Protestant Hall, Main Street, Glenavy, County Antrim

Protestant Hall, Main Street, Glenavy, County Antrim

This is a two-storey, rectangular-plan Victorian hall with a frontispiece, dated 1870 and officially opened in 1872. It was designed and constructed by Robert McConnell and stands in the centre of Glenavy, directly opposite Glenavy Methodist Church on Main Street. The building was assessed in November 2010 and again in April 2010, and while it retains considerable historical and community significance, early 21st-century alterations have degraded its architectural interest to the point where it does not meet the threshold for listing.

Architectural Description

The hall is built in an Italianate style, with proportions and materials typical of the Victorian period. The principal elevation faces east and is symmetrically arranged. At ground level, the main entrance is surmounted by a rectangular panel inscribed "Glenavy" and above that a rose window, the whole contained within a double-height arch formed from giant-order brick pilasters and an archivolt. There are round-arched-headed windows to either side at each floor level. The corners of this elevation are articulated by twinned giant-order pilasters with a plain entablature. A rendered fascia bisecting the arrangement is inscribed "PROTESTANT HALL", with diamond-pointed panels to the outer pilasters. The date "1870" is affixed to the gable apex.

The walls are of smooth render with yellow-brick pilasters, a plinth course, surrounds, corbels and a string course. The north elevation uses rubble masonry with red brick dressings. Windows are 1/1 round-headed arched timber sliding sash type set within ordered surrounds of moulded brickwork. The entrance has a replacement timber double door with a semi-circular fanlight above, using surrounds similar to the windows and an additional keyblock.

The roof is pitched with natural slate and clay ridge tiles. The overhanging eaves have replacement uPVC soffits and replacement bargeboards, originally added around 1970. Rainwater goods throughout are uPVC replacements.

The north elevation is four windows wide, with the pilaster arrangement wrapping around the east corner. The ground-floor openings on this elevation are square-headed and blocked up; the first-floor openings are round-headed 1/1 sliding sash windows. The remains of a brick chimney flue are also visible on this elevation. The rear gable is smooth rendered with a single ground-floor window opening that is blocked up. The south elevation is four windows wide, smooth rendered, with alterations to the existing ground-floor openings; a uPVC replacement window has been fitted to the far right of the first floor.

By the time of the April 2010 assessment, all windows that had previously been timber sliding sash had been changed to uPVC fixed or top-hung type, the verge and eaves soffits had been changed to uPVC, as had the rainwater goods, and the downpipes had had protective galvanised steel channels added.

Setting

The hall is set back from the building line of Main Street, with open space to either side between adjacent buildings. The front of the site is bounded by a rendered wall with a mild steel gate centrally located and bearing a five-pointed star. Rubble masonry walls run to the rear and sides, with rendered piers to the south. Modern housing development surrounds the building to the south and east, with further new housing to the west adjacent to the Methodist Church. Two-storey mixed-use pitched-roof buildings stand to the north.

Historical Background

The foundation stone was laid in April 1870 by the Reverend Dean Stannus. At that ceremony, the minister stated that the hall was intended for "lectures, soirees, religious and other meetings in connection with all Protestant denominations." The hall cost an estimated £750 and Robert McConnell originally intended to have it completed by 1 October 1870. It was officially opened on 6 July 1872 by Edward O'Neill, Member of Parliament for South Antrim. The opening came in the wake of the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland under William Gladstone, and O'Neill emphasised the importance of a non-denominational Protestant Hall in strengthening the Protestant community in Ireland.

The Annual Revisions valued the hall at £16 and recorded that it was administered by the trustees of Glenavy's Orange Lodge, and after 1878 by the "trustees of Glenavy's Protestant Hall." By 1892, the hall was recorded as capable of holding 500 persons, comprising a large hall on the first floor and a committee room, two lodge rooms and a caretaker's apartments on the ground floor, along with a billiards room and a reading room.

The building served a wide variety of purposes over the years. In 1875 a lecture explaining the Landlord and Tenant Act was held in the upper hall. In 1877 a fundraising bazaar was organised to clear the hall's remaining debt of £250. The building was used for social dances and concerts, including a concert in December 1916 for soldiers serving in the First World War. In 1912 the hall served as the meeting place of the Ulster Unionist Club, which organised the arrangements for the signing of the Solemn League and Covenant in Glenavy; it is estimated that over 350 people signed the Covenant in the hall on Ulster Day.

The hall was the meeting place of the local Orange Order, originally designated LOL 471, established on 30 April 1855, which had previously met in a local schoolhouse. Its first Worshipful Masters were Brothers Daniel Allan, Adolphus Charters, John Lorrimer and Langford Geddes. The longest-serving Master in the lodge's history was Dr Arthur Mussen (1842–1930), who held the position from 1874 until his death in 1930. From 1872 the lodge met in the newly constructed hall on Main Street. In 1887 the lodge changed its number to LOL 227, a designation formerly held by a lodge in Ballyvannon. By 1892 the lodge was recorded as comprising 227 members, and in commemoration of Dr Mussen's leadership, LOL 227 became known as the "Doctor's Lodge." Mussen was appointed Grand Secretary of County Antrim in 1888, a post he held for over 30 years. Prior to his death, a memorial was erected in the hall in 1920 to commemorate his years of service to the Order and the people of Glenavy.

Following the First World War, a second memorial was installed in the hall to commemorate local volunteers, erected by Glenavy Loyal Orange Lodge in honour of their members who had served in the Great War 1914–1918. It listed 96 members who had served, including 21 who had died at the front.

In 1967, shortly before the hall's centenary, a fundraising scheme was established to reconstruct and renovate the building over a three-year period. In 1970, as part of these works, a new wooden floor was installed in the upper hall; this floor had been taken from a Nissen hut erected during the Second World War to house American soldiers. A modern kitchen, installed in a former storeroom, may also have been added at this time. More recently the roof was restored. The hall continues to be used as a meeting place for the local Orange Lodge and for local social events, and it sits within the Glenavy Area of Village Character.