St Paul's Church of Ireland Church, Annagora Road, Portadown, Craigavon, Co Armagh

St Paul's Church of Ireland Church, Annagora Road, Portadown

This is a 20th century church in a simple Romanesque style, designed by the important Dublin architect R.C. Orpen and built in 1926–1927. It was constructed following a bequest from Robert Francis Cope of The Manor, Loughgall, with the foundation stone laid on 24 March 1926 and the building consecrated on 25 January 1927. The builders were H. Laverty & Sons. The church was built as a chapel-of-ease for the parish of Kilmore, replacing earlier services that had been held in part of the adjacent schoolhouse. It retains its original features and forms a pleasing architectural group with the adjacent school and hall building.

The church comprises a nave and chancel with shallow transepts forming a vestry and an organ chamber, together with a porch at the north-west end of the nave surmounted by a bellcote. The main elevation faces north. Roofs are gabled in Bangor blue slates laid in regular courses, with a louvred and copper cupola-capped ventilator on the ridge of the nave. Walls are of snecked basalt rubble with reconstituted stone quoins and dressings to openings, and a slightly projecting plinth of coursed basalt dressed with chamfered reconstituted stone. Moulded cast iron gutters and rectangular section cast iron downpipes with trefoil-ended fixings complete the external detail.

The north elevation displays a 5-bay nave with a blind-walled chancel extending to the left. The main wall contains 3 lancet windows with semi-circular arches and leaded glazing incorporating decorative coloured tops, set within block-dressed surrounds with chamfered reveals and moulded labels. At the left-hand end is a projecting gabled bay containing a similar window, with a semi-circular arched doorway in its left-hand wall. This doorway contains a timber-boarded door with decorative iron hinges, latch and handle, set in stop-chamfered reveals with a concrete doorstep. At the right-hand end is another projecting gabled bay with a lancet window in the gable surmounted by a shouldered bellcote in dressed stone. The bellcote has a chamfered semi-circular arched opening containing a large bell made by the foundry of Matthew Byrne of Dublin. The left-hand wall of this bay features a wide semi-circular arched doorway containing a similarly detailed timber-boarded door with iron fittings, set in stop-chamfered reveals with torus moulding to the arch and a modern handle on the left-hand jamb. An inscribed foundation stone appears on the right of the doorway above the plinth. The chancel extends slightly set-back to the left of the nave with a blind north wall. Its east gable contains a 3-light stained glass window, now covered with protective metal grilles. The apex of the gable features a cut stone panel with a quatrefoil opening.

The south elevation of the nave is 5-bay, comprising 4 lancets as on the north side, with a single-bay gabled projection to the right containing one window. Behind the projection, rising from the main nave wall, is a chimney with chamfered cut stone surmounted by a weathered cap. The chancel extends slightly set-back to the right with a small leaded lancet in its south wall.

The interior fixtures include a memorial desk executed by Purdy & Millard of Belfast and a font brought from the previous chapel location, originally presented by Reverend E. Gabbett A.M. in 1871 in memory of his wife Ellen. The stained glass window and leaded lights were all executed by Ward and Partners of Belfast.

The building stands on rising ground in a rural setting, set well back from the public road and facing it. The site, which is shared with the school and hall building, is bounded by hedges and wooden fences. The entrance gateway comprises a pair of iron gates set between circular roughcast piers flanked by curving roughcast screen walls, opening to a driveway. The grounds are laid out with grassed areas and a car park, with a modern paved area set with setts immediately in front of the church and paths skirting it. A later lean-to-roofed rendered shed and a modern plastic heating-oil container stand close to the rear of the church.