St. Gerard's Roman Catholic Church, 722 Antrim Road, Newtownabbey, County Antrim, BT36 7PG

St. Gerard's Roman Catholic Church

A gabled symmetrical red brick church dating from 1953 to 1956, designed by John J. Brennan. The building is aligned east to west with a rectangular plan form comprising a double-height gabled nave with abutting narrow lean-to aisles to the north and south, and a lower two-storey projecting gable to the west. The church stands within its own grounds on the west side of Antrim Road, accompanied by a modern two-storey pitched roof Parish Community Centre to the south.

The exterior is constructed of rusticated red brick laid to English garden bond with artificial stone dressings and string courses at cill and impost levels. The pitched natural slate roof has projecting eaves, cast iron ogee guttering and hoppers discharging to rectangular section downpipes. Windows are predominantly paired semicircular-arched openings with engaged polygonal columns between them, fitted with stained leaded glazing.

The principal elevation faces east and is three bays wide and symmetrical. A double height gable crowns the central bay with raised leaded verge and kneelers, topped by a stone cross. A large four-part round-arched window with projecting moulded hood and splayed cills occupies the upper portion, with three small rectangular windows below. The central bay is flanked by single storey projecting flat-roofed bays, each containing a large round-arched door opening with stepped brick arch hoods and splayed sides, fitted with double-leaf panelled timber doors that open onto six nosed steps.

The south elevation comprises an eight-bay wide double-height aisle and a two-bay wide extension to the west end. A projecting ground floor to the aisle has a flat roof with concrete coping. A round-arched door opening in the fourth bay from the east is surmounted by a large moulded artificial stone canopy and fitted with a double-leaf timber panelled door opening onto a single step. The three bays on each side have three small rectangular windows with splayed artificial stone surrounds at ground floor level and paired windows above. The upper floor of the westernmost bay projects in line with the ground floor wall. The extension features paired square-headed windows at ground floor and paired round-arched windows at first floor, with a recessed bay at roof level containing paired round-arched windows.

The west elevation is symmetrical and gabled, consisting of a three-bay wide two-storey gable with the double-height gable of the main church behind. The lower gable has plain timber barge boards and stepped red brick kneelers. The central bay contains a round-arched door opening within a projecting surround, fitted with a square-headed timber panelled door with fanlight opening onto a single step. A three-part window above has round-arched glazing to the centre and square-headed lights to the sides. Two square-headed windows flank this at ground floor level, with a single square-headed window to each side at first floor.

The north elevation mirrors the south elevation in arrangement, comprising an eight-bay wide double-height aisle and two-bay wide extension to the west end. The projecting ground floor has a flat roof with concrete coping. A round-arched door opening in the fourth bay from the east is surmounted by a moulded artificial stone canopy with a double-leaf timber panelled door opening onto a single step. The three bays on each side have three small rectangular windows at lower level and paired windows above. The upper floor of the westernmost bay projects in line with the ground floor wall. The extension is fitted with paired square-headed windows at ground floor and paired round-arched windows at first floor, with a recessed bay at roof level containing paired round-arched windows.

The site is enclosed by un-coursed rock-faced basalt walling to Antrim Road and coursed artificial stone walling to the north. The main driveway to the south-east is marked by four square rock-faced stone piers supporting metal gates. A gateway to the north-east opens onto wide steep steps. A secondary driveway to the north is accessed via cast iron gates supported on square section metal standards. Large tarmaced parking is provided to the east, with tarmaced driveway circulation around the church and grassed areas surrounding the building.