Balteagh Presbyterian Church, Drumsurn Road, Limavady, Co Londonderry, BT49

Balteagh Presbyterian Church

A small hall church of late Georgian character, originally constructed in the early 19th century and subsequently extended and renovated through to the Victorian era. The church featured a good interior with vigorous joinery work in its pews and pulpit. It was demolished in June 1998 to make way for a new church designed by architects Alan Hamilton Associates.

Architectural Description

The church was a six-bay deep simple hall with a natural slated roof and gabled ends. A flat-roofed projecting porch occupied the east gable end, while a pitched projecting minister's room was positioned at the other gable. The walls were finished with dry dash Carmean limestone chips, with smooth rendered plaster bands framing each tall lancet window with Tudor arched heads. Clasping plaster quoins marked the corners, and the projecting porch was faced with artificial stone. The entrance gable was finished with heavy plastered shaped barge boards with a curved or wavy top surface and modestly decorated bottom edge. A date stone of 1823 was set below the apex.

The rear gable contained two similar windows, one shorter than the other, with one window positioned on each side of the pulpit. The windows were filled with leaded and decorative glass. Two large ventilators protruded from the roof. Beyond the minister's roof was a small well-plastered store with natural slated roof and two gable brick chimneys.

Setting and Graveyard

The church was sited at the junction of Drumsurn and Ballyleagry Roads, with the main entrance from Drumsurn Road. A neat, well-kept graveyard surrounded the building, bounded by a rendered wall with painted iron gates and piers. A hall stood beyond the church.

Historical Development

A Presbyterian congregation was established at Lislane on a site granted by the Marquis of Waterford. The foundation stone was laid in 1823 by Henry Oliver. Prior to this, the Presbyterians of Balteagh had attended Drumachose Presbyterian Church, where they occupied the Balteagh aisle. The Reverend Samuel Templeton was ordained as the first minister on 16 November 1824.

According to the Ordnance Survey Memoir of 1834–35, the church was built in 1822 at an expense of 245 pounds, raised by subscriptions. The Marquis of Waterford donated the ground in perpetuity, comprising nearly one statute acre, and contributed 30 pounds towards the building. Marcus McCausland Esquire contributed 5 pounds 5 shillings, and the remainder was chiefly raised among congregation members, many of whom contributed their labour rather than money. The building measured 44 feet by 40 feet and contained 46 single pews with accommodation for approximately 350 persons. The Memoir noted that the construction was poor, with the roof, which was double and supported by a double row of upright wooden pillars connected with the rafters, in such bad repair that rain penetrated in several places. The seats were also considered too slight, and the work was judged to have been executed on a scale too extensive for the allocated sums.

The church was in poor repair by 1863 and was repaired by 1865, when new pews were installed. A manse was built in 1877. In 1906, following the installation of the Reverend Joseph McKee, renovations began that amounted almost to a rebuild, with the building extended in length. Some former roof members remained visible in the roof space. In 1973, repairs and alterations were carried out, including installation of a new organ to replace that of 1958. In 1983, Margaret Whyte stained glass was installed.