St Eugenius Church (C of I), Drumrane Road, Dungiven, Co Londonderry, BT47 4RG

St Eugenius Church is a fine example of the Board of First Fruits' Gothic style, designed by John Bowden, the Board's architect. Built in local sandstone from the former Ballyharigan quarry, the church retains its original form and most of its architectural detail, giving it a forceful character despite Victorian and later alterations.

The building is constructed of roughly squared sandstone with strap pointing. It comprises a stone-built church with a square western tower and a lean-to vestry on the north side. The tower contains a porch with a gabled pitched slated roof.

The eastern gable is dominated by a single tall three-light Gothic window recessed slightly into the wall with tooled sandstone trim and mullions. The moulded hood label sits within the recess and terminates in handsome foliage stops. The window has a double cill. Above it is a small pointed louvred vent to the roofspace, no longer in use. A shallow low stone plinth runs along the base. The gable is trimmed with stone barge, stopped at the lower end by a corbelled kneeler.

The south facade features three pointed single-light windows with moulded hood labels returned on the horizontal to form stops. The walling between windows and quoins is of equal width. There is no plinth, and the top of the wall carries a half-round metal gutter supported on wrought iron brackets. The gutters stop against the moulded corbel of the kneeler.

The north facade is similar but includes a simple pointed window of later date, not quite opposite the last window of the south side. The vestry projects from this wall with a lean-to roof fitting neatly below the nave gutter. Its north wall is punctuated with two unequal-sized narrow windows—one pointed and one square-headed and shouldered. A square-headed doorway on the east gable leads to a short flight of steps. A chimney stack of engineering brick emerges from the nave roof above the vestry. The vestry stonework differs in character from the main church.

The west facade is dominated by the three-stage stone tower, each stage defined by a plain string course. The third stage, higher than those below, has a pronounced batter similar to churches at Aghanloo, Eglinton, and Fahan in County Donegal. Above this rises a four-pinnacled oversailing parapet with stepped crenellations on each side. The shallow oversailing rests on moulded corbels. The pointed entrance door is on the south side, while the west end has a tall pointed lancet with a flattish hood. On the north side is a pointed blank opening with a hood. The second stage has a square flat-headed two-light window on each side of the south, west, and north faces. The battered third stage has a single tall louvred and pointed two-light opening with hood moulding on all four sides, forming the belfry. The roof is slated in natural slates with metal cresting on the ridge and is broken in several places, with a ventilator centrally placed.

The church stands on rising ground to the south of Drumrane Road, adjacent to the hamlet of Burnfoot in the townland of Bovevagh. It occupies an unprepossessing site practically devoid of trees, accessed via a short avenue with two wide paths leading up either side. The graveyard extends around the church and contains a cast iron headstone.

The church replaced an earlier church on the medieval site. In 1820, a decision was made to erect a new building, and construction began that year with a loan from the Board of First Fruits at a cost of £900. It was completed in 1823. The 1832 Ordnance Survey map describes it as having a square tower "decreasing towards the top and surmounted by 4 minarets, 1 at each angle," with good pews and accommodation for 240 persons. The church was constructed of freestone and well finished, though the map notes that, being placed in a hollow with a tower not quite high enough for the body of the building, it was not well seen and lacked picturesqueness.

John Bowden, who died in 1824, was the sole architect to the Board of First Fruits, and this church is typical of his designs for rural churches. Around 1900, improvements were carried out, including removal of the plaster ceiling and renovation or replacement of the roof trusses. The north window may have been inserted at this time. Further improvements followed in the early 1970s, including improvements to services, new windows, and a new entrance door. In 1970, the windows were described as having diamond panel and Y-tracery. Grounds improvements around this time included an additional driveway approach to the north and extension of the site. The Victorian additions of a vestry, tessellated floor tiles, exposure of roof trusses, and alterations in the chancel do not diminish the building's forceful character.