Randalstown Presbyterian Church (Old Congregation), Portglenone Road, Randalstown, Antrim, Co Antrim

This Presbyterian church, built in 1790 during the ministry of Thomas Henry, is a highly distinctive oval building constructed of basalt rubble. It stands well back from Portglenone Road within its own graveyard, positioned between two main roads in the built-up area of Randalstown. The front part of the burial ground consists of flat grassy plots, while to the rear the ground rises as a grassy hill to the road at a higher level. Memorials date from the 19th and 20th centuries but are of no special architectural interest.

Main Body of the Church

The oval plan form creates a curved building envelope with the main entrance facing north. The walls are constructed in two distinct stages: coursed basalt rubble masonry to the lower portion up to the springing height of the window arches, with areas of galletting visible in the original lime mortar pointing; and random rubble masonry to the upper portion with original recessed lime mortar pointing. Two projecting eaves courses, comprising basalt and what appears to be sandstone blocks, cap the walls. The roof is covered with Bangor blue slates laid in regular courses, culminating in a flat platform on top. Four rectangular ventilation grilles pierce the main roof—two to the front and two to the rear. Cast iron guttering and downpipes serve the building.

Fenestration

The fenestration follows a carefully organised pattern around the oval perimeter. At ground level on either side of the front entrance porch are three Gothic lancet windows. These are timber two-light windows with Y-tracery containing leaded quarries, set in smooth cement rendered reveals with projecting painted stone or concrete cills that follow the curve of the wall. Above each lancet is an elliptical oculus set in a radiating continuously arched basalt surround. These ocular windows contain horizontally pivoted timber frames with radial glazing incorporating a central oval light. The ocular windows continue at regular intervals right around the building. Notably, the ocular windows are set in a flush plane, whereas the lancets are curved to follow the line of the main walling.

Beyond the three lancets to each side on the entrance elevation are high-level Gothic arched lunettes containing Y-tracery, positioned at the same level as the arched heads of the lancets. Their glazing and surrounds are similar to the lancets, with similar cills.

Lateral Entrances

At each extremity of the long transverse axis—the ends of the oval building—is a lateral entrance. These feature semi-circular arched openings containing pairs of dark stained panelled doors, each leaf having six raised and fielded panels. Above each door is a semi-circular fanlight with intersecting glazing bars, all set in continuous raised smooth cement rendered reveals, with octagonal bronze handles. Above each lateral entrance is a pointed lunette as previously described, with an oculus above that. The lateral doors, lunettes, and oculi are all set in a flat plane, not curved like much of the building.

Entrance Porch and Cupola

The central projecting entrance porch, a later addition, is surmounted by a hexagonal lantern and cupola. The porch walls are constructed of squared basalt in regular courses with projecting eaves courses matching those of the main building. The roof is slated with Bangor blue slates as on the main church, and has cast iron gutters.

The front face contains a central rectangular entrance doorway with a rectangular timber panelled two-leaf door matching those at the lateral entrances, set in a moulded rectangular timber frame. Two broad and deep concrete paving steps lead up to this entrance. Above the door is a recessed datestone of bowed form, as though originally set in the curved front wall of the main church. It has a moulded surround and is inscribed "Built in 1790, Thomas Henry, Minister". The top edge is dished or dipped to accommodate an oval ocular timber window containing decorative intersecting tracery with translucent glazing, set in smooth rendered reveals. An antique-style lamp on a scrolling iron bracket is mounted above this window.

The side walls of the porch immediately flanking the entrance each contain a tall Y-traceried lancet similar to those on the main body but set in a flat plane. Each side wall beyond that, in the angles with the main church, contains a pointed lunette also in a flat plane, matching those elsewhere.

The hexagonal lantern is of timber construction with arched openings in each face, recessed within rectangular panels with a plain frieze, moulded cornice, and keystone motif. Slate-hung panels sit below a continuous lead-dressed cill. The front face contains a 15-pane timber fixed light surmounted by intersecting tracery lights. The rear face has a rectangular sheeted timber access door surmounted by a louvred fanlight, while the other faces are filled with timber louvres. Crowning the lantern is an ogee-domed cupola dressed in lead, with a ball finial surmounted by a weathervane.

Rear Elevation and Projection

The rear elevation of the main oval block mirrors the character of the front, with three lancets to each side of a central bowed projection and a pointed high-level lunette to each side just before the lateral entrance. Ocular windows sit above each lower opening as on the entrance front. However, the first two ground floor lancets to each side of the projection contain stained glass instead of Y-tracery, with clear perspex panels affixed to the outside of the frames. A basalt rubble chimney rises from the rear wall, off-centre to the left, with a projecting block cornice and one modern pot.

The central bowed rear projection is two-storey, constructed of roughly coursed basalt rubble with projecting eaves courses matching the main building. It has a slate roof matching the main church, with cast iron gutter and downpipes. Each floor has two symmetrically arranged rectangular timber sliding sash windows, six-over-six panes with horns, incorporating intersecting glazing bars to the top. The windows have exposed moulded sash boxes set in smooth rendered reveals with projecting painted cills. The sash boxes, window frames, and cills are all curved to follow the line of the wall.

Two doorways flank the projection, one to each side next to the main body of the church. On the west side is a rectangular timber six-panel door, raised and fielded, set in moulded frames with smooth rendered reveals. On the east side is a rectangular timber panelled and louvred door, raised and fielded, in rough cement rendered reveals with a concrete doorstep area.

Boundaries and Grounds

The front boundary is formed by a basalt rubble wall with a gateway aligned with the front porch. This gateway comprises square piers of rock-faced red sandstone in regular courses surmounted by tinted pink concrete caps, and modern steel double gates incorporating oval panels that reflect the glazing pattern of the oval oculi on the church itself. A similar gateway at the left-hand end is aligned axially with the modern church hall. The front gateway leads to a broad modern concrete pavement running up to the front entrance of the church, with a narrow pavement extending around each side bounded by narrow tarmac strips. Tarmac areas occupy the angles of the front porch with the main body of the church, and paved areas are provided outside each lateral doorway.

The front part of the graveyard is bounded on the east by a basalt rubble retaining wall to the modern church hall. The graveyard is bounded to the west by a hedge, with mature trees forming the boundary to the west at the rear. The rear boundary is formed by a basalt rubble wall partly smooth cement rendered on the inner face, containing a pedestrian gateway to the road at the rear with a pair of plain square rubble piers with rendered caps and a plain ironwork gate.

Immediately to the rear of the church, on the east side of the rear projection, stands a low cement rendered store with a flat concrete roof.

Session Room

Standing to the rear of the church on the west side is a detached single-storey rectangular building serving as the session room. It is built of basalt rubble walls with a projecting eaves course or frieze and timber eaves board. The hipped roof is covered with Bangor blue slates in regular courses, with cast iron gutter and cast iron downpipes.

The central doorway in the north wall is rectangular, containing a timber six-panel door that is a new replacement for the original two-leaf door, with a chamfered timber frame set in smooth rendered reveals and a modern octagonal brass handle.

There is one window in the east wall and two in the south wall. These are Gothic arched timber sashes, vertically hung, six-over-six panes with intersecting tracery lights to the head and exposed sash boxes, all painted white, set in smooth rendered reveals with projecting concrete cills. A former window opening in the west wall has been blocked up.