St Columba's Church of Ireland, Knock, Belfast, Co Antrim BT5 6JG

St Columba's Church of Ireland, Knock, Belfast is a freestanding double-height sandstone Gothic Revival parish church built in 1896 with subsequent extensions in 1900, 1930, 1964 and 1996. It is located on the south side of King's Road in the Knock area of Belfast.

The church follows a cruciform plan with a four-bay double-height clerestoried nave, transepts and lean-to single-storey aisles. A truncated square-plan three-stage tower stands to the north-west, topped with a two-stage canted stair-tower and stone roof. Projecting entrance porches are positioned to the north of the east elevation and to the transept of the west elevation. A linked single-storey choir vestry annexe, built in 1996, is attached to the east.

The walls are constructed of rock-faced buff sandstone, laid in block and sneck with a projecting plinth course beneath a chamfered sandstone string course. Staged buttressing reinforces the aisles, porches and gable ends. The principal roofs are pitched natural slate with terracotta ridge tiles and a mixture of cast-iron and plastic profiled rainwater goods on cavetto moulded sandstone eaves, supported on masonry animal grotesque corbels. Uncapped sandstone chimneystacks rise from the south of the nave and vestry. The aisles have monopitched natural slate roofs with cast-iron cyma recta moulded rainwater goods on cavetto sandstone eaves.

Windows are predominantly pointed-arched, arranged in groups of three, with chamfered sandstone surrounds and stained and leaded lattice lights. North and south windows feature cusped tracery, and all gable apexes contain foiled roundels except the chancel. The principal north elevation is gabled between the tower to the west and a projecting porch to the east. Two-stage buttresses with stepped offsets articulate the facade, which is crowned with a Celtic cross masonry finial at the apex. The central window sits on a moulded sill course.

The tower displays single pointed-arched windows with roundels to the belfry stage and staggered square windows to the stair-tower. The upper stage of the stair-tower is lit by three pointed-arched windows set within a smooth-faced ashlar sandstone frieze.

The east elevation extends five bays wide to the clerestory level. The attached porch is lit to its north cheek and features a Celtic cross finial, skew table and kneeler stones to the gable. The pointed-arched principal entrance comprises double-leaf multi-panelled timber doors in ordered ashlar sandstone surrounds with a hoodmould featuring carved finials.

The south gable is abutted by the slightly lower chancel, which is detailed like the main church body with a central group of cusped tracery stained-glass windows positioned above three masonry string courses. A rebuilt concrete chimneystack stands to the west of the chancel, abutting the vestry and rising from ground level to the height of the tower.

The west elevation mirrors the east in detailing, with a vestry abutting the south wall of the western transept. The vestry has a single window and entrance with a shouldered lintel containing a sheeted timber door, accessed via a sandstone staircase. A secondary entrance in a porch abutting the north wall of the western transept represents the original entrance before the 1900 extension; its lintel and door match those of the vestry. Transept windows are covered by metal grilles. Gable verges throughout have kneelers, decorative finials and skewputts.

The church occupies the south side of a leafy residential street, bounded on both sides by trees and bushes. The front is enclosed behind a low hedge and grass lawn. The east side has a small lawn but is predominantly paved, providing access to the Rectory, Church Hall (circa 1961) and choir vestry behind decorative wrought-iron gates with cast-iron piers. A 'Garden of Rest' and large Edwardian Rectory, circa 1912, stand to the rear of the church. The choir vestry is connected to the east transept by a wooden vestibule with decorative wooden panel walling and a mixture of lead and uPVC roof, its windows featuring pointed arches and stained glass. The recent 1996 vestry annexe has a steep hipped roof and sandstone faced walls attached at the east by a link block. Parking facilities are located at the western side.