Cathedral of Christ Church, (aka Lisburn Cathedral), 24 Castle Street, Lisburn, County Antrim, BT27 4XD

Cathedral of Christ Church, Lisburn

The Cathedral of Christ Church is a free-standing rubble stone and ashlar tower and hall gothic cathedral built around 1710. It stands on an east-west axis, positioned on slightly raised ground to the east of Market Square and set within its own grounds behind the terraced buildings of Bridge Street and Castle Street. The site includes Castle Gardens to the east and opens onto Market Square to the west through tall iron gates and railings.

The building is rectangular on plan with a five-stage entrance and belfry tower to the west, crowned by a spire that was added in 1804. An east chancel was added in 1888. The pitched natural slate roof is finished with black clay ridge tiles and stone coping to the front and rear gables, with kneeler stones. The front gable has moulded coping stone, while the east chancel gable features decorative apex stone and a gablet to its kneeler stone with trefoil panel. Replacement metal rainwater goods are fixed to a sandstone eaves course on iron drive-through brackets; the chancel has rainwater goods on a concave moulded sandstone eaves course.

The main walling comprises random uncoursed basalt with limestone ashlar quoins. The base features chamfered sandstone to the projecting rubble plinth course, above which runs a plain chamfer string course. Cementitious strap pointing is used throughout. Double-height basalt buttresses, added around 1890, flank the window openings to the nave. These buttresses have sandstone quoins and off-sets.

The nave is lit by double-height pointed-arched window openings formed in sandstone: three to the north elevation and four to the south. Each has squared stone voussoirs above hood moulding with decorative label stops and a redbrick relieving arch above. The window openings contain paired cusped stone frames with diminutive paired cusped lights above, chamfered sill and surround. Some retain leaded and stained glass glazing, fronted with storm glazing.

The west gable to the hall is abutted by a five-stage rubblestone tower on a square plan. This tower rises to an octagonal-based limestone ashlar spire with four corner pinnacles. The tapered octagonal spire is surmounted by a copper sphere and weather vane. Diminutive lucarnes with quatrefoil apertures appear on two levels on all four sides.

Deep torus mouldings rise from the base of the spire from the square-plan tower, with a four-sided limestone ashlar pinnacle on a pedestal at each corner. Deep moulded stone cornices run to all four sides of the tower, with the walls stepping out slightly at each stage. The upper belfry stage has pointed-arched stone openings with Y-tracery and timber louvres. An iron clock face occupies the west elevation of the next stage down, with small round-headed louvred openings to the north and south elevations. A single round-headed window opening to the front elevation of the next stage has a chamfered limestone surround and figurative label stops to the hood moulding, containing a Y-tracery triple-light window with quarry glazing.

The principal entrance is a pointed-arched door opening to the west elevation formed in carved sandstone with clustered colonettes and compound mouldings. It contains replacement hardwood gothic-panelled doors and over-panel, opening onto a stone flagged area with a pair of wrought-iron bootscrapers. A similar pointed-arched door opening to the south side elevation is formed in painted render with double chamfered surround and matching doors.

The north side elevation is lit by three windows. The two central windows are separated by a pedimented Ionic stone tomb, and the wall has three buttresses. A single-storey rubblestone vestry abuts the left bay of the nave, with an additional concrete block toilet block attached to the east.

The east gable is abutted by a slightly lower gabled chancel, built in rock-faced basalt, uncoursed with fine joints. Two double-height buttresses flank each side. A large pointed-arched east window with moulded sandstone surround and hood moulding with figurative label stops features five cusped lights occupying large geometric tracery. The continuous string course drops to accommodate this window. The south side elevation of the chancel has a single window opening, while the nave has four windows, each divided by a buttress.

The church occupies a slightly raised site and is positioned behind the terraced buildings of Castle Street and Bridge Street, with several stone box-tombs and upstanding grave-markers visible. A bitumac footpath encircles the church with an elevated front area opening onto five concrete steps. The entrance to Market Square is enclosed by tall decorative cast-iron gates and railings set between a pair of stone ashlar piers abutting the gable of a terraced building on either side. A former Church Hall stands to the rear of the site.