St Marks Church, Holywood Road, Dundela, Belfast, County Antrim, BT4 2DR

St Marks Church

A High Victorian double-height Gothic revival style church dating from 1876, designed by the internationally renowned English architect William Butterfield and constructed by the local firm Fitzpatrick Bros. The building stands within its own grounds facing onto the east side of Holywood Road in Dundela, Belfast.

The church has a cruciform plan with a tall square tower to the west and a single-storey extension to the north. The pitched natural slate roof features crested red-clay ridge tiles, raised stone verges with sandstone coping, finials to the apex, and buff sandstone stepped kneelers to the gables. Half-round cast-iron guttering supported on cast-iron brackets discharges to circular section downpipes.

The external walls are laid in irregular coursed tooled-ashlar Dundonald Sandstone with smooth ashlar quoins. Scrabo Sandstone is used for dressings, string courses, and the chamfered plinth course. Window openings are pointed arch traceried forms with moulded hoods and splayed sills containing leaded glazing, except where otherwise stated.

The principal west elevation is symmetrical and consists of a tall square-plan four-stage tower flanked by north and south aisles and entrance porches. The tower has angled four-stage buttresses to the northwest and southwest corners, a four-stage buttress to the northeast corner, and a stair tower to the southeast corner. Flush Scrabo sandstone banding and moulded sill courses run across all four sides of the tower. A pair of pointed arch windows to the first stage on the west elevation are separated by a two-stage buttress. Square-headed openings with Sandstone crosses contained by circles set within pointed arches with moulded architraves appear at a higher level on all four elevations of the first stage. Two similar openings occur to the second stage on the west elevation and one to the east elevation. The belfry stage has a pair of traceried pointed arch openings separated by a single-stage buttress and set within a square-headed recess on the west, with single openings to the north, south, and east elevations. The tower is topped with a pyramidal roof with fish-scale slating and metal finial, featuring a small dormer to the west. The aisles display quatrefoil window openings set within moulded pointed-arched hoods with stepped splayed sills. Pointed arch door openings with moulded hoods and chamfered jambs serve the north and south entrance porches, with the north porch containing a cast-iron gate in front of a modern glass screen and the south porch having double-leaf timber panelled doors.

The south elevation comprises the double-height south wall of the nave with a single-storey gabled south entrance porch to the west, the single-storey south aisle, and the double-height gabled south transept. The projecting gabled south elevation of the entrance porch features a quatrefoil window within a moulded pointed-arched hood, flanked by three-stage buttresses, with raised stone verges and fleur-de-lys to the apex. The lean-to four-bay aisle has three-part pointed arch windows with stained leaded glazing to each bay, separated by two-stage buttresses at every second bay and having a continuous moulded sill course. Eight two-part traceried clerestorey windows to the nave contain clear leaded glazing with a continuous string course at impost level. The projecting gabled south transept displays a large three-part pointed arch window with stone transom and stained leaded glazing, flanked by three-stage buttresses with gablets. The upper section of the gable is built in buff sandstone to a checkerboard pattern with a stone cross to the apex. A lean-to shallow projection to the west elevation of the south transept contains a shouldered-arch door opening with a painted timber sheeted door opening onto five stone steps, with a cast-iron boot scraper to the bottom step.

The east elevation comprises the double-height gabled chancel flanked by the north and south transepts and a single-storey double-pile gabled outshot from the north transept. The south transept has a two-part traceried pointed arch window with stained leaded glazing at high level, with a continuous stepped moulded string course and a single-stage buttress to the south end. The chancel features a large three-part window with stained leaded glazing, continuous stepped moulded string course, and flanking two-stage buttresses, with a stone cross to the apex. A two-part window with stone transom appears to the south elevation of the chancel. The north elevation has a stepped chimney stack with clay chimney pots. The double-pile gabled outshot has raised stone verges and fleur-de-lys to the apex, with a two-part traceried window with stained leaded glazing to the south gable and stone steps to the front enclosed by cast-iron railings and gate. A shallow gabled projection to the north gable contains a shouldered-arch door opening with replacement painted timber sheeted door opening onto five stone steps and a cast-iron boot scraper to the second step. The north elevation of the north gable has a two-part leaded window and continuous moulded sill course.

The north elevation comprises the double-height north wall of the nave, a double-height gabled north transept to the east, the single-storey north aisle abutted by a modern single-storey extension, and a single-storey gabled north entrance porch to the west end. The projecting north transept has a large three-part pointed arch window with stone transom and stained leaded glazing, flanked by three-stage buttresses with gablets. The upper section of the gable is built in buff sandstone to a checkerboard pattern with a stone cross to the apex. The lean-to four-bay aisle, of which only two bays are visible, has three-part windows with clear leaded glazing separated by a two-stage buttress and featuring a continuous moulded sill course. The modern extension abutting the north aisle is built in coursed ashlar red sandstone with buff sandstone dressings and consists of two parts: a gabled pitched-roof three-bay block to the east with a projecting central three-sided canted bay, and a single-bay flat-roofed part to the west. Square-headed window openings contain 1/1 top-hung casements with clear glazing. The modern extension connects to the north aisle via a modern skylit corridor. Eight two-part clerestorey windows to the nave contain clear leaded glazing with a continuous string course at impost level. The projecting north elevation of the entrance porch displays a quatrefoil window set within a moulded pointed-arched hood with continuous sill course, flanked by three-stage buttresses, with raised stone verges and fleur-de-lys to the apex.

The church sits within its own grounds to the east side of Holywood Road, with a tarmaced area around the building. A red brick two-storey gabled Rectory and Heyn Memorial Hall (listed separately) stand to the south. The site is enclosed to the west by a sandstone dwarf wall with chamfered coping topped by cast-iron railings with arrowhead railing tops and flower heads to standards having dog-leg support. Rectangular-plan ashlar sandstone piers with chamfered coping are positioned at regular intervals. A double cast-iron gate to the northwest provides car access, whilst a smaller cast-iron gate to the southwest serves as the pedestrian entrance. Modern metal railings enclose the north boundary, with timber fencing and hedge to the east.