Bloomfield Presbyterian Church, Beersbridge Rd, Belfast, Co. Antrim, BT5 5DW

Bloomfield Presbyterian Church is a Gothic Revival sandstone church situated prominently on a corner site at the junction of Beersbridge Road and Cyprus Avenue in the Ballyhackamore townland of east Belfast. The building as it stands today is the result of several distinct phases of construction spanning more than half a century.

The main body of the church dates from 1897–98 and was designed by J. J. Phillips & Son, an architectural partnership between James John Phillips (1841–1936) and his son James St. John Phillips (1870–1935). This was one of the firm's earliest commissions. The church was officially opened on 4th December 1898, though debt incurred during construction meant the western frontage could not be completed at that time. Between 1898 and 1956 the entrance was served by a temporary porch of wood and corrugated iron. The two western towers and vestibule — forming the present principal elevation — were not built in permanent stone until 1956. A Gothic lecture hall was added to the rear of the church in 1925–26, designed by Hobart & Heron, a firm based in Dromore who also operated in Belfast from 1905; the foundation stone was laid in March 1925, John Elliott of Hillsborough was the contractor, and the hall opened in March 1926 at an estimated cost of £10,000. A further two-storey modern hall with a pitched corrugated roof and timber cladding was constructed to the southeast end of the site in 1967.

The church was established to serve a rapidly growing local population. Ordnance Survey maps show that in the mid-19th century the townland of Ballyhackamore was predominantly rural. The Irish census records that between 1891 and 1901 the population of Belfast increased by almost 100,000, prompting the extension of the municipal boundary under the 1896 Belfast Corporation Bill. Residential development of the Upper Beersbridge Road — including Cyprus Avenue — had begun in the early 1890s, and the current site was acquired in autumn 1895 for the newly formed Bloomfield Presbyterian congregation, which held services in a national schoolhouse on Bread Street East during construction. The rateable value of the church was set at £190 in 1898 (exempt from taxation), rising to £600 under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936–57) and further to £1,000 by the end of the Second Revaluation (1956–72).

A pipe organ was dedicated on 5th December 1948; it was replaced with an electronic organ in 2003, though the original pipes were retained for aesthetic reasons. The Bloomfield congregation was linked in a new mission partnership with Westbourne Presbyterian Church in 2001. At the time of the most recent survey the congregation comprised approximately 400 families.

The church is built to a rectangular plan with two towers at the southeast and northeast corners. The walling throughout is random coursed, rock-faced sandstone with ashlar red sandstone dressings and banding. The roof is pitched natural slate with red clay roll-top ridge tiles. Additional roof features include an octagonal louvred ventilation tower or lantern, moulded stone verges to the gables, and rectangular blocked chimney stacks with moulded copings. Cast iron ogee guttering sits on a projecting red sandstone cornice and discharges to circular downpipes.

Pointed arch door openings throughout have deep moulded surrounds incorporating engaged columns and plain spandrels, fitted with square-headed double-leaf sheeted timber doors unless otherwise noted. Pointed arch window openings have cut stone dressings, splayed cills and moulded hoods, and are glazed with stained leaded glass unless otherwise noted.

The principal (west) elevation consists of a double-height gabled recessed bay with a single-storey lean-to outshot to the centre, a three-stage hipped-roof tower to the northwest end, and a two-stage hipped-roof tower to the southwest end. A three-part pointed arch window appears in the gable, with moulded hoods and engaged columns between the openings. Five small windows light the outshot, flanked by decorated cast iron hoppers discharging to circular downpipes. Both towers are square in plan with projecting eaves and two-stage angled buttresses. The northwest tower has large door openings to its north and west faces at first-stage level: the west door opens onto a platform reached by three paved steps, and the north door onto a platform reached by a modern ramp. There are windows to the second stage on the north and west faces, and three-part louvred window openings to all elevations at belfry level. The southwest tower has a door opening at first-stage level opening onto a platform reached by four paved steps, a small window at first-stage level on the south face, and windows at second-stage level on the west and south elevations.

The north elevation consists of the north face of the three-stage tower, a three-bay wide recessed bay, two two-storey gabled bays, and a three-bay wide recessed gabled bay at the east end. The recessed bay has paired pointed trefoil arch windows at ground floor level and three-part traceried windows at first floor level, separated by two-stage buttresses. The gabled bay immediately to the east has two sets of paired pointed trefoil windows at ground floor level separated by a single-stage buttress with a gablet, and a large five-part traceried window with a moulded hood and red sandstone aprons to the double-height first floor. This gable is flanked by two-stage buttresses with gablets to the first stage. The next gabled bay has a trefoil arch door opening with a moulded surround containing a double-leaf diagonal-sheeted timber door with a stained leaded fanlight, and two narrow trefoil arch windows at ground floor level separated from the door by a single-stage buttress, with three trefoil arch windows at first floor level, taller to the centre. The recessed gable at the east end is flanked by two-stage buttresses and has three bays separated by tall buttresses with gablets, with trefoil arch windows at ground floor level and taller trefoil arch windows at first floor level, and a moulded band between the two storeys.

The rear (east) elevation has five bays with two trefoil arch windows at ground floor level and paired Tudor arch windows at first floor level, separated by two-stage buttresses.

The south elevation is double height and consists of a gabled bay at the east end, a recessed bay with an attached single-storey gabled extension, a gabled bay immediately to the west, a three-bay wide recessed bay, and the two-stage tower at the west end. The gabled bay at the east end has a trefoil arch door opening off-centre containing a double-leaf diagonal-sheeted timber door with a stained leaded glass fanlight, opening onto four stone steps, a small square-headed window to the east, and a three-part square-headed mullioned window to the west at ground floor level, with two trefoil arch windows at first floor level and a moulded band between the storeys. The single-storey extension has square-headed windows. The gabled bay immediately to the west repeats the arrangement seen on the north elevation: two sets of paired pointed trefoil windows at ground floor level separated by a single-stage buttress with a gablet, and a large five-part traceried window with a moulded hood and red sandstone aprons to the double-height first floor, the gable flanked by two-stage buttresses with gablets to the first stage. The three-bay wide recessed bay has paired pointed trefoil arch windows at ground floor level and three-part traceried windows at first floor level, separated by two-stage buttresses.

The interior retains its original timberwork throughout the main body of the church and has an impressive open-timber roof.

The church sits within its own grounds on an L-shaped corner site. The surroundings are largely tarmacked parking with small lawned areas. The site is enclosed by painted cast iron railings with square-section rails having pointed heads to the west and north towards the street, and by hedges to the south and east. Three gateways — to the southwest, northwest and north — each have painted cast iron gates supported on flat cast iron gate piers with scrolled fleur-de-lys finials. The setting of the church is further enhanced by the four sandstone houses on Cyprus Avenue opposite, which are listed separately. The church is located within a conservation area.