Old Quaker Meeting House, 27C Maghaberry Road, Moira, Craigavon, Co Down, BT67 0JF

Old Quaker Meeting House

This is a tall single-storey gabled and rendered building with lower gabled blocks projecting from each gable end, standing in a rural setting set back slightly from the road behind a small grassed area bounded by fence and trees.

The main entrance faces south. The south elevation comprises a four-bay main block with a pitched roof of Bangor blue slates in regular courses, although the central section is later covered with corrugated iron sheeting. Two chimneys, one to each gable, are of 20th century rustic brickwork, each with two pots. The walling is roughcast render with wet dash finish and a smooth rendered plinth, although the removal of a gabled entrance porch has revealed the rubble stone core beneath. Cast iron oval plates to tie bars appear at the head of the wall at the extremities and between openings, with a similar plate at door head height at each end. A brick eaves course runs along the wall. Three rectangular window openings are present—two to the left of the doorway and one to the right—all with smooth cement rendered reveals and projecting stone cills, but these are now boarded up. The doorway has a flat arch head in brickwork with brickwork jambs but is now blocked up with corrugated iron sheeting. In front of the doorway is a rectangular former porch floor area with one course of brick plinth wall remaining on the left side, a stone doorstep on the right side, and remnants of quarry tiles to the floor.

Extending to the left of the main block in the same wall plane is a low single-bay block of similar walling but without plinth or eaves course, with a lean-to corrugated iron roof. It has a rectangular window opening now boarded up with a modern concrete lintel. Behind this small lean-to block is a longer gabled block extending to the west, roofed with slates as on the main block plus additional corrugated iron sheeting, with wet dashed walling and a brick eaves course. It contains one rectangular window, now boarded up, and an oval cast iron tie-bar plaque to the left-hand end.

Extending to the right of the main block in the same wall plane is a small low single-storey one-bay block with similar walling including a brick eaves course and a lean-to corrugated iron roof. It has one rectangular doorway opening with smooth rendered reveals, spalled at the head to reveal a wooden lintel, but this is now boarded up. Behind this block is the roof and part of the walling of a taller gabled block projecting to the east, with slated roof largely now replaced with corrugated iron sheeting.

The west elevation shows the main block with a plain gable rendered in wet dash, a central projecting chimney breast, and flush eaves. Oval cast iron tie bar plaques appear to each side. The lower projecting block has a similarly rendered gable with a window to the apex, partly covered with creeper but appearing to be a modern timber top-hung vent.

The rear elevation comprises a four-bay tall single-storey main block with a lower block at each end. The main block has a slated roof as on the south elevation, walling in wet dash with similarly dashed eaves course and smooth rendered plinth. Oval cast iron tie bar plaques correspond to those on the front elevation. Four tall window openings are present, all now boarded up. To the left-hand end in the same wall plane is a lower single-bay addition with similar walling and roofing, although most slates are now removed, and one window opening, now boarded up. To the right-hand end is a long lower addition with similar roofing and walling, presented as a three-bay elevation with one window to each side of a central small gabled projection. The gabled projection has a damaged corrugated iron roof and contains a blocked window in the gable and a blocked doorway in the east side, with a damaged metal downpipe.

The east elevation is a wet dashed gable with a projecting chimney breast and an oval cast iron tie bar plaque to the left-hand side. The lower part of the gable contains a lower gabled projection with wet dash render partly spalled to reveal old red brick walling. There is a slightly oversailing eaves with shaped timber barge boards in poor condition. Two rectangular window openings with smooth rendered reveals and projecting stone cills are now boarded up. A rectangular doorway with similar reveals is present on the right-hand side, also now boarded up. The roof to the left-hand side is slated but most slates are removed and the area is partly clad in corrugated iron sheeting.

To the east of the building is a grassed area bounded by a wet dash rendered screen wall containing a gateway with a small metal pedestrian gate and a pair of modern tubular iron vehicular gates. The curving screen wall at the east end abuts a long single-storey wet dash rendered building thought to have been the former stable. The north slope of its roof is of natural slate while the south slope is of asbestos slates. One opening appears in each long elevation but these are closed up.

To the south of the meeting house is a small grassed area with a burial ground beyond in a glade of mature trees. The burial ground contains graves marked by headstones of plain character from the 19th and 20th centuries, none of any special architectural interest.

An amendment was recorded on 13 January 2006 noting that the external window and door openings are now blocked up with concrete blocks.