Cooke Centenary Presbyterian Church, Ormeau Road, Belfast, County Antrim

Cooke Centenary Presbyterian Church

A free-standing double-height Gothic-Revival Presbyterian church with a two-stage square tower and Chapter House, built in 1890–91 to designs by W.J. Fennell. The building stands prominently on the east side of Ormeau Road between Park Road and North Parade, near Belfast city centre.

The church is arranged on a cruciform plan facing west, with an almost full-height extension to the rear. A two-storey gabled Chapter House projects to the east, flanked by a single-storey lean-to extension to the southeast. The main composition is defined by a gable-fronted elevation with a two-stage entrance tower to the northwest (opening to the north) and a polygonal full-height stair bay to the southwest. Lean-to porches abut the transepts to the west.

The roofing comprises natural slate with raised stone skews and finials to the gables. Decorative terracotta ridge tiles with finials crown the polygonal stair bay. Lead valleys and cast-iron rainwater goods run along a moulded sandstone corbelled eave band. A rubblestone chimneystack rises from the rear extension.

The walls are built in rubblestone laid in rough courses with a chamfered plinth. Rubblestone buttresses with masonry offsets project from all sides, with angled buttresses to the tower. Windows are leaded-and-stained glass paired lancets set in sandstone surrounds with chamfered sills, surmounted by hood moulds and carved head stops. Single lancets light the second stage of the tower. Geometric plate tracery rose windows surmount five Gothic lancets to the transepts, while quatrefoils punctuate the stair bay.

The principal elevation is dominated by a double-height pointed arched recess infilled with paired entrance doors and a Gothic leaded-and-stained glass five-pane mullioned window with rosettes. This sits within a moulded Romanesque-style surround with semi-engaged colonnettes. The double entrance is surmounted by an ornate Gothic-style moulded screen with carved insets. Gothic-headed panels above the entrance doors read "CENTENARY YEAR 1888" (left) and "ERECTED 1890–1" (right). Above these sits a carved roundel with a wreath and banner inscribed "COOKE CENTENARY CHURCH", crowned by a pointed-arch pierced screen with quatrefoil and cross finial. Replacement timber-sheeted doors flank semi-engaged colonnettes on chamfered plinths. To the left of the gable stands a decorative pinnacle with semi-engaged corner colonnettes, moulded cornice, and decorative finial. The original timber-sheeted entrance door to the stair bay sits in a Gothic-headed chamfered reveal.

The north nave elevation is divided by buttresses into five bays, most containing paired windows except the leftmost, which has a single window. The two-stage tower abuts the right, while the north transept with single-storey vestry abuts the left at the re-entrant angle. A porch features original double-leaf timber-sheeted doors in a chamfered Gothic reveal, accessed by a single masonry step, with a diminutive round window to the cheek.

The east elevation is abutted by a series of extensions of varying heights. A sandstone rose window lights the centre of the main extension, which is fronted by the two-storey gabled Chapter House (lower and slightly projecting to the left) and a single-storey lean-to extension further left. Windows are generally lancet-headed, some paired; the north elevation of the Chapter House has a five-paned window to the ground floor. The south nave elevation contains seven windows and is abutted on the left by the polygonal stair bay and on the right by the south transept with lean-to porch.

The site is prominent between Park Road and North Parade, opposite the former Ormeau Bakery. Parallel entrances and disabled parking occupy the front, with landscaping to the south. The building is enclosed by cast-iron railings; the north side features a rock-faced plinth with piers and masonry coping. Decorative cast-iron entrance gates to the northwest and southwest sit on rock-faced square piers with pointed masonry caps.