Groomsport Presbyterian Church, Main Street, Groomsport, Bangor-, Co Down

Groomsport Presbyterian Church is a rendered double-height hall church begun in 1841, now dominated by a three-stage sandstone tower added in 1863. The building stands on the south side of Main Street, Groomsport, built into a bank with a tarmac car park to the front.

The original church is a rectangular rendered structure with a pitched grey and black tiled roof and lead-capped kneelers to the north gable. The walls are painted ruled-and-lined render over a rendered plinth. The north front, which originally displayed sober classical detailing, is now dominated by the tower with its quadrant stair tower. The exposed section of the original gable at left retains rendered quoins and a string course at eaves level, along with the datestone.

The tower is constructed of rock-faced sandstone over a projecting sandstone plinth and comprises three slightly instepped stages with pinnacles and a balustraded parapet. The entrance is a double-leaf panelled timber door with fixed tympanum, set in a deep-splayed ashlar sandstone opening with a Romanesque hood moulding. The second stage features a round-headed window with hood moulding surmounted by a clock, while the belfry stage has a pair of round-headed louvred openings to each face, each with linked hood-moulds. A full-height vestry extension abuts the tower to the right, and a Celtic-Revival stair tower with a semi-conical roof stands to the left. Round-headed windows with Romanesque hood mouldings in chamfered sandstone reveals face north; lancet-headed windows with painted masonry sills and plain reveals face the remainder of the building. All windows contain modern leaded glazing with stained glass central panels. East and west elevations are each four windows wide.

A twentieth-century extension was added to the right of the tower, initially single-storey in the 1950s, later raised to double-storey height in 1971. In 1971 the main church was also extended by one bay to the rear with a new church hall added containing a new vestry. A vestibule was inserted at the front in 1991, when the historic gallery and box pews were removed and replaced, and the area around the pulpit was remodelled. A further extension was added to the church hall in 2007. A large modern extension now abutts the rear elevation.

The church was established after Presbyterians in Groomsport separated from Bangor congregation. A site was secured in 1841 from the widow of Reverend Henry Reid Andrews. Minister Isaac Mack held services in a house at No. 17 Main Street while collecting funds for the church building. In 1863, further funds were obtained for the tower and stair turret, bell and clock. The tower is dated 1863 and bears an inscription recording that the tower and clock were gifts from William McMurray of London, whose ancestors lived in the town. Young & Mackenzie built a gallery for the church in 1898.

The church is bounded by buildings on either side. A boundary wall fronts the road, with a central section of wrought-iron railings on a sandstone plinth wall and wrought-iron double access gates; the remainder is cast-concrete. The car park is accessed by a pair of mild-steel gates. The entrance is reached by concrete steps with mild-steel railings. Rainwater goods are uPVC on a timber eaves board.

The building's interest has been seriously compromised by recent alterations and additions, particularly the removal of historic box pews, the complete replacement of the original gallery, the remodelling of the pulpit area, and the large modern extension to the rear, which competes with the original church in scale and massing.