Holy Cross Boys School, 432 Crumlin Road, Crumlin Road, Belfast, BT13 3BX

Holy Cross Boys School is a single-storey, multi-bay red-brick and sandstone building of 1913–14, designed by Belfast architect W.J. Moore. It stands prominently at the junction of the Crumlin Road and Woodvale Road, within the grounds of Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church and monastery, and is a well-preserved example of Edwardian Free Style architecture. The building retains considerable integrity both externally and internally, and its group relationship with the neighbouring church and monastery adds to its interest.

PLAN AND SETTING

The school is arranged on an unusual V-shaped plan, with its two main wings following the lines of the two converging roads. For ease of reference, the wing facing Crumlin Road is described as the north wing, the wing facing Woodvale Road as the south wing, the pointed end where the roads meet as west, and the open end as east. The open area between the wings, originally the playground, was built over in the 1970s and 1980s. The site slopes from north to south and is set back from the pavement, enclosed by a low boundary wall — partly coursed rubble and partly rendered — with cut sandstone coping, iron railings and gates, and square cement-rendered piers.

EXTERNAL APPEARANCE

The building is constructed in red facing brick with blue engineering brick courses, diaper patterns, and dressings used for some small circular windows (oculi). Sandstone is used for almost all dressings, mullions, transoms, lintels, and for the dentilled eaves. The street-facing elevations — north, south, and west — are articulated with shallow buttresses, between which sit a series of tall flat-headed windows, most of which are now boarded over. The windows on the north elevation are larger and include stone mullions and transoms.

The roof is hipped to the west and partly gabled to the east, with gabled end bays to the south. It is entirely covered in natural slate, with pierced red fireclay ridge tiles and cast-iron rainwater goods. The north wing has a ridge ventilator with a lead-covered flèche at the west end, above the entrance bay. The south wing has a ventilator in the centre of the ridge line with a small cupola and pinnacle. The north wing roof also features a series of ventilator gablets, and where the two wings converge there is a lantern. The gabled ends have skews and dressed stone copings. At the north-western corner there is a carved griffin gargoyle.

NORTH ELEVATION

The north elevation is asymmetrical and contains the main entrance to the far right, with secondary entrances at the far left and approximately at the centre. The main entrance is the building's most distinctive feature: it sits beneath an unusual slate-covered, pagoda-like roof that rises above eaves level and is topped with a lead finial. The doorway is set within a semicircular-headed recess with a splayed reveal, and contains a timber double door surmounted by a fanlight with decorative gothic tracery incorporating cusps and a quatrefoil. Directly above is a large sandstone panel carved with the school's name. Two small windows flank the entrance, with a moulded hood extending from the reveal across both. Immediately to the right of the main entrance is a canted bay with a continuous mullioned window and a tall brick-and-sandstone parapet incorporating a datestone within a shield-like panel.

Three large windows to the left of the main entrance brings one to the central secondary entrance, and a further four windows to the left brings one to the third entrance. Both secondary entrances are considerably plainer than the main entrance: each has a doorway set within a deep segmental-headed reveal, with small windows to each side and a parapet broken by an oculus-like motif.

WEST ELEVATION

The short west elevation is relatively plain, with three sets of paired windows — narrower than those on the main elevations — separated by buttresses.

SOUTH ELEVATION

The south elevation repeats the general sequence of the west, with six pairs of windows, but also has large gabled end bays containing triple window groupings beneath a decorative lintel. There is a single entrance to this side, positioned left of centre, with an overlight incorporating cusped tracery.

EAST ELEVATION

The east elevation comprises the ends of the north and south wings, linked by a flat-roofed utilitarian extension of the 1980s built between them. The end of the south wing is plain but features decorative string courses and diaper brickwork. The gabled end of the north wing has a triangular hipped roof projection with oculi, contrasting brick surrounds, and further string courses. A tall boundary wall extends from this projection, along with a relatively recent brick and concrete-block extension.

WINDOWS

Most of the original window frames survive. These include sliding sash windows (two-over-four pane) with hopper openers above, and fixed lights also with hopper openers.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The site, known historically as Edenderry, was originally occupied by a low pre-1832 dwelling called Edenderry Cottage, with a larger two-storey residence, Edenderry Lodge, built before 1857 immediately to the west. Adjacent to this house stood the Edenderry Turnpike toll gate, which remained in operation until around 1860.

The Passionist order acquired the triangular plot of land between the Crumlin Road and what was then the Shankill Road in 1868, building a new church on the site in the same year, with £600 spent on a school the following year. Edenderry Lodge was used as a retreat house until a purpose-built monastery — the first in Ulster since the Reformation — was completed in 1881. The original church was replaced by the present, considerably grander building in 1902.

The original school of the 1860s served both boys and girls, but in 1902 the girls were transferred to a new school in Chief Street, leaving the earlier building solely for boys. Rising pupil numbers prompted the construction of the present building, which was officially opened in 1914 by Joe Devlin, then Member of Parliament for Belfast West.

In 1959, a new boys' primary school was completed in Butler Street (now Butler Walk, to the east of the Crumlin Road), and the building was vacated. It re-opened almost immediately, however, to accommodate the overflow of girls from the Chief Street school, continuing in this role until 1967 when it finally closed as a school. Since then the building has been used as a parish hall and social club, with the former playground between the wings built over to provide additional accommodation. Part of the building was damaged by fire around 1995.

The listing covers the school building itself together with its perimeter walls and railings.