St Peter's Church of Ireland, Antrim Road, Belfast, Co.Antrim, BT15 5GH

St Peter's Church of Ireland, Antrim Road, Belfast

St Peter's Church of Ireland is a freestanding late-Victorian Gothic Revival church designed by the Belfast architect Samuel Patrick Close and constructed by the firm Henry Laverty & Sons. The foundation stone was laid on 28th May 1898 and the building was officially opened on 29th June 1900 — St Peter's Day — though at that point it was only half its intended size. The listing extent covers the church itself together with two sets of gate posts and gates.

Close had served his apprenticeship in the offices of Lanyon, Lynn & Lanyon before establishing an independent practice at Waring Street in 1872. He carried out a large number of commissions for the Church of Ireland and was also responsible for St Patrick's Church on the Newtownards Road and Fisherwick Presbyterian Church on the Malone Road. The church was built on land formerly belonging to the O'Neills of Parkmount House, purchased for £1,200, at a time when the Antrim Road was being rapidly transformed from an enclave of gentleman's mansions and merchant's manors into an increasingly residential area. Between 1861 and 1911 the Church of Ireland population in Belfast almost quadrupled from 30,000 to 118,000, and it was this growth that necessitated a new place of worship in the area.

Architectural Description

The church is set on a west-east axis with side aisles to north and south, a projecting gabled sanctuary to the east dating from 1900, a projecting gabled entrance porch to the south and a chapel to the north dating from 1932, a single-storey extension to the north, and a single-storey rendered church hall to the north-east built in 2007. The plan is rectilinear overall, and the building occupies its own grounds at the corner of Antrim Road and Fortwilliam Drive.

The roof is pitched natural slate with black clay roll-top ridge tiles, raised stone verges with sandstone kneelers and splayed roll-top copings, and stone finials of various designs on the apex stones. A moulded cornice supports uPVC ogee guttering discharging to uPVC rectangular-section downpipes, with some cast-iron retained to the north. The aisles have lean-to roofs. The walls are squared and snecked rock-faced sandstone — specifically locally quarried Scrabo sandstone with Scottish Giffnock sandstone used for the dressings — with a raised chamfered plinth course and diagonal buttresses with stepped splayed copings. Window openings are pointed arch with tracery, smooth ashlar chamfered surrounds, moulded hoods on square label stops with rock-faced headers over, splayed sills, and stained glass throughout unless otherwise noted.

West elevation: Three-bay gabled entrance to the centre flanked by single-storey aisles to north and south with gabled abutments. The centrepiece is a large pointed arch three-part tracery window with carved stone mullions and leaded glass with secondary glazing, above a moulded sill course, and a circular window above with stone cusping. Below this is a pointed arch door opening with smooth ashlar chamfered quoins and a moulded surround, fitted with double timber panelled doors. Flanking the entrance door are pointed arch windows with smooth ashlar chamfered quoins and leaded glass set with protective metal grilles. The aisles and porches have pointed two-part tracery windows also fitted with protective metal grilles. Three-stage diagonal buttresses with splayed copings.

North elevation: Large pointed arch two-part tracery window to the north transept with chamfered mullions, a moulded sill course, and a hood. Three-stage diagonal buttress with splayed copings. Pointed segmental arch to the clerestory with three-part pointed arch tracery incorporating trefoils and leaded glass. The north porch has a pointed arch opening with a two-part tracery window with chamfered mullions and smooth ashlar quoins. There is a further pointed arch opening to the north extension with leaded glass and protective metal grilles, and a pointed segmental arch door opening.

East elevation: Large pointed arch five-part tracery window to the east sanctuary with a splayed sill course and three-stage diagonal buttresses with splayed copings. Pointed arch opening with two-part tracery window to the east side of the south transept.

