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

St Mark's Church, Dundela, is a High Victorian Gothic Revival church of the highest architectural and historical significance, designed by the internationally renowned English architect William Butterfield (1814–1900) and built by the local firm Fitzpatrick Bros. The foundation stone was laid on 13th October 1876, and the nave, aisles and tower were consecrated on 22nd August 1878. The chancel and transepts were added later, built by H. & J. Martin, and the completed church was consecrated again on 4th July 1891. The total cost of construction was £10,304.

The church is cruciform in plan with a tall square tower to the west and a single-storey extension to the north. It is set within its own grounds facing onto the east side of Holywood Road, with a tarmacked area around the building, a red brick two-storey gabled Rectory, and the listed Heyn Memorial Hall to the south. The listing extends to the boundary wall, piers, gates and railings as well as the church itself.

The roof is pitched natural slate with 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 on cast-iron brackets discharges to circular section downpipes. The walling is laid in irregularly coursed tooled ashlar Dundonald Sandstone with smooth ashlar quoins, and features Scrabo Sandstone dressings, string courses, and a chamfered plinth course. Window openings are pointed arch with tracery, moulded hoods and splayed sills, and are glazed with leaded lights unless otherwise noted.

The church is aligned west to east. The principal west elevation is symmetrical and is dominated by the tall square four-stage tower, flanked by the north and south aisles and entrance porches. The tower has angled four-stage buttresses to its north-west and south-west corners, a four-stage buttress to the north-east corner, and a stair tower to the south-east corner. Flush Scrabo Sandstone banding and moulded sill courses are carried around all four sides of the tower. To the first stage on the west face there is a pair of pointed arch windows separated by a two-stage buttress. At a higher level within the first stage, on all four elevations, there is a square-headed opening containing a sandstone cross set within a circle, itself contained within a pointed arch with moulded architrave; two similar openings appear at the second stage on the west elevation and one on the east. The belfry stage to the west has a pair of traceried pointed arch openings separated by a single-stage buttress and set within a square-headed recess; the north, south and east elevations each have a single opening at this level. The tower is crowned by a pyramidal roof with fish-scale slating, a metal finial, and a small dormer to the west — all characteristic features of Butterfield's work. The aisles each have a quatrefoil window opening set within a moulded pointed-arched hood with a stepped splayed sill. The north and south entrance porches have pointed arch door openings with moulded hoods and chamfered jambs; the north porch has a cast-iron gate in front of a modern glass screen, while the south porch retains double-leaf timber panelled doors.

The south elevation comprises the double-height south wall of the nave, the single-storey gabled south entrance porch to the west, the single-storey south aisle, and the double-height gabled south transept. The projecting south face of the entrance porch has a quatrefoil window set within a moulded pointed-arched hood with a moulded sill course, flanked by three-stage buttresses, with raised stone verges and a fleur-de-lys to the apex. The lean-to four-bay south aisle has three-part pointed arch windows with stained leaded glazing to each bay, a continuous moulded sill course, and a two-stage buttress every second bay. Eight two-part traceried clerestory windows with clear leaded glazing light the nave, with a continuous string course at impost level. The projecting south transept gable 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 transept gable is built in buff sandstone in a checkerboard pattern, with a stone cross to the apex — a striking piece of Butterfield's characteristic polychromatic stonework. A shallow lean-to projection to the west elevation of the south transept contains a shouldered-arch door opening with a painted timber sheeted door, reached by five stone steps with a cast-iron boot scraper at the bottom step.

