Old School House, 32 Townsend Street, Belfast

Old School House, 32 Townsend Street, Belfast

This is a large detached hall, two to two and a half storeys high, built between 1876 and 1878 as a school, lecture hall and sexton's house for the neighbouring contemporary Presbyterian church. It was designed by Young and McKenzie, the same architects who designed the church, and shares the church's materials and high Victorian character, though with a less decorative appearance.

The building is long and narrow, set on a north-south axis, and basically rectangular in plan. It incorporates several projections: a single-storey gabled porch at the north end, a large two-storey gabled stairwell projection to the north-east, and a part-two/part single-storey projection to the south containing another stairwell and a boiler house. The integral former sexton's dwelling occupies the northernmost quarter of the building and is two and a half storeys with a symmetrical front façade, while the former school and lecture halls are two storeys.

The east and north walls are constructed from rock-faced Scrabo sandstone with a bevelled plinth, while the south wall and remainder are largely brick. The roof is pitched and covered with natural slate, with a small feature hip to the east front. Ridge tiles are red fire clay with Cock's Comb embellishment and fire-clay finials. Eaves overhang with exposed rafter tails. A much-eroded stone chimneystack rises through the main ridge. Rainwater goods are mainly replacement uPVC.

Stone wall areas feature various smooth string courses. The ground floor string course intersects with window imposts, while first floor courses integrate the window sills. Window openings are regularly arranged, predominantly with semi-circular heads, though ground floor openings to the north side and some to the south side are flat-headed, as are some smaller openings. Frames are generally 2/2 timber sash, though some have been replaced with single panes. All sills are cut stone. Lintels include radial brick and stone arches as well as flat brick arches.

The front (north) façade features a central single-storey gabled porch with windows on either side. The first floor has three similar windows, and the second floor three smaller closely-grouped openings. A slit flat-headed window opening appears on the south cheek. The east façade includes a gabled two-storey stairwell to the right side, with the front face of the rear projection flush with the main east façade at the far left. Window and door openings are regularly arranged with a mix of flat-headed and semi-circular examples. Three semi-circular-headed door openings each have sheeted timber doors. The south façade is largely covered by the rear projection and can only be viewed obliquely; the left side of the first floor includes one semi-circular-headed window. Walls rise to a gable with parapet and stone skews. Two projecting chimneybreasts at the 'third' points of the west façade have had their stacks removed. Windows are regularly arranged, with some ground floor openings paired.

The building is located immediately to the rear (west) of the church itself, with both structures positioned at the corner of Townsend Street and Cargill Street in a mixed inner city area of housing and light industrial units. To the east lies the Divis Street cutting of the Westlink by-pass. A narrow alleyway separates the church from its neighbour, and to the south the hall abuts neighbouring buildings.

The school closed around 1925 and the building is now in use as a library, lecture hall, offices and meeting rooms.