St. Paul's Church, 125 Falls Road, Belfast, Co. Antrim, BT12 6AB

St Paul's Roman Catholic Church, Falls Road, Belfast

St Paul's is a substantial freestanding urban Roman Catholic church built in two main stages between 1885 and 1906, with further renovation in 1936, and prominently positioned on the north side of the Falls Road at its junction with Cavendish Street. The listing covers the church building together with its gates and railings. All directional references below are liturgical; the building is oriented north-east to south-west.

Origins and History

The church was built as a chapel of ease to St Peter's Church, its establishment driven primarily by Dr Patrick Dorrian, Bishop of Down and Connor, who personally met the construction costs of approximately £4,000. A plot of land behind Springfield Cottage was purchased from Maurice L. Coates in 1884, the first sod was cut on 13th June of that year, and the church was dedicated on 23rd October 1887. The main contract was undertaken by Charles Boyd of Lonsdale Street, with interior building work carried out by J. Fagan of Cosgrove Street. Work was halted following Bishop Dorrian's death in November 1885 but resumed almost a year later once a suitable source of funding was secured.

The church was designed by the notable Belfast architect John Joseph McDonnell, who was responsible for the design of several Roman Catholic churches, many of which are listed. McDonnell also designed the adjacent presbytery, completed in August 1889. St Paul's National School, located a short distance to the north-west, opened in 1890 but has since been replaced by the present pastoral care centre.

The church first appears on the third edition Ordnance Survey map of 1901. An initial rateable value of £30 was recorded but reduced to £25 in 1890; by the Belfast Revaluations of 1900 this had risen significantly to £210, at which point the entry also noted a garden, St Paul's National School, a reading room, a billiard room, and a yard.

In 1906 the church was widened through the addition of side aisles and galleries, increasing the seating capacity to 1,500. These works were executed to the designs of the Belfast architectural partnership E & J Byrne and are representative of the common tendency to enlarge urban Roman Catholic churches as residential areas developed and funds became available. During this work, twelve existing circular stained glass windows were bricked up and replaced by the larger stained glass windows forming part of the new extension. No change in rateable value was recorded at this stage.

Following a fire in the sacristy in 1936, extensive renovation work was carried out under the direction of P B Gregory. This included the installation of a new baldacchino, baptistery, mortuary chapel, marble communion rail, and four new altars, along with a new staircase and heating system. The sanctuary, aisles, passageways, and porches were relaid in terrazzo, and a new entrance hall opening from Cavendish Square was created, with the Falls Road entrance permanently closed. These works are reflected in the increased rateable value of £575 recorded in the First General Revaluations of 1936 to 1956.

Further renovation took place in the mid-1980s, and in 1987, to mark the centenary of the church, the external walls were cleaned and sandblasted. In recent decades additional work has included the uncovering of the twelve circular stained glass windows that had been bricked over in 1906.

Exterior

The church has a wide rectangular footprint with various outshots: a canted north side chapel, a sacristy to the north-east, and a canted chancel. The roof is pitched natural slate with pierced ridge tiles, stone cross-finials to all gables, and an ornate iron finial with leaded hips over the chancel. Rainwater goods are cast iron, with downpipes, hoppers, parapet and valley gutters to the aisles, and profiled cast-iron gutters on stone corbels to the nave. There is a redbrick chimney stack to the north.

The original 1885 sections — the west front, chancel, and side chapels — are built in orange brick with black brick and Portland stone polychrome detailing, executed in a lively Early English revival style. The later side aisles are in orange brick with terracotta panels. Throughout, the brickwork is laid in Flemish bond.

Windows are generally lancets. Those in the 1885 section have simple stone tracery with quatrefoils; the west end of the side aisles has plain lancets. The north and south aisles are lit by tripartite groups, each comprising a central stone plate-traceried window flanked by plain lancets, with a continuous brick drip mould over and chamfered cills. Plain margined lattice glazing is used throughout, except for the east windows which contain 19th-century stained glass and the south aisle which has late 20th-century stained glass.