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

The north elevation shows the double-height north wall of the nave, the double-height gabled north transept to the east, the single-storey north aisle abutted by a modern single-storey extension, and the single-storey gabled north entrance porch to the west. The north transept gable has a large three-part pointed arch window with stone transom and stained leaded glazing, flanked by three-stage buttresses with gablets. As with the south transept, the upper section of the gable is built in buff sandstone in a checkerboard pattern with a stone cross to the apex. Of the lean-to four-bay north aisle, only two bays are visible from the north, each with three-part windows in clear leaded glazing, separated by a two-stage buttress and with a continuous moulded sill course. The modern extension abutting the north aisle is built in coursed ashlar red sandstone with buff sandstone dressings. It comprises 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 section to the west. The window openings are square-headed with 1/1 top-hung casements in clear glazing. The extension connects to the north aisle via a modern skylit corridor. Eight two-part clerestory windows with clear leaded glazing and a continuous string course at impost level light the nave from the north. The north elevation of the entrance porch has a quatrefoil window set within a moulded pointed-arched hood with a continuous sill course, flanked by three-stage buttresses, with raised stone verges and a fleur-de-lys to the apex.

The site is enclosed to the west by a sandstone dwarf wall with chamfered coping, topped by cast-iron railings with arrowhead tops and flowerheads to the standards, with dog-leg supports. Rectangular plan ashlar sandstone piers with chamfered coping are set at regular intervals along the wall. A double cast-iron gate to the north-west serves as the car entrance, and a smaller cast-iron gate to the south-west serves as the pedestrian entrance. Modern metal railings enclose the site to the north, with timber fencing and hedge to the east.

The interior is lavishly ornamented in the manner characteristic of Butterfield, with coloured stone and polychromatic tiling. The church contains a large number of memorials and stained glass windows given by members of the congregation. The Ewart family, prominent linen manufacturers and major benefactors to the parish, gifted two stained glass windows, including the east window installed in 1913 in memory of Isabella Kelso, wife of William Ewart. A Shrigley & Hunt stained glass window in the south aisle was gifted to the church in 1906 by the writer and Christian apologist C. S. Lewis (1898–1963) and his brother Warnie, in memory of their grandfather the Reverend Thomas R. Hamilton, who was the first rector of St Mark's. C. S. Lewis, who is internationally renowned as the author of The Chronicles of Narnia and The Screwtape Letters among other works, was baptised and confirmed in this church before moving to England, where he held teaching positions at both Oxford and Cambridge. The Lewis brothers presented a second window in 1933, designed by Michael Healy and dedicated to their parents. The War Memorial west window was installed in 1921, and the Sir William Q. Ewart window in the south transept was added in 1924. The church organ was designed by John Compton (1876–1957) and installed in 1932. The peal of ten bells in the tower, cast by John Taylor & Co. of Loughborough, was given to the church by the Newell family and dedicated in 1955.

Dundela was a new parish created in the mid-19th century by the Belfast Church Extension and Endowment Society to serve Belfast's expanding eastern suburbs. The parish took its name from the medieval Capella de Dundela (Chapel of Dundela), believed to have been located in the townland of Knock near Knock Burial Ground and recorded in the 1306 Papal Taxation. Before the current church was built, the congregation met at a small chapel constructed in 1863, which was subsequently converted into a schoolhouse in 1880 following the completion of St Mark's.

William Butterfield was the quintessential High Victorian architect, working almost exclusively in the Gothic Revival style and renowned for his bold use of polychromatic materials. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography describes him as "the quintessential high Victorian, epitomising the qualities the age admired," possessing "some of the freakishness of genius." Before designing St Mark's, Butterfield had worked in Ireland on the reconstruction of an 18th-century church at Lambeg, the design of a font for the Church of St Luke in Ballymoyer, and the design of St Columba's College in Rathfarnham. He also designed St Paul's Cathedral in Melbourne, Australia. St Mark's is the only parish church in Ireland designed by Butterfield, and is one of only two Butterfield churches in Ireland in total. As one authority notes, it "represents an Anglican high church tradition which never really gained a firm foothold in Ireland."

Since 1992, Alastair Coey Architects, acting as architectural advisors to the Select Vestry, have carried out a number of restorations of the church, the most recent of which involved the remodelling of the choir vestry and the installation of a new heating system. The church has group value with the neighbouring listed Heyn Memorial Hall.