St. Mary's RC Church, Ballywoodock Road, Milltown, Co. Londonderry, BT51 3AY

St Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Ballywoodock Road, Milltown

St Mary's is a free-standing, double-height, single-cell, gable-ended Roman Catholic church built around 1860 in the Gothic style. The church is rectangular on plan, facing south, with an entrance porch to the west gable, a vestry block to the northeast added around 1990, and sits within its own graveyard on the north side of Ballywoodock Road at a crossroads where Church Pass meets to the west and Glebe Road to the south.

The building is roofed in artificial slate with roll-moulded black clay ridge tiles and uPVC rainwater goods supported on steel brackets to a rendered eaves course. The gables at either end are slightly raised with sandstone coping, square-plan tapered pinnacles resting on flush kneeler stones, and a sandstone cross at both apexes. The walls are of rough-cast cement render with smooth rendered quoins and plinth course.

The south-facing nave elevation has three irregularly placed windows with pointed-headed openings, voussoired sandstone heads, rendered jambs, and splayed sandstone sills. The windows are replacements with multi-pane timber frames featuring intersecting Gothic tracery. Below each window is a square ventilation opening with iron grilles. A crucifix is mounted to the wall towards the east end. The north-facing elevation has three windows of similar design and is abutted at the east end by the L-plan vestry block. This vestry block is detailed in keeping with the church, with square-headed door and window openings fitted with hardwood sheeted doors and hardwood casement windows. The east gable contains a pointed-headed window opening fitted with a replacement tripartite timber frame filled with leaded coloured glazing.

The entrance porch is a smaller gable-ended structure abutting the west gable, with rough-cast cement rendered walls and smooth render at the corners, plinth and openings. It has an artificial slate roof matching the church. The south cheek of the porch has a pointed-headed door opening fitted with replacement double-leaf hardwood sheeted doors and a fanlight with five pointed-headed lights.

The church stands within its own grounds, with several stone and granite grave markers to the southeast enclosed to the road by rubblestone walls. Two rubblestone round piers with rendered capstones support replacement steel gates, with a bitmac drive leading to the entrance porch.

Historical Context

The church was built by Father Charles Flanagan, who became priest of the parish in 1843. Flanagan acquired land in 1855 and constructed the present church, furnishing it in the same style and with materials identical to those used at St John's Church in Coleraine, which had been built by his predecessor Father Dan O'Doherty in 1834. Although local tradition suggests the church opened in 1855, it does not appear in Griffith's Valuation of 1859, indicating it had not been completed by then. The church first appears in the fieldbook of 1862, where it and its yard are valued at £14 5 shillings, with the yard at 15 shillings. The land was leased from Sir Henry Hervey Bruce, the third baronet of Downhill.

Before this church was built, Catholics in the area had worshipped in the basement of Mussenden Temple on the Downhill estate. The Earl Bishop, who had been deeply involved in attempting to obtain relief for Catholics from the terms of the penal laws, had given the lower part of the temple to Roman Catholics for use as a chapel. He also contributed one guinea per month to support the priest, a practice continued by his successor the Rev Henry Hervey Bruce. The temple served as a chapel well into the nineteenth century. During a cholera outbreak in 1832, however, Sir James Bruce, the second baronet of Downhill, withdrew permission to use the temple, and mass was celebrated instead in the open in a field belonging to John Doherty in the townland of Masteraguee. The road in this townland is still known as the Priest's Walk.

The church was listed in 1977. Shortly after listing, it was re-roofed and the door was replaced. In 1984, a thorough renovation was undertaken. This included installation of a new ceiling in the church and porch, replastering, and a new floor of polished granite. A new baptistry, ambo and sanctuary were installed, also in polished granite. The supports to the gallery were removed and replaced with horizontal girders. All windows and doors were renewed. New seats of oroco timber were acquired and the stations of the cross were repaired and repainted. The architect responsible for the renovations was P Haughey of Belfast, and the church was re-dedicated on 4 September 1985. A new sacristy and toilet block were added to the rear in 1996.

The extensive refurbishment, particularly the 1984–1985 renovation, has resulted in the loss of much original detail both externally and internally. However, the church retains considerable interest through its rural setting and the tall boundary walls and gate pillars, which are included in the listing. The building has significant social and cultural importance for the local community.