Aghanloo Church of Ireland Church, Aghanloo Road, Limavady, Co Londonderry

Aghanloo Church of Ireland Church

St Luggeius Church is a fine example of a late Georgian planter's church, designed by Dublin architect John Bowden for the Board of First Fruits and representing his characteristic approach to small rural church design in the north west. The building is well preserved in form, style, detail and materials.

The church is situated on the west side of Aghanloo Road in the townland of Drumbane, oriented east to west with the chancel end facing the road. It is a small building, measuring approximately 16 and a half metres by 7 and a half metres internally, constructed of coursed basalt. The nave comprises three bays with pointed windows widely spaced on the south side. The chancel is not defined externally. The east gable contains a triple light pointed window with white painted timber tracery and a small quatrefoil in the apex, echoing the two light windows of the nave. The gable is finished with plain barge stones returned to form a pediment infilled with coursed basalt, with a slit trimmed in sandstone and fitted with a small hood moulding to ventilate the roofspace. All windows are trimmed with ashlar stonework and terminated with moulded label moulds returned horizontally at each end. A narrow single light pointed window on the north side lights a store. The basalt work displays good examples of galletting technique. All external angles of walls have sandstone quoins.

The three stage tower tapers over the belfry stage and is crowned with simple narrow pointed pinnacles between which are stepped crenellations. The first stage features a narrow tall single lancet on its west side at entrance level, a blank lancet on the north, and a pointed doorway on the south with double doors of framed and sheeted timber stained brown or red. The second stage, half the height of the first, is punctuated on three sides with square headed two light windows, that on the north side being blank, each with a square headed label moulding. The third stage forms the belfry with battered walls and a tall single pointed louvred opening on each face, similarly trimmed as other windows. The string course defining the parapet wall has small simple moulded corbels on the underside. Where the roof abuts the tower, the barge stones have been omitted, probably in recent renovation, though the horizontal string course has been retained and returns around the tower defining its first stage.

The roof is slated with Bangor blue slates in good repair with a simple blue black ridge tile. Rainwater goods are in cast iron with half round guttering spilling into circular trunkheads with circular downpipes, painted black on the south side.

The church is approached by a short laneway with a row of beech trees on the north side leading to a gateway in a stone boundary wall enclosing a small graveyard. The church stands silhouetted against a backcloth of trees, creating a pleasing setting. Outside the east end, a bump in the ground indicates the vault of John Beresford, died 1849. Other notable plots include those of Marcus La Touche McCausland (died 2 August 1989), James Chambers Martin of Ballycastle (died 30 September 1903), and the Lane plot of Ballycarton.

The church was commissioned following the ruin of the old church of Aghanloo in the townland of Rathfad in 1806, whose walls were too damaged to repair. Services had been held in the glebe house, built in 1798, until the new church was erected adjacent in the townland of Drumbane. Construction commenced on 12 August 1823 and was completed on 25 March 1825 at a cost of £900 furnished by the Board of First Fruits. The parish paid £37 to enclose the churchyard.