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

St Luggeius Church of Ireland Church, Aghanloo

Situated on the west side of Aghanloo Road in the Townland of Drumbane, this small church is oriented east-west with its chancel end facing the road and the entrance path running along the nave to the entrance door beneath the tower. The building measures approximately 16½ metres by 7½ metres internally.

The church comprises a coursed basalt nave, three bays long, 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 has plain barge stones returned to form a pediment infilled with coursed basalt stone. In the centre is a slit trimmed with sandstone and a small hood moulding to ventilate the roof space. All windows are trimmed with ashlar stonework and terminated with moulded label mould returned horizontally at each end. A narrow single light pointed window on the north side lights a store. 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. All external angles have sandstone quoins. The basalt work displays good examples of galletting technique.

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 has a narrow tall single lancet on its west side at entrance level and a blank lancet on the north. On the south side is a pointed doorway with double doors of framed and sheeted timber stained brown-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 window has a square headed label moulding. The third stage, with its battered walls forming the belfry, has a tall single pointed louvred opening on each face, similarly trimmed. The string course defining the parapet wall has small simple moulded corbels on the underside.

The nave roof is slated with Bangor blue slates in good repair with a simple blue-black ridge tile. Rainwater goods are cast iron with half-round guttering spilling into circular trunk heads 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 with the church at its centre. Outside the east end, a bump or rise in the ground indicates the vault of John Beresford, died 1849. Other notable plots include that of Marcus La Touche McCausland, died 2 August 1989; James Chambers Martin of Ballycastle, died 30 September 1903; and a Lane plot of Ballycarton. The church is silhouetted against a backdrop of trees, creating a pleasing setting.