern window.

The rear elevation comprises the rear wall of the main church block with a lower hipped block projecting forward. The main church 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, smooth rendered, which breaks 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 the extremities, metal gutter on a timber eaves board, and metal downpipes. Two rectangular doorways and one rectangular window are all in unmoulded openings: the left door is modern flush timber, the right door is modern ledged and glazed hardwood, and the window is modern timber fixed lights with top-hung vent, all double glazed.

The north side of the rear extension is of snecked blackstone with metal gutter on a moulded wooden eaves board. One rectangular timber window with fixed lights and top-hung vent, double glazed, is set in plain reveals with a flat arch to the head and a projecting painted concrete cill. The north elevation of the main church is similar to the south elevation except that there are no protective grilles to the windows. Some rot is evident to the sub-frames of the windows.

Setting: The building stands facing the main road, set back within its own grounds, which are laid out as a grassed graveyard with 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 laid in front of the main front of the church leads from the entrance gateway and splays 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, with the main entrance gateway comprising square piers of regularly coursed basalt topped by concrete caps and 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, which give access directly 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 is formed by a line of trees and shrubs.