Gate Lodge, Belmont Presbyterian Church, 92 Sydenham Avenue, Belfast, County Antrim, BT4 2DT

Gate Lodge, Belmont Presbyterian Church

A single-storey Gate Lodge in Ruskinian Gothic-revival style, designed by architect W. J. Barre around 1860. The building stands within the grounds of Belmont Presbyterian Church, fronting onto Sydenham Avenue in Belfast.

The lodge is constructed in polychromatic brickwork with a regular plan facing west, comprising a main block, a single-storey extension to the east, and a small entrance porch to the north. The roofing comprises a half-hipped natural slate roof with plain timber barge boards to the main building, a pitched natural slate roof to the extension, and a hipped natural slate roof to the entrance porch. An elaborate chimneystack in polychromatic brickwork features a corbelled coping and decorative clay chimney pots. Projected corbels support ogee cast iron guttering that discharges to circular downpipes.

The walls are constructed in red brick with buff brick dressings and a blue brick string course at impost level, rising from a sandstone plinth. Window openings throughout are pointed segmental with splayed sandstone sills, buff brick dressings, and blue brick outer arches. The windows have been replaced with 1:1 double-hung timber sash windows. Modern skylights have been added to the roof.

The principal elevation faces west with three bays. The central bay contains a pointed segmental headed door opening with buff brick dressings and a blue brick arch header, fitted with a diagonal-sheeted painted timber door opening onto a single stone step. The north bay holds a double pointed-segmental headed window set within a taller lancet opening recess with a red brick tympanum. The south bay features a triple pointed-segmental headed window with buff brick dressings and a lozenge light (small diamond-shaped opening) above each window with polychromatic dressings.

The north elevation consists of the two-bay original building to the west, the extension to the east, and the small projecting entrance porch. The west bay contains a double pointed-segmental headed window, and the east bay has a triple pointed-segmental headed window set within a taller lancet opening recess with red brick tympanum and a lozenge light at high level. A polychromatic string course runs across the extension. The entrance porch features a modern square-headed window to the west and south elevations, with a square-headed door opening facing west fitted with a modern half-glazed diagonal-sheeted painted timber door.

The east elevation is rendered and contains a double pointed-segmental headed window at high level. The south elevation, facing Sydenham Avenue, comprises the two-bay original building to the west and the single-bay extension to the east. The west bay displays a triple pointed-segmental headed window set within a taller lancet opening recess with red brick tympanum, and a lozenge light at higher level. The east bay has a double pointed-segmental headed window. A modern oriel window with timber casement window and clear leaded glazing has been added to the extension.

The site is partly lawned and concrete paved, enclosed to the south by a red brick wall with stone coping topped by cast-iron railings. The main entrance is marked by square red brick gate piers with buff brick quoins and single-stage buttresses topped by cast-iron finials, supporting cast-iron gates. A cast-iron gate and hedge mark the southwest pedestrian entrance. The lodge adjoins Belmont Presbyterian Church, with the church hall and extension to the north and east, car parks to the west and north.