Woodvale Presbyterian Church, Woodvale Road, Belfast, Co. Antrim., BT13 3BU

Woodvale Presbyterian Church

Woodvale Presbyterian Church is a free-standing, asymmetrical, double-height Gothic Revival stone church dated 1899, designed by Young and Mackenzie, described by the Dictionary of Irish Architects as "the most successful architectural practice in Belfast" and the leading architects for the Presbyterian Church in the north-east of Ireland during the late 19th century. The building occupies a prominent triangular site at the junction of Woodvale Road and Ballygomartin Road, overlooking Woodvale Park to the south, in what had become a thriving residential suburb by the mid-Victorian period. The church retains most of its original external and internal detailing and serves as a significant local landmark and an important focal point for the local Presbyterian community.

Historical Background

The Woodvale Road area was predominantly rural in the early 19th century, but the growth of the linen industry transformed it. Clarke records that there were bleachworks, beetling mills, bleach greens and at least ten bleaching complexes in the West Belfast area in the opening decades of the 19th century, the majority of which used the waters of the Farset and Forth rivers. This industrialisation led to the construction of rows of workers' houses and the establishment of a substantial residential suburb by the mid-Victorian period.

Organised Presbyterian worship in the area pre-dated the current building. The congregation of Woodvale was originally formed in 1895 and initially met in a temporary Iron Hall on the site of the present church. The memorial stones of the current building were laid in June 1898, and the church was ceremoniously opened on 8th October 1899. The builder was Thomas McMillan, who held business premises on the Ormeau Road. The Irish Builder records that the church cost £5,000 and could accommodate a congregation of 1,000 people. Upon completion, the Annual Revisions valued the church at £230. The building was constructed of Scottish Giffnock sandstone and roofed in local Ballygowan slates.

The Iron Hall in which the congregation had first met was purchased outright by the church trustees and used as a lecture hall until the 1920s, when it was demolished to make way for the current church hall — known as the Milliken Halls — which was opened on 4th March 1928. This hall was designed by Belfast-based architect David Wright Boyd, who was active from the 1920s to the 1960s and was responsible for the Floral Hall at Belfast Zoo and the first purpose-built apartment block in Ulster. It was valued at £92 by the Annual Revisions. Following the addition of the hall, the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936–57) increased the total value of the site to £415.

The clock on the tower was installed in May 1949 as a memorial to men and women from the area who lost their lives during the Second World War. It was built by Charles S. Potts Ltd. of Leeds. The church organ, which had been dedicated on 19th November 1922, was overhauled and restored in 1952. A second church hall was opened on 7th December 1957 at a cost of £5,800, located to the rear of the Manse at No. 76 Woodvale Road. The church's sole stained glass window, depicting the disciple Dorcas from the Book of Acts and located on the eastern side of the church, was dedicated on 11th August 1968. By the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956–72), the total value of the church and its hall stood at £632.

The congregation peaked at 1,250 members between the 1950s and 1960s, but declined during the Northern Ireland Troubles as a result of local sectarian violence and attacks on church property. An extensive renovation costing £10,000 was carried out in early 1984, including general repairs to the building. The congregation currently consists of approximately 360 families.

Exterior

The church is cruciform in plan, facing south, with a four-stage square-plan bell tower and spire to the south-east, a two-stage square-plan stair tower to the south-west, and a two-storey block to the rear. The roofs are pitched natural slate with terracotta ridge tiles, lead valleys, and ogee cast-iron guttering set on a chamfered sandstone eaves course, with cast-iron downpipes. The slightly raised gables have sandstone ashlar copings. The walls are of uncoursed rock-faced basalt with a projecting plinth course and sandstone dressings, including quoins, plinth course trim, and stepped buttresses. Window openings are pointed-headed and trefoil-headed lancets formed in chamfered sandstone with flush splayed sills and latticed coloured glass.

South Front Elevation

The south front comprises a gabled nave flanked by the bell tower to the right and the stair tower to the left, the latter set at an angle. The bell tower rises in four stages to a tapered sandstone ashlar broached spire with an iron weather vane and pierced courses, set on a deep moulded cornice with nail-head mouldings. The bell stage has pointed-headed openings to all four sides, each fronted by a gilded clock face, with continuous hood moulding, louvres, and a continuous chamfered sill course. Below the bell stage are paired diminutive lancets to the south and east elevations. Below these is a pointed-headed opening with diminutive window openings on two levels and a sandstone panel between. At the lower stage is a depressed pointed-headed door opening with a stepped voussoired head rising from splayed jambs, a hood moulding with foliate label stops, and a double-leaf vertically-sheeted painted timber door opening onto two stone steps. The stair tower has a steep natural slate pyramidal roof with a copper finial and a door opening similar to that of the bell tower but without a hood moulding.

The central gable has a blind arcaded course below the apex, with a quatrefoil panel and a tapered stone finial above. A central pointed-headed window with Y-tracery is flanked by paired trefoil-headed lancets, all set on a stepped hood moulding over the principal entrance. To the left of the gable is a clerestorey window comprising three trefoil-headed openings with a sandstone ashlar surround and hood moulding.

The principal entrance is set within a shallow gabled surround with sandstone coping and diagonal buttresses. It has a pointed-headed opening with a stepped voussoired head rising from splayed jambs and a hood moulding with foliate label stops. Two square-headed door openings are divided by a polished stone column on a circular plinth with a stiff-leaf capital, supporting an oversized carved sandstone panel depicting a tree with ribbon banners bearing the inscription: 'ARDENS / SED VIRENS / 1899 / WOODVALE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH'. Painted vertically-sheeted timber doors open onto two stone steps.

West and East Nave Elevations

The three-bay west nave elevation has a slightly advanced gabled transept. Trefoil-headed lancets are arranged in groups of three with storm glazing and are flanked by stepped buttresses. The transept has a central pair of trefoil-headed lancets flanked by lower trefoil-headed lancets. At the re-entrant angle between the transept and the rear block is a shallow two-storey gabled projection with trefoil-headed window openings.

The east nave elevation mirrors the west, with the two-storey gabled rear block to the right. This later block has uncoursed rock-faced basalt walling with reconstituted stone dressings and window surrounds, returning to the north by a single bay. It has a central gabled entrance surround with a depressed pointed-headed door opening containing double-leaf vertically-sheeted hardwood doors and an overlight, opening into a small front area enclosed by iron railings and a pair of matching gates hung on iron piers.

Rear Elevation

The rear elevation is abutted by the two-storey block built around 1920. The west gable of this block is cement rendered with no window openings. The north elevation has painted cement-rendered walling with full-height shallow buttresses flanking pointed-headed window openings to each level, fitted with uPVC windows, and enclosed by wrought-iron railings.

Setting

The church occupies a triangular site at the junction of Woodvale Road and Ballygomartin Road, enclosed by iron railings. The south apex of the site has a bitmac front area with a pair of decorative iron gates hung on cast-iron piers. The listing covers the church building together with its gates and railings.