Former Derryall Methodist Church, Crabtree Lane, Derryall TD, Portadown, BT62 1PP

Former Derryall Methodist Church

This is a former Methodist church of simple gabled form, originally Primitive Wesleyan, built between 1859 and 1862 on Derrycarne Road (formerly Crabtree Lane), close to the junction with Derryall Road in the Birches, Craigavon. The church is not recorded on the revised Ordnance Survey map of 1859 but appears in the 1862 valuation book as "Primitive Wesleyan Chapel". It was locally said to have been built in 1860 in the wake of the Great Revival, a resurgence in Christian conversion that swept Ulster in 1859, though the Methodist Historical Society of Ireland dates it to 1859. The architect is unknown, but it is probable that a local skilled builder was instructed to adopt the basic gabled single-cell hall with porch design already employed by many Methodist congregations throughout Ireland, particularly in less affluent rural areas. The church was deliberately designed as a multi-purpose structure serving as both a place of worship and educational or secular space, avoiding more obtrusive ecclesiastical features such as fixed pews. The church was painted, repaired both inside and out, and had Calor gas fitted in June 1938, with further renovations and repainting in June 1959. Due to shifts in local population, the Derryall congregation merged with that of Derryanvil nearer Portadown around 1968, with services thereafter held in the latter church. The building was put up for sale in 1971 and is believed to have been sold the following year. It was captioned as a "hall" on the 1982 Ordnance Survey map and thereafter, suggesting continued community use for a time, but appears to have become disused around 2000.

The two-bay church has a simple gabled form with lightly scribed rendered brick walls and slate roofs. It is orientated north to south, with a gabled single-storey entrance vestibule centred on the south front elevation and a single-room vestry return attached to the north-east corner. The church is situated behind a waist-height rendered boundary wall with semicircular coping; square gate pillars with pyramid copings and a wrought iron gate form a central gateway.

The south elevation faces Derrycarne Road and is relatively plain and symmetrically composed. The entrance vestibule has a central semicircular-headed sash window (2/2) and two pattress plates marking the end of tie-rods, suggesting historical concern that the porch would detach from the main building. The entrance is a simple timber-sheeted door on the east side of the vestibule, abutting the main gable. Ornament is limited to ornately carved painted timber bargeboards that terminate in a Methodist Orb and cross motif, attached to both the gabled main and vestibule roofs. Both roofs have suffered storm damage with some verge slates missing, and the right-hand bargeboard of the vestibule roof has detached.

The west elevation has two large semicircular-headed sash windows with Georgian panes (9/6); the upper sections have radial tracery. The north or rear elevation is plain except for two semicircular-headed windows with Georgian panes (6/3), both with yellow glass and radial tracery in the upper sections. Stone skews mark the roof verge, distinguishing it from the front elevation. The east elevation has two large semicircular-headed sash windows matching those on the west elevation, with Georgian panes (9/6) and radial tracery in the upper sections. A small single-storey return is attached to the north-east corner, with a slate lean-to roof, a single window, and a timber-sheeted door on the south side providing secondary access.

The roof is covered in natural Welsh slate. The walls are brick with ashlar-scribed sand cement render finish. Windows are timber, multi-paned, and single-glazed. Rainwater goods are cast iron.

A post-survey visit found a significant increase in damage to the eaves of the main roof and porch, and a process of window removal had commenced. The level of deterioration and loss of original fabric diminishes significantly the building's suitability for listing.

The church forms part of a cluster of buildings centred on the crossroads, including the listed former Post Office and the former Sunday School, Derryall Hall. The Sunday School itself was a small brick building built around 1855 at the south-west of the former church, constructed largely due to the efforts of Dawson Tate, a Portadown linen manufacturer, who intended the building to be used free of charge to Protestants of all denominations for religious meetings and for holding meetings for any public philanthropic object. It is marked as "Sunday School" on the 1859 and 1905 Ordnance Survey maps and as a "hall" on those after 1954.