St. Mark’s (C of I) parish church, Church Street, Newtownards, Co Down, BT23 4AN

St. Mark's Church of Ireland Parish Church is a fine perpendicular Gothic building constructed in 1816, set pleasantly within its own grounds on the north side of Church Street at the corner of William Street in Newtownards.

The original church was built at a cost of approximately £5,446, funded through a loan of £3,692 from The Board of First Fruits, a gift of £831, and £392 donated by the Londonderry family (though some authorities claim their contribution was closer to a quarter of the total cost). The church was described in the Ordnance Survey Memoirs of circa 1834 as "a neat, ornamented building" and the "prettiest" in town. It was originally intended to be dedicated to either St. Finnian or St. Columba, both believed to have had connections to Movilla Abbey, but the eventual dedication to St. Mark may have resulted from the influence of the parish rector, Rev. Marcus Cassidy.

The original church had a simple cruciform layout constructed in Scrabo ashlar stone. Around 1858 (sources vary between circa 1840 and 1866, though the church's own literature suggests circa 1857), the north transept was demolished and a large full-length extension was added, effectively doubling the building's footprint. This extension, constructed in squared, snecked, rock-faced Scrabo stone, replicates much of the original's detail but with significant stylistic divergences: notably the rock-faced finish to external stone as opposed to ashlar, and an exposed arch-braced trussed ceiling as opposed to a groin-vaulted plastered ceiling. These differences reflect the evolution of style during the 1800s and create an unusual but carefully conceived contrast.

The main entrance is located within the south face of a square tower, with some stonework near the door repaired using coloured render. An octagonal stone spire surmounted with croquette sits atop the square tower, which is finished with tall stone croquetted pinnacles and decorative stone balustrade. Beneath this is a slatted, equilateral-arched panel tracery opening with drip moulding and label stops, repeated on all four faces. Window openings rest on a string course. Below this, on the south face, is a Victorian clock face with hands; the north and west faces retain original metal clock faces without hands. Beneath each clock face is a tall lancet window resting on a string course. On the south face below the clock is a carved coat of arms surmounted with a moulded drip stone with label stops, beneath which is a glazed gas lamp (now electrified) surmounting the equilateral-arched main entrance door opening. The door is a single leaf panelled design. To the west side is a panel tracery opening providing light to the porch. To the right of the door are two large panel tracery openings separated by a stepped stone buttress topped with a croquetted pinnacle, each face of which is carved with a head. Above is a castellated parapet, much of which was recently rebuilt in matching stone.

The transept features blank east and west facades and a panel tracery window on the south face. It has diagonal buttresses and window reveals that appear to have been rebuilt in matching stone. To the right are a further two panel tracery windows. The gabled sanctuary projects from the nave gable on the east side, with both gables featuring castellations. To its right is the gable of the extension, which has a plain stone parapet, pinnacled stone buttresses, and a centrally positioned rose window.

To the right of the extension gable is a small, single-storey, shouldered gabled hall. Between the hall and the sanctuary is a small lean-to projection housing the vestry, which has a square-headed panel tracery window. The south face of the hall has three off-centre paired lancet windows with moulded dripstone and label stops. The east face has a Y-tracery window opening. The north face has one paired lancet window and a matching door opening with moulded drip stone. The hall is finished in ashlar Scrabo stone; the lean-to is finished in rock-faced snecked rubble.

The north face of the extension contains four panel tracery windows with buttresses and parapet details as before. The east gable of the extension features a rose window with a pattern formed from quatrefoil motifs and a small gabled porch in its centre, with a simple tracery window to the north and a wide lancet door opening with moulded drip stone and sheeted timber door to the south. The building is finished with cast iron gutters and downpipes, and covered with Bangor blue slates with dark blue fire clay ridge tiles.

The pulpit was added in 1868, and the choir vestry to the east was built in 1958.