Ballygilbert Presbyterian Church, 376 Belfast Road, Bangor, Co Down, BT19 1UH

Ballygilbert Presbyterian Church, 376 Belfast Road, Bangor

Ballygilbert Presbyterian Church is a double-height Presbyterian church in the neo-Renaissance style, built in 1842 and located off the A2 Bangor Road at Ballyrobert. It is rectangular on plan and has been extended and altered significantly over the years, most notably with a rear hall extension added in 1902, extensive internal modernisation in 1929, and a substantial remodelling of the principal façade in 1986 that brought the front of the building forward by one full bay. Although its architectural interest has been somewhat compromised by these more recent alterations and additions, the building retains its historic character and the cumulative development of the church remains of note.

Exterior

The roof is pitched and covered in natural slate with terracotta ridge tiles, pinnacles, and stone kneelers. A decorative finial sits at the centre of the ridge on the rear gabled roof. Rainwater goods are ogee-profile cast iron on stone eaves. Walls are of painted ashlar over a masonry plinth with moulded details. Windows are round-headed with stained and leaded glazing set in modern PVC casements (except where noted otherwise), with hood mouldings with stops and central key blocks, chamfered bead-moulded surrounds, and painted stone sills. At the principal windows on the north, east, and west façades there is a decorative bracket moulding beneath the sill.

The principal elevation, which faces south, dates from 1986 and is three windows wide, with the central window partially concealed by a projecting porch. It features a pediment with a central bell-cote having a semi-circular headed aperture (currently without a bell) over a blind roundel with a moulded surround and key blocks at the cardinal points; the date 1842 is inscribed here. There is a moulded architrave and four pilasters. The central porch, also of 1986, is a dominant feature of this façade. It is approached by five stone steps, is one window deep, and echoes the classical detailing of the elevation with a moulded architrave and pilasters with Doric capitals. The entrance door is a mahogany eight-panelled double-leaf with a simple stone architrave, framed by pilasters and a single window to either side. All windows on this elevation are stained and leaded glazed.

The east elevation is four windows wide, with each opening separated by a lesene. To the left there is an oculus at first-floor level and a small window at ground-floor level. The rear gable is completely abutted by a later hall extension slightly wider than the church, which is in turn completely abutted to the north by a modern kitchen and hall of no architectural interest. The left section of the rear extension has a blind door to the south and two blind windows to the gable. The right section has a projecting porch to the south and, to the north, three modern PVC windows in a Serliana formation with a diamond motif to the centre of the gable. Both gables have stepped barges.

The west elevation has three windows to the right. To the left is a mahogany double-leaf eight-panelled door with a transom light, set within a moulded architrave and pediment.

Setting

The church is set back from the main road on a slightly elevated site, enclosed by fencing and hedgerow with a section of lawn to the front and to the left. Twin tarmacadam entrances are separated by a painted masonry boundary wall with coping stones and stone piers with pointed caps. There is a large car park to the east.

Historical Development

The church was built in 1842 at a time of significant expansion in Irish Presbyterianism. According to historians John and Eleanor McConaghy, a spirit of evangelical outreach prevailed in the early 19th century, with efforts made to revive struggling congregations and form new ones across Ireland. During the 1830s, eighty-three new congregations were added to the Synod of Ulster, and Ballygilbert was an early example of this vitality in the years before and after the formation of the General Assembly in 1840.

Funds were raised by the first minister, the Reverend Abraham Liggatt, and construction began in April 1842. The building opened for worship in September of that year, accommodating approximately 310 people at a total cost of £300. The church is recorded as a Presbyterian Meeting House on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1858. Griffith's Valuation of 1856 to 1864 shows that the land was leased from Lord Dufferin, with the meeting house valued at £13, later raised to £25.

A church hall, known as the guildhall, was built to the rear in 1902 to designs by Hobart of Dromore, with a Mr Pollock as contractor. This hall also contained the vestry. In 1905, the architects Hobart and Heron carried out reseating and further alterations, including new flooring, a heating system, window alterations, remodelling of choir seating, and tiling of the gallery and vestibule, with Burrows and Sons as contractors.

In 1929, under the direction of the Reverend McMaster, the ceiling was replaced in pitch pine, the pews and woodwork were varnished, and the walls were treated and painted. A porch with two cloakrooms was added to the front façade, some decorative mouldings and the pinnacles from the two roof corners were removed, and a belfry was erected.

An organ was installed in 1947. During the ministry of the Very Reverend Dr Park, a suite of halls known as the Park Halls was built to designs by the architects G.P. and R.H. Bell and opened in 1966. These comprised two halls, a committee room, a kitchen, and lavatories, constructed of grey brick with rendered panels at a cost of £13,000. In 1968 the guildhall was refurbished by the removal of all internal divisions and the creation of a new doorway connecting it to the church; the floor was also replaced, the fireplace removed, and the leaded lights replaced with Georgian wired glass.

In 1980, problems with leaks in the flat roof of the church halls led to its replacement with a pitched roof, and the halls were extended at the same time. In 1986, the façade was moved forward by 20 feet, creating a new reception area with a meeting room above, while the old vestibule provided approximately eighty additional seats within the church. Accompanying works included raising the organ pipes and works above head level, positioning the font on a raised platform on the Bangor side of the church, updating the guildhall to meet fire regulations, and remodelling the kitchen.