Mountpottinger National Schools, Paulett Avenue, Belfast, BT5 4HD

Mountpottinger National Schools is a two-storey attached red brick school building located off Paulett Avenue, Belfast, to the north of First Ballymacarrett Presbyterian Church. It was originally built around 1860–61 and subsequently raised and redesigned in 1886, the date that still appears inscribed above the entrance door. The building is not listed but is recorded for its local interest, though it is not considered among the best examples of its type and has been compromised by various alterations. The property is currently vacant, having previously been occupied by the army for a short period after the school closed.

Historical Background

The school's origins are closely tied to the history of First Ballymacarrett Presbyterian Church. The congregation at Ballymacarrett was formally established in the early 1830s, and the church itself was built following a community fundraising effort that began in 1835–36. Plans drawn up by an architect named Thompson for a building 65 feet by 40 feet were adopted, and Matthew McKenzie's estimate of £1,225 was accepted. The first stone was laid on 6 June 1836, and the church opened for public worship on 23 April 1837. The Reverend John Meneely was ordained as its first minister on 20 March 1838.

Shortly after the church opened, schoolrooms were erected at its east end to house day and Sabbath schools, which were carried on with considerable success. In 1859, the Belfast Presbytery visited the congregation and recommended enlarging the church. This involved removing the original schoolrooms to make way for a transept extension, and erecting new schools on a site to the north of the church. The architect Mr Matier drew up plans for both the church enlargement and the new schools. The builder Mr McCracken completed the church enlargement for £650, with work beginning in August 1860 and finishing by January 1861; the church was re-opened for worship on 10 February 1861. The Annual Report of 1861 records that new Male and Female Schoolrooms, capable of accommodating 300 children, were erected at a cost of approximately £500, with the minister, Reverend Meneely, undertaking to collect that sum independently of the congregation.

In 1886, the schools were rebuilt and enlarged at a cost of £860. This is the form of the building that survives today. The First Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1834 shows no buildings on the site; a simple rectangular structure first appears uncaptioned to the north of the church on the Second Edition map, though the current building does not appear until the Third Edition map of 1901.

In 1901, the male principal was a Mr A. Black and the female principal was Miss McBratney. By 1907 the male principal had changed to Mr Jos. McKee. Both Jos. McKee and Miss Margaret McBratney are still recorded as principals in the 1910 Belfast and Ulster Street Directory.

The church itself was completely renovated and partly reconstructed in 1898 at a cost of around £3,800–£4,000. A manse was built in 1882 at a cost of £1,200. A new Lecture Hall and Sexton's residence were erected at a cost of £7,000, with foundation stones laid on 5 May 1928 and the Hall opened on 6 October 1928. A scheme of renewals to the church property costing over £2,000 was completed in connection with the congregation's centenary in 1937.

Exterior Description

The principal elevation faces west and is constructed in red brick with a natural slate roof, cast iron rainwater goods, and timber casement windows with horizontal glazing bars. Corbelled brick detailing runs to the eaves and a string course marks the first floor level. Lintels, cills, and plaques are in sandstone.

The principal west elevation features a shallow, full-height gabled breakfront entrance bay, positioned slightly off-centre to the right. The original entrance has been altered to a square-headed opening with an exposed concrete lintel and a steel roller shutter. An alternating chamfered dentil corbel string course, incorporating a projecting quarry tile, separates the ground floor from the first floor. Centrally above this string course is a rectangular red sandstone plaque inscribed 'Mountpottinger National Schools 1886', above which are tripartite lancet windows; the central window is one third taller than the flanking windows, and all have flush chamfered red sandstone cills and stained timber windows. The gable above has a stepped corbelled brick detail.

The bay to the left of the entrance is five openings wide. The far left ground floor opening is square-headed with an exposed steel lintel bearing onto a steel column set into the boundary wall; this supports the first floor corner of the building and is chamfered on plan to allow external access to the north of the site. The second, fourth, and fifth openings from the left at ground floor are tall square-headed windows with red sandstone chamfered lintels with chamfered stop ends, projecting sandstone cills, and stained timber casement windows with horizontal glazing bars. The third opening from the left is a blocked-up doorway with a concave shouldered red sandstone chamfered lintel with chamfered stop ends, and a red sandstone shield plaque inscribed 'Boys' above. At first floor level, all openings are windows positioned directly above the ground floor openings, except the third from the left, which is a square-headed steel door set within a segmental arch opening (with a modern red brick tympanum on an exposed concrete lintel) and served by a steel bracketed landing — the remains of a fire escape stair.

The bay to the right of the entrance is four windows wide at ground floor level. The first and third windows from the left have corresponding windows above at first floor level. Above the fourth window is a door opening with a square-headed steel roller shutter door set within a segmental arch opening (with a modern red brick tympanum on an exposed concrete lintel), served by a steel landing supported on steel cross-braced cast iron columns. This leads to an escape stair with steel tubular handrails with top and mid rails, exiting to the right to a half landing before turning 90 degrees to ground level; the upper flight is steel and the lower flight is brick with concrete treads.

The north gable elevation was formerly abutted at ground floor level by a single-storey extension, now demolished. The first floor has two segmental arch windows placed symmetrically about the ridge, and the gable has a stepped corbelled brick detail.

The south gable elevation is abutted at both ground and first floor level by a flat-roofed red brick building with raised parapet walls topped with flat projecting red sandstone copings. The remainder of the exposed south gable is blank, with a stepped corbelled brick verge detail and a red corbelled brick chimney at the apex. The south elevation of the flat-roofed element is entirely abutted by the church transept. Its west elevation has a square-headed door opening with an exposed concrete lintel and steel roller shutter at the bottom left; the bottom right is abutted by the first flight of the external escape stair; the top right has a blocked-up square-headed window opening with a red sandstone lintel and projecting cill, partially obscured by the upper flight of the external stair; and the top left is partially obscured by the top flight of the stair. The east elevation of this flat-roofed element has a bricked-up opening at the bottom right; a bricked-up window opening at the bottom left from which a stainless steel flue emerges and extends above the full height of the wall (the projecting sandstone cill remains); and a single blocked-up and rendered window opening at the top left (retaining its sandstone lintel and projecting cill).

The rear, east elevation is seven openings wide on both ground and first floor. The second opening from the right at ground floor level is a blocked-up doorway; the remaining ground floor openings are boarded-up windows. All ground floor openings have red sandstone chamfered lintels with chamfered stop ends. All seven first floor openings are windows positioned directly above the ground floor openings, with timber casement windows with horizontal glazing bars and segmental arches formed in brick. A tall red brick boundary wall abuts the rear elevation to the right, containing a single blocked-up square-headed doorway at its junction with the gable.

Setting

The school is located at the end of Paulett Avenue, with no frontage visible from Albertbridge Road. It forms part of a complex of buildings on a site partially enclosed by a tall red and orange brick wall and partially by adjacent buildings. To the front is a tarmac car park; to the rear is a communal passageway serving the terrace properties of Templemore Avenue; to the north is an enclosed yard, previously occupied by a single-storey extension now demolished; and to the south the building abuts the church transept. Access to the site is through a modern steel gate, though the remains of the original iron railings still survive.