Gospel Hall, Irish Green Street, Limavady, Co Londonderry, BT49 9AA

Gospel Hall, Irish Green Street, Limavady

A substantially altered two-storey, four-bay former courthouse built in 1830 at a cost of £950 by the Grand Jury, with an attached bridewell. The building stands on the site of a petty sessions building shown on the 1830 map. It served as Limavady Courthouse until the present courthouse was built on Main Street in 1914. The building was subsequently used as a garage before being converted to its present use as a Gospel Hall in 1927. The bridewell, shown to the rear on the 1907 map, was demolished during these renovations. The architect was Robert Given.

The principal façade faces north-west onto Irish Green Street and features a pedimented sandstone gable. The ground floor of the gable is painted. Two rectangular windows with stained glass flank a central undecorated double entrance door with a plain rectangular fanlight. A string course above the entrance extends along the sides of the building. At first floor level, two curved blank niches flank a central painted aedicule with Doric columns rising from the string course to support a pediment and frame a round-headed window. The cill of this window aligns with the base of the niches, creating a squat proportion. Within the tympanum of the main portico is a central painted plaque reading 'Gospel Hall 1927'. The stonework to this façade is decayed and in need of restoration. Steps rising along the façade to the front door appear to have been present historically, which may account for the awkward proportion of the present window.

To each side, the upper floor is constructed of random rubble whinstone with brick arches over four tall round-headed windows. The window to the front is slightly out of sequence with the rest. The string course and ground floor are rendered in sand cement with four rectangular casement windows below, subdivided in the Georgian manner. The roof is covered with corrugated asbestos sheeting. To the rear, the building is rendered and painted with stone quoins at first floor; there are no openings.

The building sits on an open tarmacked site with a cast-iron railing along the length of the frontage on Irish Green Street. The front of the building stands on a 400mm high rendered wall, which does not alter its ground level. The stonework requires restoration, and the façade proportions around the entrance are irregular, detracting from its present appearance. Nevertheless, as a stone-faced public building, it contributes character to Irish Green Street. The building is in need of renovation.