Ballygrainey Presbyterian Church, Gransha Road, Six Road Ends, Ballygrainey, Bangor, Co. Down

This is a good quality, simple, late Georgian two-story Presbyterian church, built in 1837. It is located on the east side of Gransha Road, approximately four miles northeast of Newtownards, with its front facade facing south.

The main entrance is centrally located on the ground floor, featuring recent panelled timber doors with a semicircular fanlight detailed with radial tracery. The door and fanlight are surrounded by Gibbsian pilasters. Two semicircular concrete steps lead to the entrance, with a wheelchair access ramp and modern handrail on the west side. A projecting lamp sits above the doorway, and an inscribed roundel reading ‘Bethel – Erected Anno Domini 1837’ is positioned above it. The facade has both edge and inner pilasters, finished with square channelled render and cushion-like capitals. The west facade has four evenly spaced ground floor windows with Georgian 8 over 8 sash frames. Four similar semicircular-headed windows with Georgian panes are situated on the first floor. A modern single-story extension, dating from 1957-59, projects from the far left edge of the west facade and connects to a large gabled extension at the rear of the original church. The main east facade mirrors the west facade but lacks the attached extension. The rear facade is largely obscured by the large hall extension, originally built in 1958-59, with a minor addition in 1979-80; only the upper portion of the facade, which is blank, is visible. The entire facade of the original building is finished in lined render, with in-and-out quoins to the east, west, and south facades. An arched recess is on the rear facade, and a chamfered plinth runs around the entire building. The hipped roof is covered in natural slate, and cast iron rainwater goods are present.

The Ballygrainey Presbyterian congregation was established in late 1836, and the church shortly thereafter. In approximately 1864, a session room was added to the rear and the stair to the gallery replaced. This session room was rebuilt in 1880, but in 1958-59 it was demolished and replaced with a significantly larger hall. A minor extension to the hall was added in 1979-80.