Church Hall, Lisburn Cathedral, 24A Castle Street, Lisburn, County Antrim, BT27 4XD

Church Hall, Lisburn Cathedral

A detached double-height gabled redbrick building constructed in 1885 as a Sunday School, standing on an elevated site to the rear of Lisburn Cathedral with its rear elevation fronting onto Castle Gardens. The building is irregular on plan, facing west, with a gabled entrance porch to the west elevation and a pair of gabled projections to the rear.

The structure features pitched natural slate roofs with terracotta ridge tiles, rooflights set behind slightly raised sandstone coping with gableted apex stones and kneeler stones. The redbrick walling is laid in Flemish bond with flush red sandstone courses at sill and lintel level and a brick plinth course with splayed red sandstone. Square-headed window openings have chamfered surrounds, chamfered red sandstone lintels, and splayed red sandstone sills; windows are replacement fixed-pane timber. Replacement metal rainwater goods are attached to timber fascia.

The principal west elevation is five windows wide and is abutted by a gabled entrance porch at the south end. The porch has a natural slate roof set behind a raised gable with stone coping, gableted apex stone, and lateral half-height buttresses with red sandstone offsets. The pointed-headed door opening has a compound chamfered surround formed in red sandstone to the arch and hood moulding. A double-leaf sheeted timber door is set within a torus moulded red sandstone surround, with a carved red sandstone over-panel bearing raised lettering stating "1885/Cathedral/Summer School". Two stone steps lead to the door.

The north gabled elevation is two windows wide and features a central quatrefoil opening to the attic level formed in red sandstone. A steel fire escape and square-headed door opening serve the upper level. The east side has a lower gabled projection with a stepped and chamfered square-headed door opening containing a replacement timber glazed door, now the principal entrance. The north gable has a quatrefoil opening and a pair of square-headed window openings. The rear east elevation features a central gabled projection with a tall redbrick chimneystack; window openings have been altered and are abutted by a lean-to extension. The south gabled elevation, also featuring a tall redbrick chimneystack, is abutted on its east cheek by a flat-roofed single-storey extension.

The building first appears in valuation records in 1890 as a "School house and yard" valued at £39 and £1 for the garden. It is captioned as "Sunday School" on the third edition Ordnance Survey map of circa 1900 and on subsequent mapping. The Sunday School was relocated to the Cathedral during the Second World War. Major redevelopment of the interior was carried out in 1989 to provide additional meeting rooms and an upstairs lounge. The structure was extensively renovated and extended circa 1990, with two flat-roofed extensions added to the rear, resulting in the loss of much original character with the exception of the principal west elevation.

The building is set within a landscaped garden to the south and is encircled to the north and west by a bitumac parking area. It stands within the grounds of Lisburn Cathedral and within a conservation area. The architect was William Farrell.