Reformed Presbyterian Church, Ballymacashen Road, Ballymacashen, Killinchy, Co Down, BT23 6SH

Reformed Presbyterian Church, Ballymacashen

A simple gabled church erected in 1847, located to the east of Ballymacashen Road near its junction with Saintfield Road, approximately 2 miles west of Killinchy. The building was designed by James Patterson, a local builder, and built on land granted by Joseph Minnis of Ballymacashen for £19. Construction was funded partly by contributions from local families including the Gordons of Florida Manor. The first service was held on 1 October 1848.

The church features simplified classical detailing throughout. The west gable facade has a central double timber panelled door at ground level with a semicircular radial fanlight, flanked by panelled pilasters and an archivolt with keystone. Directly above the door is a semicircular window with Georgian-like panes (but with margins) set within a semicircular arched recess. Plain pilasters stand on either side of this door and window grouping. To the left and right are further windows of the same type, with plain panels beneath displaying church service details and religious quotations. Outer pilasters mark the far left and right edges. The facade is topped with a tympanum containing a small central rectangular panel inscribed "Reformed Presbyterian Church 1847".

The north and south facades are largely identical, each containing four windows similar to those on the front but considerably taller, fitted with sash frames and set within arched recesses that extend to ground level. Both facades have outer edge pilasters, with a further similar pilaster between the first and second windows on the south facade and between the third and fourth windows on the north facade. The rear facade features a central timber sheeted door with a semicircular radial fanlight at ground level, with two narrower windows of the front type at first floor level.

The entire facade is finished in lined render and left unpainted. The building has an eaves course and chamfered plinth. The roof is covered in Bangor blue slates, with rendered parapets topped with squat finials to each gable.

The Reformed presbytery of Ballymacashen originated in 1828 when local farmer John Patterson and teacher Alexander Martin applied to the Irish Reformed presbytery of Knockbracken for permission to hold services in the townland. The building was shown on the Ordnance Survey map of 1859-60 as "Covenanter's Meeting House". That same map depicts a long building to the north of the church, likely the sexton's house mentioned in valuation returns of 1861. The church underwent renovation in 1954 at a cost of £1,000 and electric lighting was installed in 1959.

The setting includes a small graveyard to the south of the church and a concrete-covered enclosed area to the north. A low rendered wall to the north and west features two sets of simple wrought iron gates with distinctive fist-support brackets. A covered well lies to the north. A small former stable to the northeast has been converted to toilets. The listing extends to the church, gates and gate piers.