Glenmanus Reformed Presbyterian Church, 23-25 Portstewart Road, Portrush, Co. Antrim, BT56 8EH

Glenmanus Reformed Presbyterian Church

A double-height roughcast rendered Reformed Presbyterian Church with a three-stage entrance tower, associated lecture hall, and manse, built in 1899. The church is located at the junction of Glenmanus Road and Portstewart Road in Portrush town centre.

The church has a rectangular plan with an apsidal end to the west and a square tower positioned at the northeast corner. A modern single-storey flat-roof extension of various heights adjoins the south elevation, and a modern single-storey linking block connects a double-height lecture hall (dating to approximately 1900) to the rear.

The pitched natural slate roof features terracotta ridge tiles and leaded hips to the apsidal end. Cast-iron ogee rainwater goods sit on a moulded eaves course. The walls are roughcast rendered with smooth rendered buttresses and a dentilled raking eaves course to the gable. Windows throughout are round-headed coloured leaded lattice lights, some with secondary glazing, set in smooth rendered surrounds with label moulds, keyblocks, and smooth rendered decorative brackets under the sills.

The east gable is abutted by the three-stage entrance tower. The tower has clasping buttresses rising to square piers surmounted by ball finials and connected by a curvilinear parapet. The belfry stage features round-headed louvered openings with block surround and archivolt punctuated by three keyblocks. The second stage has an oculus in a decorative moulded surround. The ground floor has a window to the north face. The entrance to the east is accessed via four stone steps with plinth walls surmounted by original cast-iron railings. The entrance comprises a round-headed original timber-sheeted door in a blocked and chamfered surround, surmounted by a hood mould with three fluted keyblocks. Above the door head is a scrolled entablature, possibly originally bearing a dedication plaque. An identical blind doorway to the west face is accessed via three stone steps. The gable displays a graded group of three windows with segmental pediments and a continuous sill course. Below are two square-headed windows divided by a buttress, with moulded architraves, keyblocks, and decorative brackets under the sills. The south elevation has five evenly spaced windows divided by buttresses. The apsidal end to the west is abutted at its centre by the modern single-storey linking block connecting the hall, with a square-headed window to the left. The north elevation has four evenly spaced windows divided by buttresses.

The site is set back from the road at the junction of Glenmanus Road and Portstewart Road in a largely residential area south of Portrush town centre. It is bounded by a roughcast rendered wall with level coping stones. At the northeast corner are square smooth rendered gate piers with pointed caps supporting steel gates. To the north is a pedestrian steel gate on slender square piers with pointed caps. A rubble stone wall to the south bounds the church to neighbouring semi-detached houses. The front is lawned with a concrete aggregate pathway to the front entrance and polygonal flagstones to the north entrance.

Directly west of the church is a roughcast rendered gabled hall with a pitched slated roof featuring blue and black angled ridge tiles and raised stone verges with ball finials to the gables. A flat-roof modern extension and entrance porch connect the church to the hall. The hall's walling is roughcast render on a smooth rendered plinth with smooth rendered dressings. Windows are round-headed leaded-and-stained glass in smooth rendered surrounds with keyblocks and stone sills. The north elevation has four evenly spaced windows divided by lesenes. The east gable is abutted by a modern flat-roof extension; a timber-sheeted door is surmounted by an oversized leaded-and-stained glass round-headed transom light. The entrance door is accessed via a concrete ramp. The west gable has windows to the left and right. Cast-iron ogee rainwater goods sit on a moulded eaves course.

The manse, positioned to the west of the hall, is two-storey with a gabled canted bay to the east. In similar style to the church and hall, it is roughcast rendered with smooth rendered dressings. It has been altered and refurbished in recent years, with replacement features including a red-brick chimneystack, uPVC glazing throughout, and a modern uPVC entrance door to the east. The west elevation has been altered to include a modern garage. The manse is bounded to the north by a roughcast rendered wall with square rendered piers having pointed caps and supporting original ornate cast-iron gates. A tarmacadamed car park occupies the far west of the site.