First Ballymacarrett Presbyterian Church, Paulett Avenue, Belfast, BT5 4HD

First Ballymacarrett Presbyterian Church

First Ballymacarkett Presbyterian Church is a double-height, attached Presbyterian church built in 1837 and substantially altered in 1860 and 1898, with further renovation in 1937. It is situated at the end of Paulett Avenue in Belfast, set back from Albertbridge Road with no visible street frontage, surrounded by other buildings and forming part of a complex that includes the Mountpottinger National Schools to the north, a lecture hall to the south, and the former Sexton's house.

The church has a T-shaped plan with its main entrance facing west. A stair tower projects to the north, while transepts flank the nave at the east end. The north transept is attached to the Mountpottinger National Schools, and the south transept is abutted by a single-storey vestry and minor meeting hall. The pitched roofs are covered in natural slate with angle blue and black clay ridge tiles. A moulded string course runs at eaves level, with a raised parapet and hidden gutter to the main roof. Rainwater drainage is provided by round cast-iron pipes and grey uPVC replacements.

The walls are constructed of coursed, squared-and-snecked Scrabo stone around the entrance bay, with the remainder of the church finished in smooth cement render. Sandstone cills and dressings frame all window and door openings. The windows are predominantly gothic trefoil-cusped leaded stained glass.

The principal gable elevation faces west and is three bays wide, symmetrical about a central breakfront. The central bay features a chamfered plinth, stepped diagonal buttresses, and a raised parapet with kneelers. It contains a pair of moulded Tudor door openings with stained timber sheeted doors and carved spandrels below five rectangular chamfered panels. The central panel is framed within a surround; the remainder are plain. Above the doors rises a large depressed gothic five-light traceried stained glass window with a carved foliate cill course and hood mould with stop ends. At the apex of the gable stands a corbelled finial with a carved panel, topped by castellated coping and flanked by triangular carved panels. The two outer bays are symmetrical and similarly detailed with chamfered plinths, raised parapets, and stepped diagonal buttresses topped with pinnacles and moulded castellated copings. Each outer bay contains a single gothic recess with a bipartite window in a square-headed opening at both ground and first-floor levels.

The north elevation is seven bays wide and cement rendered, with a chamfered plinth, moulded cornice, raised parapet, and stepped buttresses separating the bays. The left end is abutted by a gabled transept, which in turn abuts the Mountpottinger National School to the north; this section of the transept is blank and unexposed. A flat-roofed stair tower with a moulded cornice and raised parapet abuts the right end of the elevation. The north elevation of the stair tower is blank; its west elevation has a Tudor door opening containing a timber sheeted door with glazed overlight, and five depressed gothic windows with sandstone dressings—one at ground floor to the right of the door, one directly above at stair half-level, and two at first-floor level. The exposed section of the transept is blank.

The central bays of the north elevation, from left to right, comprise: two bays with single three-light stained glass windows; two bays with tripartite stained glass windows, the central light taller than the flanking lights, one each at ground and first-floor levels; one bay with a single stained glass window at ground floor and an ocular stained glass window above. The right end bay is abutted by the stair tower, which has a pitched roof and raised gable parapet with corbelled kneelers. Each elevation of this stair tower contains a single timber stained glass window at various levels.

The rear east elevation is cement rendered and four bays wide. The two central bays each have a single tripartite stained glass window. The two outer bays are symmetrical, with bipartite stained glass windows at ground floor and single stained glass windows above.

The south elevation is seven bays wide and cement rendered, except for the left end bay, which is constructed of coursed, squared-and-snecked Scrabo stone. The elevation has a chamfered plinth, moulded cornice with raised parapet, and stepped buttresses separating the bays. The left end bay of Scrabo stone features a chamfered plinth, moulded cornice with raised parapets, stepped diagonal buttresses with pinnacles over topped with moulded castellated copings, and a single gothic recess containing a bipartite window in a square-headed opening at both ground and first-floor levels.

The central bays, from left to right, comprise: one bay with a single stained glass window at ground floor and an ocular stained glass window above; one bay with a tripartite stained glass window with central light taller than flanking lights, one each at ground and first-floor levels; two bays with single large three-light stained glass windows. A flat-roofed stair tower with a moulded cornice and raised parapet abuts the elevation next. The south elevation of this stair tower is blank, while its west elevation has a Tudor door opening containing a timber sheeted door with glazed overlight, and five depressed gothic windows with sandstone dressings—one at ground floor to the left of the door, one directly above at stair half-level, and two at first-floor level.

The right end bay of the south elevation is abutted by a gabled transept; the exposed section of this transept features four-light depressed gothic stained glass windows with a square-headed timber window above, positioned off-centre on the left. A single-storey pitched-roofed return abuts the transept at the far right, with a lean-to extension to its left. The former Sexton's house abuts the pitched-roof extension to the south.

The west elevation of the lean-to extension, which abuts the transept and stair tower, has a Tudor door opening containing a timber sheeted door with glazed overlight on the left, with two square-headed timber leaded windows with concrete cills to the right. The south elevation of the lean-to has three square-headed timber leaded windows with concrete cills. The pitched-roofed return is abutted entirely to the west by the minor meeting hall and abutted entirely to the south by the former Sexton's house. Its east elevation contains two depressed gothic stained glass windows.

The church complex is enclosed on all sides by tall red brick walls and adjacent buildings, with restricted access through a modern steel gate. Remains of original iron railings survive. The enclosed garden to the rear is bounded by the lecture hall, church, snooker room, and former Sexton's house. The Mountpottinger National Schools stands to the north with a tarmac car park to its front and a communal passageway to its rear serving terraced properties on Templemore Avenue. An enclosed yard to the north of the school was previously an extension.