South elevation: Large pointed arch two-part tracery window to the south transept with chamfered mullions, a moulded string course below the splayed sill, a moulded hood, and square label stops. Three-stage diagonal buttress with splayed copings. Pointed segmental arches to the aisle and clerestory with three-part pointed arch tracery incorporating trefoils and leaded glass. Pointed arch windows to the sanctuary with a moulded sill course, flanked by a three-stage buttress with splayed copings. Pointed arch door opening with smooth ashlar chamfered quoins and a moulded surround, fitted with double timber panelled doors.

Interior and Artistic Features

The interior detailing reflects Close's interest in Irish Revivalism. The east window of the south transept is based on tracery at Culfeightrin Old Church; a south window of the chancel is based on the east window from Devenish Island (now in the parish church at Monea, County Fermanagh); and label stops in the transepts are carved with interlacing Celtic beasts derived from panels of the Clogher Cross, spelling out "DEUS" at the upper level and "AMEN" lower down. The terracotta panel installed over the altar was the work of the London-based sculptor George Tinworth (1843–1913) and depicts the scene of the women at Jesus's empty tomb. The carved church organ case was installed in 1903 by Harry Hems and was described by the Irish Builder as the "handsomest carved organ case in Ireland."

Following the First World War a Victory Window was installed in the south transept as a memorial to members of the congregation who died in the conflict, designed by James Powell & Sons of London. The same firm was responsible for the Kinahan "Motherhood Window" in the chancel and the McNeill memorial window in the south transept. A memorial tablet listing the names of the parishioners who fell in the war was installed below the Victory Window; both were unveiled on 21st November 1920. In 1932 side chapel reredos depicting the Ascension were added by Morris Harding, who also designed the Portland stone font in the baptistery. The War Memorial Window in the north transept, by local glaziers W. M. Morris, was unveiled on 11th November 1955 in memory of those who fell in the Second World War.

St Peter's also houses furnishings from two other churches that have since been deconsecrated. When the Chapel of the Resurrection (listed separately) closed in the 1970s due to vandalism, a number of its furnishings were removed to St Peter's side chapel, which was subsequently renamed the Chapel of the Resurrection. When St James Church of Ireland (listed separately) was deconsecrated in 2007, several of its wooden church carvings were relocated here.

History and Completion

When the church opened in 1900 it comprised only the chancel, transepts, and one bay of the present nave, with a rateable value set at £166. In 1903 the carved organ case was installed. The original church hall, now demolished, was designed by A. W. Brown and constructed in 1927, raising the rateable value to £252. The building was completed in 1932–33 when the western end was added — an extension that had been designed by Samuel Patrick Close as part of his original 1898 scheme but was carried out by his son Richard Mills Close following Samuel Patrick's death in 1925. This phase added two bays to the nave, the baptistery, the entrance porch, the vestry, and the completion of the west front, allowing the church to accommodate a congregation of 450–500. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936–57) the value of the extended building was assessed at £490, rising to £880 by the end of the Second Revaluation (1956–72).

The church was listed in 1987. That same July, a bomb exploded outside the adjoining Lansdowne Court Hotel, causing collateral damage to the roof, stonework, and windows. Restoration work involved reslating the roof, restoring the exterior sandstone, rebuilding the church organ at a cost of £15,000, and restoring the damaged stained glass windows; the church reopened in 1989. A further extensive renovation in 1995 included cleaning and repointing the external stonework, replacing all leadwork, and reslating the south aisle roof with salvaged green slates. In 2008 the original 1927 church hall was replaced by the current single-storey McCollum Hall.

Setting

The church stands prominently on the Antrim Road, where it terminates a vista from the North Circular Road. The grounds include a mixture of lawned areas and tarmacked parking. The northern boundary is lined with mature trees and has a gateway with chamfered timber posts and carved oak decorative gates with decorative cast-iron brackets, leading to three steps and a pathway. The south-west gateway has chamfered timber posts with double carved oak gates with cast-iron brackets. The south-east gateway has a metal post with double timber-sheeted entrance gates. The adjoining McCollum Hall lies to the north-west.