St.Peter'S Cathedral, St.Peter'S Square North, Belfast

St Peter's Cathedral stands on St Peter's Square North in Belfast as a symmetrical Gothic Revival church built in 1866 of Scrabo sandstone by the architect Jeremiah McAuley. The most distinctive features are the prominent twin spires added to the west front in 1886 by Mortimer Thompson, which form a notable landmark in the lower Falls area of Belfast townscape. An attached Parochial House of 1867, designed by John O'Neill, completes the principal group.

The building plan consists of a long nave with side aisles and an apse, with a chapel at the north-east corner. Additional chapels were inserted at the centre of each side aisle in 1946 by PB Gregory. The roofing comprises pitched slate with ornamental iron ridge cresting and ventilation lanterns, with leaded hips to the apse. The side aisles have lean-to roofs adorned with a filigree cross finial to the chancel and stone cross finials to the side chapels. The side chapel verges have a saddleback profile on kneeler stones. Cast iron rainwater goods are supported by brackets on stone eaves. The external walls are constructed of random coursed buff ashlar sandstone, with a variety of tracery windows set in Gothic arched openings.

The principal west elevation features a gabled central entrance with twin Gothic doors in a moulded Gothic arch, surmounted by a central carved roundel of St Peter flanked by sleeping soldiers being visited by an angel. Above this runs a string course and a Gothic arched window with label, containing a twelve-lobed rose window set over seven lancets. On either side rise three-stage towers with stepped buttresses at each corner. The first stage contains a lancet, the second a quatrefoil window, and the third a two-light Gothic window. The original towers include a blind arcade on each elevation below the louvred belfry stage, which features twin lancets with crotcheted pediments beneath machicolations. The towers terminate in three-stage finials at each corner, from which rise thin battered octagonal spires topped with metal finials.

The north elevation extends eight bays, with triple-light traceried windows to the clerestoried nave set in shallow Gothic arches, and four-light traceried windows in Gothic openings to the aisle. Stepped buttresses divide the aisle windows. A gabled two-storey chapel projects at the east end, and a later chapel positioned in the middle of the elevation is constructed in greyer stone but generally matches the detail of the original work. The roof uses natural slate with square cast iron rainwater goods, metal cresting, and lead ridges.

The apse at the east end comprises five facets, each pierced by a tall triple-light Gothic window with rose, separated by intervening stepped buttresses. A projecting chapel on the north side contains a lancet window. On the south side, the sacristy and yard wall connect the Cathedral to the Parochial House.

The south elevation mirrors the north elevation in character, with a projecting central chapel and a link to the Parochial House. The Parochial House itself is a four-storey L-shaped building of 1867, designed by John O'Neill and constructed of ashlar sandstone with a steep slated gabled roof with copings to the gables.

The twin spires form a prominent feature of the Belfast skyline, visible from considerable distances, though the building is closely built up against on most elevations, limiting general views. The Cathedral is accessed through St Peter's Close off Albert Street, with the west front facing outward. The building is surrounded by modern ornamental metal railings and stone pillars set 5 to 10 metres from the Cathedral, with hard landscaping of stone flags in front and paviours elsewhere. Two modern associated buildings occupy the north side of the site.