Presbyterian Hall, Garvetagh Road, Castlederg, Co Tyrone, BT81 7QA

Garvetagh Presbyterian Hall and Primary School, Garvetagh Road, Castlederg, County Tyrone

This entry records two linked buildings on a corner site: a former Presbyterian church, originally built around 1790 and now used as a hall, and an attached primary school building dating from around 1910. Although the group is of interest, most of the original fabric of the former church has been replaced during the 20th century, and both buildings have been altered with extensions that detract from their authenticity and character. They do not therefore meet the criteria for listing and are recorded here for reference only.

Presbyterian Hall

The hall is rectangular on plan, gable-fronted and single-bay, facing east. A two-storey dwelling is attached to the north side elevation, with a rear porch at the northwest corner, and a flat-roofed corridor connects the south side elevation to the neighbouring school. The roof is covered in artificial slate with plastic rainwater goods fixed to a timber fascia. Walls are finished in pebbledash cement render with a smooth rendered plinth course.

A rectangular stone plaque on the north side elevation bears the inscription: "This House was Built 1739 Chiefly, by Means of the Revd. mr. Nehermiah, Donaldson."

The gabled east front elevation has a pointed-arched window opening at upper level, fitted with a replacement hardwood casement window and stone sill. At ground level, a small central gabled entrance porch projects forward, flanked by a pair of square-headed window openings with stone sills and hardwood casement windows. The porch has an artificial slate roof with plastic rainwater goods, and is fitted with a replacement double-leaf vertically-sheeted timber door under a pointed-arched fanlight that retains its original timber Y-tracery glazing. A stone step leads down onto a concrete step and then to a concrete pedestrian footpath.

The south side elevation has three window openings, matching those on the front elevation. The westernmost opening is now blocked by the flat-roofed corridor connecting the hall to the school. The rear elevation is blank, forming part of an extension built around 1960. The north side elevation is abutted by an adjoining two-storey house, also built around 1960, with a lean-to rear entrance porch set into the inner angle between the two buildings.

Primary School

The school is a gable-fronted double-height hall, rectangular on plan and facing east, with four windows on each side elevation. A flat-roofed extension dating from around 1960 connects it to the hall, and a further single-storey extension was added to the west rear gable around 1980. The roof is covered in natural slate with black clay ridge tiles, metal-clad raking copings to the raised gables on either side, and steel rainwater goods. Walls are finished in pebbledash render, with tooled stone ashlar kneeler stones to both gables. The remains of a projecting chimneystack survive on the front gable. Window openings are square-headed and double-height, fitted with early multi-pane steel casement windows and concrete sills. A flat-roofed entrance porch is attached to the front gable, itself connected to the flat-roofed extension, which is three windows wide. The entrance has double-leaf hardwood doors opening onto a flight of concrete steps.

Setting

The site is corner-located and enclosed to the road by a rubble stone wall with cement coping. The front door to the hall opens onto a concrete footpath leading through a front lawn, which is enclosed to the road and to the south by a rubble stone wall; access from the road is through an early wrought-iron pedestrian gate. The school grounds are finished in bitmac and similarly enclosed by a rubble stone wall with cement coping.

Historical Background

The congregation of 1st Castlederg was established in 1700. The Revd Nehemiah Donaldson served as minister from 1716 to 1747. The datestone on the building records a construction date of 1739 and credits Donaldson with its founding, but historical sources complicate this picture. A history of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland states that the minister of the time "set about rebuilding the church in its present form in 1793," and the Ordnance Survey Memoirs confirm a date of 1792: "Garvetagh Presbyterian meeting house…is a plain stone building 36 feet long and 28 broad. [It] is neatly fitted up with pews [and galleries] affording accommodation for 350 persons. The average attendance is 180. The meeting house was built in 1792 and cost 450 pounds, raised by voluntary subscriptions." It is therefore likely that the datestone was retained from an earlier building on the same site. The building is shown as "Presbyterian Meeting Ho" on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833. The Townland Valuation records a "Presbyterian meeting house and vestry room" valued at £4 12s. Griffith's Valuation identifies the occupier as the Revd John Crockett, who leased it from Lord Castlestewart, with a value of £10 and 10s for the yard.

The building served as the meeting house for the 1st Castlederg congregation until their new church was built on a nearby site around 1890, after which it continued as the congregation's hall. By 1914, Annual Revision records describe the building as a "Hall," with a note that the "old yard and stabling still used with new church."

In the late 1940s the building underwent renovation, including removal of the gallery — the supporting cast-iron posts remain visible — and the installation of a new floor, making it more suitable for Sunday School, Boys' Brigade, and other organisations. It was during this work that the 1739 plaque was discovered. Extensions providing a kitchen and toilets were added in 1958 to designs by Thomas Houston, with a Mr Potter of Irvinestown as contractor. In 1987 a new kitchen was built by Lowry Brothers, builders, to designs by David Young, architect, at a cost of £14,000.

The Primary School building first appears as "Garvetagh National School" on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1855. Griffith's Valuation lists a "National School House and office" leased from the Earl of Castlestewart and valued at £2, though exempted from rates. The 22nd Report of the Commissioner of National Education (1856) records an average daily attendance of 33, with 79 pupils on the rolls for the half year ending 30 September 1855. No significant changes are recorded in Annual Revision records. By the fourth edition Ordnance Survey map (1939–50), the original school building appears to have been replaced by a new structure, which is the building standing today, dating from around 1910.

National Schools were established in 1831 under the Board of Commissioners of National Education to provide primary education for the poor. Under the terms of the "Stanley letter," the Board was empowered to distribute funds for building schools, employing inspectors, training teachers, and providing grants for school equipment. The aim was to encourage religious harmony and the mixed education of Catholic and Protestant children together, with religious instruction taught separately from moral and secular instruction and strict rules against proselytism. Despite opposition from the churches, the system grew steadily through the 19th century, though in practice — as the Powis Commission of 1870 acknowledged — it became denominational in operation even if non-denominational in law. By 1900 there were 8,684 National Schools in Ireland, and the illiteracy rate fell from 51 per cent in 1841 to 14 per cent in 1901.