St. Judes Church of Ireland, 340 Ormeau Road, Belfast, County Antrim, BT7 2GE

St Jude's Church of Ireland, Ormeau Road, Belfast

St Jude's is a Gothic Revival Church of Ireland church built in Scrabo sandstone, with an Irish Romanesque round tower, designed by Thomas Drew — who served as diocesan architect — and constructed between 1871 and 1873. It was extended twice by the same architect, first in 1887 (completed 1889) and again in 1898–99. The church stands prominently on the east side of Ormeau Road, south of Belfast city centre, at its junction with St Jude's Avenue, and holds considerable architectural and social significance for the local community.

Historical Background

St Jude's was the first church to be built in Ireland following disestablishment of the Church of Ireland, and was financed in part by a grant of £600 from the Church Commissioners, later increased to £1,584 following an appeal by the Reverend Bristow of Knockbreda. It was constructed as a chapel-of-ease to Knockbreda parish, made necessary by the rapid expansion of population across the Ormeau Bridge into the Ballynafeigh area, which had recently been brought within the municipal boundary of Belfast. So swift was local growth that the original design — a simple nave and chancel — was enlarged even before the foundation stone was laid in July 1871 by James T. Bristow Esq. of Wilmont, brother of the parish rector. Transepts were added at this stage, intended to be screened off temporarily and opened as the congregation grew. The building was expected to seat 350 and cost approximately £2,100. The site was donated by William Fitzpatrick of Messrs Fitzpatrick, the building contractors, who also funded the addition of the bell tower "after the style of an old Irish round tower." The bell itself was a gift from James Greer Esq. of Annadale, a Presbyterian. The church opened for worship on 30th March 1873, built of Scrabo sandstone with pulpit and font of Bath stone; the font was modelled on an ancient example from the Parish Church of Croydon in Surrey. The pulpit was carved by Thomas Fitzpatrick, brother of the building contractor and author of notable carvings including those at the former Ulster Bank on Waring Street.

The first major extension, completed in November 1889 at a cost of £3,000, saw the nave lengthened and the transepts converted into aisles by the addition of gables, with the aisles separated from the nave by arcading of pointed arches. A new porch was constructed, a deeply moulded chancel arch installed to separate nave from chancel, and moulded arches placed between the organ chambers, chancel, and north aisle. The vestry was formed within the organ chamber, and a new organ by Conacher and Co. of Huddersfield was partly built over it. The contractors were Messrs John Lowry and Son of Great George's Street. The fenestration to all gables was altered during this enlargement to admit more light: the original west gable facing Ormeau Road had carried a large rose window with five lancets below, and the gable facing St Jude's Avenue had only two tall lancet windows. The transepts appear also to have been raised in height at this time. The church could now accommodate 650 worshippers. A boundary wall and gates were added in 1891.

A further enlargement in 1898–99, again to Drew's designs and at a cost of £1,250, extended the south aisle, with Messrs Courtenay Bros as contractors. On reopening in March 1899 the church could seat approximately 1,000 people. At the reopening the bishop remarked that Drew had enlarged the church "with so much skill that the appearance presented was even more beautiful than if he had built from entirely new plans," describing it as "a perfect triumph of architectural skill."

Subsequent alterations include: a major renovation and enlargement of the organ in 1912; replacement of the original bell, said to have cracked during the ringing of the Armistice in 1918, with a new one erected in 1920 at a cost of £150; replacement of a subsequently cracked second bell in the early 1950s; rebuilding and enlargement of the organ by Walker and Sons of London at the same period; addition of a side chapel to designs by A. F. Lucy in 1964; installation of stained glass windows to the north-east entrance in the 1970s to designs by Olive Henry; and construction of a two-storey suite of rooms inside the church at the south-western corner in 1990.

Exterior

The church is planned on an east–west axis, with a central nave, extended side aisles to both north and south with adjoining transepts, and an apse at the east end featuring an array of gables. A projecting gabled porch and the round tower with belfry abut the central nave to the northwest.

The roof is covered in natural slate with blue-black angled ridge tiles, raised stone verges with kneelers, and cross finials to the gables. Rainwater goods are cast-iron ogee profile. The walling is random-coursed, rock-faced Scrabo sandstone with Dundonald pink sandstone string courses. Windows throughout are leaded and stained glass lancets set in sandstone surrounds with chamfered sills.

The northwest corner is particularly notable. The entrance porch opens to the north through a double-leaf timber-sheeted door set in an equilateral-headed, moulded sandstone surround, accessed by two stone steps and surmounted by a moulded roundel with quatrefoil. Immediately to the west stands the round tower — a feature of particular architectural interest because, despite being Romanesque in form, its belfry is treated in the Gothic manner, with an equilateral arch-headed opening flanked by semi-engaged colonettes with ornately carved capitals, pierced quatrefoils to the spandrels, a carved dog-tooth frieze band, and a moulded cornice. The tower also has slender lancets rising up its shaft.

The west gable of the nave contains a five-paned lancet window, the lights of varying heights, mullioned with semi-engaged colonettes with round capital heads.

The apse at the east end has three gables, each containing a tracery window of paired lancets with an apex rose. The south face of the apse has two lancets with cusped arch-heads.

The north side aisle has a transept to the right, with paired lancets in the left bay and a projecting gabled porch to the left of that bay. This porch has an offset equilateral-headed, timber-sheeted door with decorative wrought-iron strap hinges, set in a chamfered sandstone surround, with slender lancets with hood moulds and carved label stops to the left and to the gable. The west gable of the north aisle has two slender lancets; the east gable has two diminutive square-headed windows with cusped tracery, surmounted by a central lancet.

The south side aisle has a transept to the right of centre, with two lancets in the right bay. The left bay contains a single and a paired lancet together with an equilateral-headed timber-sheeted door with decorative cast-iron strap hinges in a chamfered sandstone surround with hood mould and carved label stops. The east gable of the south aisle has a triple mullioned window in Scrabo stone with cusped arch-heads; the west gable has a four-paned lancet window — the central lights being taller — mullioned with slender semi-engaged colonettes in recesses with round capital heads. The north gable of the transept contains four lancets; the south gable contains five lancets, those in the centre being taller.

Interior

The architectural detailing of the interior is largely intact and the church is considered relatively well preserved. Historical accounts record that the interior includes a deeply moulded chancel arch separating nave from chancel, moulded arches between the organ chambers, chancel and north aisle, and arcading of pointed arches separating the aisles from the nave, all introduced during the 1889 extension.

Setting

The church is set back from the street with lawn to three sides and mature trees, enclosed by a rock-faced sandstone boundary wall with saddleback sandstone coping stones. The main entrance is to the northwest at the junction of St Jude's Avenue and Ormeau Road, with further entrances to the northeast and west. Access is via wrought-iron larch gates hung on square sandstone ashlar piers with polygonal pointed caps, and tarmacadamed pathways. St Jude's Avenue itself is an attractive tree-lined residential street of red-brick semi-detached three-storey houses from the latter part of the 19th century. The church forms part of a group with the former Manse opposite and the nearby Parish Hall, and makes a significant contribution to the architectural character of the wider area.