McQuiston Presbyterian Church, 83 Castlereagh Road, Belfast, Co. Antrim, BT5 5FE

McQuiston Presbyterian Church, located on the west side of Castlereagh Road in Belfast between Moneyrea Street and Leitrim Street, is a double-height red brick gabled church in Gothic-revival style. It was designed in 1896 by local architects Young & Mackenzie and constructed by Robert Corry of Donegal Pass.

The building has a rectangular plan form with a square-plan tower at its south-east end and a modern two-storey pitched-roof red-brick hall at the west end. The pitched natural slate roof features crested red-clay ridge tiles and sprocketed eaves. Raised stone verges to the gables have stone kneelers and pointed finials to the apex. Cast iron ogee guttering is supported on moulded and dentilled cornicing, discharging to circular section downpipes. The red brick walling is laid to Flemish bond with projecting plinths.

The principal east elevation consists of a gabled bay flanked by a recessed bay to the north and the tower to the south. A large pointed arch five-part traceried window sits centrally in the gable with a continuous splayed cill. Below it is a paired pointed arch doorway with moulded sandstone surround supported on columns. The doorways feature quatrefoils to the tympani and triangular pointed-arch hood moulds supported on head-stops. They open onto a platform with two stone steps with segmental headed door openings containing double-leaf glazed timber panelled doors with fanlights. The church name and date of construction are carved above the doorway. A two-stage buttress at the north end of the gable is topped by a pinnacled finial. The bay to the north end has a narrow round arched opening to ground floor and two round-arch openings to first floor, with a single-stage buttress to the north end.

The square-plan four-stage tower at the south end has three-stage angled buttresses. It features two narrow pointed-arch windows to the first stage facing east and a single window facing south. The second stage has a narrow pointed arch window with continuous moulded string course above on both east and south faces. Two pointed arch window openings with hood moulds appear to the third stage on all four faces. The fourth stage has pointed arch louvred openings with hood moulds and splayed cills on all four faces. A broached sandstone spire with weather vane crowns the tower.

The south elevation contains two bays west of the tower: a gabled shallow projecting bay immediately to the west and a further bay to the west end abutted by the modern hall. The bays are separated by two-stage buttresses. Each bay has a segmental headed window to ground floor with flush stone cills and a pointed-arch headed window to first floor with continuous moulded string course above. Three pointed arch tall windows rise to the gable, with a circular stained glass window above featuring stone cusping to its perimeter.

The north elevation follows a similar arrangement. A gabled bay adjoins the front elevation followed by two bays, then a gabled shallow projecting bay immediately to the west and a further bay abutted by the modern hall. Again, bays are separated by two-stage buttresses, with segmental headed windows to ground floor with flush stone cills and pointed-arch windows to first floor with continuous moulded string course above. Three pointed arch tall windows rise to the gable, topped by a circular stained glass window with stone cusping to its perimeter.

The west elevation is abutted by the modern hall. Windows throughout the church are stained leaded glazing unless otherwise noted.

The church sits within its own grounds with gravelled and tarmaced areas to three sides and a small paved area to the front. The two-storey gabled red-brick hall at the rear was built in 2005 to designs by local architectural firm Kennedy and Fitzgerald. It has a T-plan form with gabled fibre-cement slate roof, stretcher bond brick walling, and square-headed casement windows with concrete cills.

The site is enclosed to the east, north and south by railings dating from the 1920s, comprising stone coping topped by cast iron railings with flat standards having scrolled heads and dog-leg support. Cast iron gates to the east serve as the principal entrance to the site, featuring ball railing heads and standards with scrolled heads, supported on square-plan gate piers with projecting plinths and corbelled pyramidal stone caps. Cast iron gates to the north have ball railing heads and standards with scrolled heads. Modern metal railings on dwarf red brick walling enclose the site to the west.