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

First Ballymacarrett Presbyterian Church, Paulett Avenue, Belfast

This is an attached double-height Presbyterian church built in 1837, subsequently altered in 1860 and 1898, and renovated in 1937. It stands at the end of Paulett Avenue and is surrounded by other buildings on all sides, with no frontage visible from Albertbridge Road. The church is T-shaped on plan, with its entrance to the west, a stair tower to the north, and transepts on either side of the nave at the east end. The north transept is attached to the Mountpottinger National Schools, while the south transept is abutted by a single-storey vestry and minor meeting hall.

Historical Development

The building does not appear on the First Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1834, which shows Albertbridge Road then under construction. It first appears as a simple rectangular structure labelled "Meeting Ho." on an 1838 plan of Belfast engraved from the Ordnance Survey, and is shown with the same footprint, labelled "Presbyter.n Meet. Ho.", on the Second Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1858. By the Third Edition map of 1901, the building had been extended.

The congregation's origins lie in the early 19th century, when there was no Presbyterian place of worship in Ballymacarrett, whose population was described as largely made up of hand-loom weavers in humble circumstances. In 1831 the Presbytery of Belfast was instructed by the Synod of Ulster to take charge of the congregation at Ballymacarrett. At a meeting on 31st August 1835, local Presbyterians resolved that a place of worship should be erected, and approached Lord Templemore for a suitable site. A memorial signed by 193 persons was presented to the Presbytery, and a fundraising committee was established. Plans and specifications for a building 65 feet by 40 feet were submitted by Mr Thompson, architect, and adopted. Matthew McKenzie's building estimate of £1,225 was accepted on condition the church be finished by 1st April 1837. The first stone was laid on 6th June 1836, at which point it was noted that of around 400 Presbyterian families in the district, only 100 were connected with any place of worship. The church was opened for public worship on 23rd April 1837 by the Reverend Dr Smith of Glasgow, and the first minister was ordained on 20th March 1838. Shortly after opening, new schoolrooms were erected at the east end of the building.

When the Belfast Presbytery visited in 1859, they recommended enlargement. The solution adopted was to incorporate the existing schoolrooms within a new transept at the east end, approximately 30 feet wide, extending equally to north and south, with two new schoolrooms of 40 feet by 26 feet each erected in continuation on the north side, along with an entrance hall. Plans were drawn by Mr Matier, architect, and Mr McCracken, builder, undertook the work for £650. Work began in August 1860 and was completed by January 1861, with the church reopened on 10th February 1861.

In 1882, a manse was built at a cost of £1,200. In 1886 the schools at the church were rebuilt and enlarged at a cost of £860. In the late 19th century the congregation considered building an entirely new church but could not find a suitable site. Instead, the existing church was modernised, with the architects Young and Mackenzie bringing the front of the building forward and giving it a 15th century Gothic entrance bay in Scrabo sandstone. The church was reopened for worship in October 1898, the work costing £3,800. A pipe organ was installed at some point between 1918 and 1925. New lecture halls were built in 1928, and in 1937 the centenary was marked by further renewals to the church property at a cost of over £2,000. At the time of listing, the church was due to close in 2010, with the remaining congregation amalgamating with a neighbouring church.

Exterior

The roofs are pitched natural slate with angled blue-black clay ridge tiles, a moulded string course at eaves level, raised parapets with hidden gutters to the main roof, and round cast-iron rainwater pipes with some grey uPVC replacements. The walls are of coursed squared-and-snecked Scrabo stone to the entrance bay, with the remainder of the church in smooth cement render, with sandstone cills and dressings to window and door openings. Windows are gothic trefoil-cusped leaded stained glass unless otherwise noted.

The principal gable elevation faces west and is three bays wide, symmetrically arranged around a central projecting bay. This central bay has 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 within a surround, the remainder plain. Above is 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, a corbelled finial with a carved panel is topped by castellated coping and flanked by triangular carved panels. The two outer bays are symmetrical about the central bay, each with a chamfered plinth, raised parapet, and stepped diagonal buttresses with pinnacles topped by moulded castellated copings. Each bay contains a single gothic recess with a bipartite window within a square-headed opening at both ground and first floor level.

The north elevation is seven bays wide, cement rendered, with a chamfered plinth, moulded cornice with raised parapet, and stepped buttresses separating the bays. At the left, the elevation is abutted by the gabled north transept, which is in turn abutted by the Mountpottinger National Schools; the section exposed between the two is blank. To the right of the transept is a flat-roofed stair tower with a moulded cornice and raised parapet; its north elevation is blank, while its west elevation contains a Tudor door opening with a timber sheeted door and glazed overlight. The stair tower has five depressed gothic windows with sandstone dressings: one at ground floor to the right of the door, one directly above at stair half-landing level, and two at first floor level. Moving along the centre bays from left to right: two bays each with a single three-light stained glass window; two bays each with a tripartite stained glass window in which the central light is taller than the flanking lights, one at ground floor and one at first floor; and one bay with a single stained glass window at ground floor and an ocular stained glass window above. The right-hand end bay is abutted by a stair tower with a pitched roof and raised gable parapet with corbelled kneelers, each elevation of which has 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 a single stained glass window above.

The south elevation is seven bays wide and mostly cement rendered, with the exception of the left-hand end bay which is in Scrabo stone. This end bay has a chamfered plinth, moulded cornice with raised parapet, and stepped diagonal buttresses with pinnacles over, topped with moulded castellated copings, and contains a single gothic recess with a bipartite window in a square-headed opening at ground and first floor level. Moving along the centre bays from left to right: one bay with a single stained glass window at ground floor and an ocular stained glass window above; two bays each with a tripartite stained glass window with the central light taller than the flanking lights, one at ground and one at first floor; and two bays each with a single large three-light stained glass window. Next is the flat-roofed stair tower with moulded cornice and raised parapet; its south elevation is blank, while its west elevation has a Tudor door opening with a timber sheeted door and glazed overlight, plus five depressed gothic windows with sandstone dressings — one at ground floor to the left of the door, one directly above at stair half-landing level, and two at first floor level. The south transept abuts the elevation at the right. This transept is in turn abutted by a single-storey pitched-roof return at the far right and a lean-to extension to its left. The exposed section of the transept has four-light depressed gothic stained glass windows with a square-headed timber window above, positioned off-centre to the left. The west elevation of the lean-to extension, which abuts the transept and stair tower, has a Tudor door opening with a timber sheeted door and glazed overlight to the left, and 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-roof return is abutted entirely to the west by the minor meeting hall and entirely to the south by the former sexton's house. Its east elevation has two depressed gothic stained glass windows.

Interior

The interior is well preserved and includes stained glass windows by Clokey's of Belfast, which contribute significantly to the overall character of the church.

Setting

The church is located at the end of Paulett Avenue and is surrounded by buildings on all sides. It forms part of a complex of buildings on the site, partially enclosed by a tall red brick wall and partially by adjacent buildings. The lecture hall lies to the south of the church, forming an enclosed garden to the rear bounded by the hall, the church, a snooker room, and the former sexton's house. The Mountpottinger National Schools lie to the north of the church, with a tarmac car park to the front, a communal passageway to the rear serving the terrace properties of Templemore Avenue, and an enclosed yard to the north — previously an extension — abutting the church to the south. Access is through a modern steel gate; the remains of the original iron railings still survive.