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

Bloomfield Presbyterian Church is a gabled two-storey sandstone church in the Gothic Revival style, designed by James John Phillips & Son and built between 1897 and 1898. It stands on the corner of Beersbridge Road and Cyprus Avenue in Belfast. The church has a rectangular plan with two towers positioned at the south-east and north-east corners. An attached Gothic hall constructed in 1926 stands to the south-east end of the site. A modern two-storey hall with a pitched corrugated roof and timber cladding was added in 1967 to the south-east.

The church is constructed from random coursed, rock-faced sandstone with ashlar red-sandstone dressings and banding. It features a pitched natural slate roof with red-clay roll-top ridge tiles, moulded stone verges to the gables, and rectangular section blocked chimney stacks with moulded coping. Cast iron ogee guttering discharges from a projecting red-sandstone cornice to circular downpipes. An octagonal louvred ventilation tower or lantern sits on the roof.

Pointed arch door openings have deep moulded surrounds incorporating engaged columns and plain spandrels, with square-headed double-leaf sheeted timber doors. Pointed arch window openings have cut stone dressings, splayed cills, and moulded hoods containing stained leaded glazing throughout.

The principal elevation faces west and consists of a double-height gabled recessed bay with a single-storey lean-to outshot to the centre. A three-stage hipped roof tower stands at the north-west end, and a two-stage hipped roof tower at the south-west end. The gable contains a three-part pointed arch window with moulded hoods and engaged columns between 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 north-west tower has large door openings to the first stage on its north and west faces; the west door opens onto a platform accessed by three paved steps, and the north door opens onto a platform accessed by a modern ramp. A window to the second stage appears on the north and west faces, and three-part louvred window openings serve the belfry stage on all elevations. The south-west tower has a door opening to the first stage opening onto a platform accessed by four paved steps, a small window to the first stage on the south face, and a window to the second stage on the west and south elevations.

The north elevation comprises 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 to the east end. Paired pointed trefoil arch windows to the ground floor and three-part traceried windows to the first floor, separated by two-stage buttresses, light the recessed bay. The first gabled bay to the east has two sets of paired pointed trefoil windows to the ground floor separated by a single-stage buttress with a gablet, and a large five-part traceried window with moulded hood and red-sandstone aprons to the double-height first floor. The gable is flanked by two-stage buttresses with gablets to the first stage. The next gabled bay features a trefoil arch door opening with moulded surround and a double-leaf diagonal-sheeted timber door with stained leaded fanlight. Two narrow trefoil arch windows light the ground floor, separated from the door by a single-stage buttress. Three trefoil arch windows, taller to the centre, light the first floor. The recessed gable to the west end is flanked by two-stage buttresses and has three bays separated by tall buttresses with gablets. Trefoil arch windows light the ground floor and taller trefoil arch windows the first floor. A moulded band runs between ground and first floor levels.

The east elevation, serving as the rear, spans five bays with two trefoil arch windows to the ground floor and paired Tudor arch windows to the first floor, separated by two-stage buttresses.

The south elevation is double height and comprises a gabled bay to 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 to the west end. An off-centre trefoil arch door opening to the eastern gabled bay has a double-leaf diagonal-sheeted timber door with 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 light the ground floor. Two trefoil arch windows light the first floor, with a moulded band running between the two levels. The single-storey extension has square-headed windows. The gabled bay immediately to the west has two sets of paired pointed trefoil windows to the ground floor separated by a single-stage buttress with a gablet, and a large five-part traceried window with moulded hood and red-sandstone aprons to the double-height first floor. The gable is flanked by two-stage buttresses with gablets to the first stage. Paired pointed trefoil arch windows to the ground floor and three-part traceried windows to the first floor, separated by two-stage buttresses, light the three-bay wide recessed bay.

The site occupies an L-shaped plot and is enclosed by railings to the west and north towards the street and by hedges to the south and east. Painted cast iron railings with square-section rails having pointed heads surround the property. Three gateways to the south-west, north-west, and north all have painted cast-iron gates supported on flat cast iron gate piers with scrolled fleur-de-lys finials. Tarmaced parking surrounds the church and hall with small lawned areas beyond.