West Front

The west front is symmetrically arranged, with the tall gabled nave of 1885 at its centre, framed by offset buttresses and flanked by the later aisle additions, which sit flush with parapets. The central section is dominated by a projecting gabled Portland stone portal with a large stone cross-finial, containing a pair of shoulder-headed entrances flanked by five engaged half-colonettes with foliate capitals. These carry a Gothic arch with a richly carved tympanum containing a central statue of St Paul. The doors are varnished diagonal timber-sheeted with large iron strap hinges, accessed by three stone steps.

Each side aisle has a centrally placed buttress and a single entrance detailed similarly to the main entrance, with a projecting stone porch, carved tympanum, two half-colonettes, and a single door with an overlight. Two lancets each rise to gallery level, truncated over the entrances.

North Elevation

The north aisle is made up of three gables, the central one abutted by a single-storey side chapel detailed in keeping with the church, with cusped tracery windows in stone dressings and a gabled disabled-access entrance set in a Gothic opening to the west. To the far left is the sacristy wing, parapeted with a separate steeply pitched roof forming a fourth, narrower blind gable to the north. This is abutted by a single-storey sacristy lit by timber one-over-one sliding sash windows and having a four-panelled door in a Gothic opening set within a central gabled projecting porch.

East End

The east end comprises the original 1885 canted chancel at centre, lit by a traceried lancet to each facet, flanked by lower gabled side chapels each lit by a large rose window. To the right is the double-height sacristy wing, which has a recessed entrance set in a projecting gabled brick porch and a tall twin lancet above; the doors are varnished timber panelled with glazed top panels and overlight. To the left, set back, the east end of the south aisle — the former entrance block — is lit by twin lancets.

South Elevation

The south aisle comprises three gables detailed as the north, each with a shallow outshot at ground floor. To the right is a fourth, narrower gabled section with a separate steeply gabled roof inset with a trefoil window, enclosed by a stone parapet with Gothic arcading. The former south entrance opening is retained, now infilled with a stained glass window; it comprises a recessed shouldered opening with carved tympanum and four half-colonettes, with stone crests in roundels and a single lancet above.

Ornamentation and Craftsmanship

The carved stonework is well executed and notable. The high altar and two side altars were carried out by Belfast architectural sculpture firm Purdy & Millard, whose work appears on several prominent city centre buildings including the Scottish Provident Institution. A hammered brass tabernacle was designed and built by Riddel & Co.

Interior

Although some reordering has taken place, the sanctuary retains high-quality decorative elements, including rich mosaic work, a marble reredos, and Victorian stained glass. Of particular note is the fine stone and marble baldacchino, installed as part of the 1936 renovations and an unusual survivor in the post-Second Vatican Council era. The sanctuary, aisles, passageways, and porches are finished in terrazzo.

Setting, Gates, and Railings

The church occupies a prominent urban corner site at the junction of Falls Road and Cavendish Street, within the grounds of St Paul's Presbytery. The site also contains a modern two-storey parish hall. The building is enclosed by ornate cast-iron gates and railings, which form part of the listing.

The railings have square-section vertical bars with pike heads, a flat-bar top rail and mid rail. Alternate vertical bars do not extend to full height and are topped with flower heads. Standards have dog-leg supports and cross-shaped finials.

The wide double south-west gate opening onto Cavendish Street matches the railings in design and is supported on square-plan caged gate piers with cross-shaped finials. The single south-east gate opening onto Cavendish Street is of the same design, supported on square-plan caged gate piers with cross-shaped finials. The double gate to the east, fronting Falls Road, has scrolled decoration and a cross-finial to the meeting rail, supported on rectangular-section standards with scrolled finials. The double gate to the north-east opening onto Cavendish Square matches the railings in design and is supported on rectangular-section standards with scrolled finials. The wide north-west gate opening onto Cavendish Square also matches the railings and is supported on square-plan caged gate piers with cross-shaped finials.

The church has group value with the adjacent listed St Paul's Presbytery.