Trinity Presbyterian Church, Main Street, Bangor, Co Down, Northern Ireland, BT20 5AF

Trinity Presbyterian Church

A double-height Gothic-style cruciform church with diminished tower, built in 1888 to designs by Samuel Patrick Close. The church is located on the east side of Main Street in the centre of Bangor town, set back slightly from the building line of adjacent shops.

The exterior is constructed of squared rock-faced sandstone built to courses with chiselled draft margins to corners and a slightly battered base. Ashlar sandstone forms the plinth course and dressings. The pitched natural slate roof is fitted with terracotta ridge tiles, cast-iron rainwater goods with ogee moulded gutters and box section downpipes.

The principal west elevation comprises a central symmetrical projected gable flanked by abutments to the north and south. The gable features moulded roll top saddleback coping stones with two intermittent kneelers, gable shoulders and square-headed apex-stone detail, with three-stage lateral buttresses on either side. At low level are four diminished lancet-arched windows separated by a string course. The upper section contains tripartite windows: a large central window flanked by diminished windows, all with hood mouldings over and moulded figure head stops. Square-headed timber ventilation louvers are located at the gable head.

The north elevation is asymmetrically arranged. A double-height, single-stage square-plan truncated tower is set on the right with lateral buttressing to the northeast corner. An adjoining projected octagonal stair-tower with alternating lancet windows and a diagonal buttress occupies the northwest corner, with a blank east cheek. The ground floor of the tower contains a single lancet window with a bi-partite cusped-tracery window above. The north entrance is located on the north face of the tower between the buttress and stair tower, with a door and overlight matching the front elevation and framed by an ashlar sandstone, three-stage moulded gothic opening surmounted by a gable head with spandrels and central quatrefoil. Three windows serve the nave, with a subservient projected gabled north transept having lower eaves and ridge levels and two paired windows to the gable end with blank cheeks.

The east (rear) gable has a single square-headed timber louvered opening at high level, and the gable apex is surmounted by a chimney. At the centre is a diminished gable-ended bay abutting the gable with a large cusped tracery window. The ground floor is largely abutted by a series of asymmetrically arranged single-storey secondary accommodation with lean-to, pyramidal and hipped roofs, generally matching in style and proportions with subdued detailing. Replacement uPVC windows are present in the ministers room.

The south elevation matches the north elevation, except for a double-height gable-ended abutment on the left side. The gable face matches the details of the front gable with a single bi-partite cusped tracery window at high level and a diagonal buttress to the southwest corner with blank east cheek. The principal entrance is located on the west cheek, with a tri-partite square-headed window above featuring cusped openings.

Windows feature Gothic detailing with long-and-short chamfered sandstone surrounds and cills. Principal windows have central mullions with cusped arches and panel tracery. The replacement timber sheeted entrance door has chamfered long-and-short ashlar sandstone jambs framed by a moulded gothic arch with cusped tracery and a sandstone label moulding over.

The church sits on an elevated site mid-way along the principal commercial street in Bangor town centre, which inclines from left to right. It is surrounded by two and three-storey Victorian buildings to the right and a modern shopping centre to the left. Set back from the building line of neighbouring buildings, the church is bounded to the front by a masonry plinth surmounted by a wrought-iron railing. The principal entrance is accessed from the right via a wrought-iron gate hung from masonry piers with pyramidal caps surmounted by light fixings. A second matching gate to the right accesses the rear of the church. A Tudor-arched gated entrance to the left is embraced by gable surrounds with matching detailing to the front elevation, serving the north entrance. All gates have associated steps with wrought-iron handrails leading to the elevated ground level. A large modern building occupies the north of the site, with the remains of elevation walling from a former historic building. A large double-height church hall and office accommodation is located immediately to the east, and modern commercial premises bound the south.