Saint Matthews Church of Ireland, Lurganure Road, Broomhedge, Hillsborough, County Down

St Matthew's Church of Ireland, Broomhedge

A Gothic Revival stone church built circa 1839 to the designs of the prominent architect Charles Lanyon, located on a corner site to the north of Lurganure Road and to the west of Church Lane in Broomhedge, County Down. The church is a picturesque rural building exhibiting many characteristics of Lanyon's Gothic Revival idiom and retains most of its original internal and external fabric with later additions. Its mature landscaped setting on a corner site makes it a distinguished local landmark serving the Church of Ireland community.

The church is rectangular on plan on an east-west axis with a two-stage entrance tower to the east and a chancel projection to the east. A north transept and vestry were added to the re-entrant angle circa 1900. The pitched natural slate roof features black clay ridge tiles and is set below raised gables to either end with stone coping and gableted kneeler stones projecting beyond the eaves. Replacement cast-iron guttering sits on iron brackets to a moulded sandstone eaves course.

The walling is constructed of rough-hewn squared basalt with a sandstone ashlar plinth course and flush quoins. Pointed-headed lancet openings have flush sandstone ashlar surrounds, splayed sills and stained glass windows added circa 1980.

The square-plan two-stage entrance tower to the west features a crenellated parapet with four octagonal piers surmounted by gableted pinnacles with finials resting on a continuous string course. The upper stage has a pair of lancet openings to each elevation with hood mouldings and smooth chamfered sandstone surrounds, timber louvres and a gilded iron clock-face below. The lower stage is set below a splayed course with coursed squared stone and flush sandstone ashlar quoins. A lancet window opening to the west elevation has a chamfered sandstone ashlar surround, hood moulding and stained glass. The south entrance elevation has a Tudor-arched door opening with hood moulding, chamfered sandstone ashlar surround, replacement double-leaf hardwood doors and overpanel. Above the entrance is a sandstone carved decorative panel. The west gabled elevation is abutted by the tower with blind balistraria to either side.

The north nave elevation is abutted by a gabled north transept and vestry added circa 1900. The transept features rock-faced coursed rubblestone, shaped kneeler stones to the stone coping, flush sandstone quoins and plinth course. A trefoil-headed lancet is positioned to the west cheek of the transept with a pair of lancets to the gable. The vestry has a Tudor-arched door opening with a quatrefoil panel above, all formed in flush chamfered sandstone with a sheeted timber door and overlight opening onto four stone steps bridging access to the crypt.

The east gable is abutted by a gabled chancel projection with shaped kneeler stones and a central paired pinnacle block with a pointed-headed louvred opening to a panel below. A tripartite east window is present as per the nave elevations. The south nave elevation is four windows wide.

The church stands on a corner site with its south nave elevation facing Lurganure Road and its rear east gable facing Church Lane. It is enclosed by a rubblestone boundary wall with stone and marble grave markers to the east, south and west, dating from the mid nineteenth-century.

Historical context

The foundation stone of St Matthew's Church was laid in 1839, though the building was not consecrated until September 1848, when it was dedicated as a Chapel of Ease to Lisburn Cathedral. The church first appears on the second Ordnance Survey map for the area in 1858, recorded as 'Broomhedge Church' and 'Graveyard'. In 1860, Griffith's Valuation recorded that the plot of land was provided by the Marquis of Hertford and that the building was valued at £19, a valuation maintained until 1929.

Curates from Lisburn Cathedral preached sermons at Broomhedge until 1865 when a dedicated curacy was established. The first incumbent minister was Reverend John Leslie, who served until his death in 1927. In 1899, improvement work was undertaken at the church during which the new transept and vestry were installed on the north wall and the chancel wall was raised. A new heating system was installed and the floor retiled at this time. The north transept appears on the third edition of the Ordnance Survey map in 1900, when the church is first recorded as 'St. Matthew's Church'.

In 1951, the 'Bradbury Memorial Church Hall' was erected by the church to serve the social needs of the congregation; this was replaced in 2001 with a more modern building. Stained glass windows were added during the twentieth century, though the precise date of installation is unclear. Subsequent ministers included Reverend W. R. N. Ruddock (1928–1952), Reverend G. Mitchell (1953–1958), Reverend F. Rusk (1959–1965), Reverend J. F. M. Moore (1966–1983), Reverend G. Graham (1983–1990), and Reverend Peter Galbraith (from 1991). The church was listed in 1991.