Church of the Ascension, Church of Ireland, Glebe Road, Annahilt, Lisburn, Co. Down, BT26 6NE

Church of the Ascension

A gable-fronted double-height stone Gothic-Revival church built around 1856 and located on the east side of Glebe Road in Annahilt. The Church of Ireland building faces west and stands on an elevated site with its graveyard to the west, occupying the grounds of an earlier church built in 1741, of which only the tower now remains.

The church was designed by William Fullerton, architect to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, and was built and consecrated on 29 July 1856. It replaced the former Annahilt church, which had been condemned for use. The building is a modest yet finely detailed rural church of considerable architectural and social interest to the community.

The rectangular plan building features a single transept to the north, a lower gabled chancel to the east with an attached lean-to vestry to the north. Pitched natural slate roofs with black clay ridge tiles, lead valleys and raised gables sit above random rock-faced greywacke sandstone walls with cement joints and a projecting plinth course. Sandstone ashlar trim details include a continuous string course at sill level and stepped diagonal buttresses with sandstone quoins and offsets.

The west gable front elevation is dominated by a sandstone ashlar bellcote with a gothic arch containing an iron bell, surmounted by a trefoil motif and resting on corbelled kneeler stones. Below this sits a catherine-wheel opening with chamfered surround and stained glass. The main west elevation features three lancet window openings in chamfered sandstone with hood mouldings and two blind narrower lancets between them, all containing paired lancets and an oculus above with leaded stained glass and steel mesh. The continuous moulded sill course rises above an outshot below which houses the bell chain, lit by a pair of diminutive lancet openings with latticed iron lights and covered by a lean-to sandstone roof.

The north nave elevation is three windows wide, abutted by a gabled transept with two diagonal and a central buttress, featuring two lancets and an oculus with latticed iron lights. To the east of the transept is a single-storey over basement vestry forming a catslide roof to the chancel. The vestry has a triple lancet opening with iron latticed windows and a shouldered arched door opening with sheeted timber door and iron furniture, with a cellar below accessed by a sheeted timber door.

The gabled east chancel elevation features a lead-lined raised gable with trefoil finial, diagonal buttresses and a further buttress, with a catslide roof over the vestry. Three lancet openings with continuous hood moulding, continuous sill course and chamfered surrounds contain stained glass and storm glazing. The south nave elevation is four windows wide, abutted by a gabled entrance porch and a further window to the chancel. The entrance porch has a pitched natural slate roof behind a lead-lined raised gable with trefoil apex. A splayed equilateral-arched sandstone door opening contains a polished vertically-sheeted timber door with iron furniture, flanked by squat lateral buttresses. A further equilateral-arched door opening to the west cheek has a chamfered sandstone surround and sheeted timber door opening onto a nosed stone step. The main door opens onto a stone-paved platform with stone step and concrete ramp.

All window openings feature equilateral-arched openings in chamfered sandstone ashlar with hood mouldings and greywacke relieving arches.

The interior retains an impressive array of original features including an exposed timber roof, original pews and flooring. Notable altar furniture includes a sixteenth-century pulpit dated 1571, which originated from a church in Turvey, Bedfordshire. The east window is a memorial to General William Mussenden of Larchfield.

The church first appears on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1858, though it was not captioned "Church of the Ascension" until the 1901 edition. Griffith's Valuation of 1861 records the incumbent as Reverend Edward Leslie and values the church at £29, a valuation that remained unchanged throughout the Annual Revisions from 1866 to 1929, confirming that very little alteration occurred during this period.

The building retains a wealth of original external fabric including roofing materials, windows and original sheeted doors. Replacement synthetic moulded rainwater goods are mounted on concave stone corbels. The site is set on an elevated position with the graveyard occupying the entire west of the site. It is enclosed to the road by a rubblestone wall and embankment wall to a gravel driveway leading southwest to Glebe Road via a pair of decorative iron gates mounted on stone ashlar piers. The graveyard contains upstanding stone and marble grave markers dating from the early eighteenth century to the present, with iron grilles and mature yew trees.

The listing extends to the church, gates and gate pillars.