St. Mark's Church of Ireland, Ligoniel Road, Belfast, Co. Antrim, BT14 8DN

St. Mark's Church of Ireland is a High Victorian double-height gabled stone church in Gothic Revival style, constructed in 1856, most likely to designs by Belfast-based architect W. H. Lynn and built by the local firm James Carlisle. The building is set on an elevated site north of Ligoniel Road in Belfast.

The church follows a cruciform plan on an east-west axis with a square-plan tower to the south-east. The pitched natural slate roof is fitted with angled black-clay ridge tiles, stone cruciform to apex and raised stone verges. Cast iron ogee guttering discharges to circular downpipes.

The church was built in three stages, two of which are clearly visible externally. The transept and tower, dating from the first stage (1856), are constructed in rock-faced random-coursed basalt with grey sandstone dressings and quoins. The chancel and nave, completed during the second phase in 1866 to designs also by W. H. Lynn, are built in random-coursed rock-faced basalt with buff sandstone dressings and quoins and red sandstone banding at impost and cill level. Window openings throughout feature pointed arches with buff sandstone dressings, moulded cills, and stained leaded glazing.

The principal south-facing elevation comprises the tower to the east end, a gabled double-height south transept to the west, the south elevation of the nave, and a gabled single-storey porch to the west end. The square-plan three-stage tower features single-stage angled buttresses. A pointed trefoil arch door opening with a double-leaf timber sheeted door and black iron furniture opens onto a platform and five stone steps. A metal clock face is set to the second stage above. A small square-headed opening appears on the first stage of the east elevation, with a trefoil opening to the second stage above. Paired pointed arch louvred openings serve the belfry stage on all four sides. The tower is topped by a broached stone spire with metal weathervane. The south transept features three-part pointed arch windows with chamfered stone cills and a round arch above, with two further windows to the west-facing elevation. The four-bay-wide nave to the west is adjoined by a projecting gabled single-storey porch to the south-west end, which contains a two-part plate-traceried window with a central colonnette and moulded cill. Sandstone carved detail appears at high level to the gable. A pointed arch door opening with buff sandstone dressings and a double-leaf timber sheeted door with black iron furniture on the west elevation of the porch appears to be a later addition.

The west elevation features a double-height gable with a two-part pointed arch window with moulded cills and a plate-traceried rose window above, surmounted by a red sandstone pointed arch.

The north elevation comprises a five-bay-wide nave elevation to the west and a projecting double-height gabled north transept. The transept has a three-part pointed arch window with a round arch above and chamfered stone cill, with two further windows to the west-facing elevation.

The east elevation contains a three-sided hipped-roof chancel flanked by a single-storey three-sided hipped-roof outshot to the north and a single-storey lean-to outshot to the south, abutted by the tower to the south-east end. The chancel has paired windows, the north outshot has a trefoil window, and the south outshot has two square-headed windows with clear glazing. A tall square-section stepped chimney with a red-clay pot serves the south outshot.

The church stands within its own grounds on a prominent elevated site fronting Ligoniel Road. The site includes a two-storey pitched-roof rendered vicarage to the east, the National School building to the west (listed separately), and a single-storey flat-roofed building to the north-west. The site is tarmaced and lawned, enclosed by random-coursed basalt walling. Two gateways to Ligoniel Road are supported on square-section stone piers with moulded caps: a double timber gate with iron detailing forms the main gateway to the north-west, and a plain timber gate serves as the pedestrian entrance to the north-east.