First Presbyterian Church Hall, Main Street, Broughshane, Co. Antrim, BT42 4JP

First Presbyterian Church Hall, Broughshane, Co. Antrim

This is a double-height, multi-bay galleried church hall built around 1929–1930, designed by the Belfast architectural firm Young & Mackenzie — the leading architects for the Presbyterian Church in north-east Ireland — and known as Magill Hall. It stands within the grounds of First Broughshane Presbyterian Church on the north side of Main Street, sitting forward of the church and screening it from the east.

Origins and Historical Background

The congregation itself has remarkable antiquity, having been founded in 1655 under the name the 'Braid' congregation, making it among the earliest Presbyterian congregations in Ulster. The hall was a gift to the congregation from two brothers, David Hartley Magill (1865–1927) and George Neill Magill (1861–1952), who had emigrated from the Broughshane area to Australia in the late 19th century and prospered as sheep farmers. David returned home to Kinbally in Broughshane in 1919, and together with his brother George donated the money to build a new hall in acknowledgement of their strong ties to the church. The same brothers also funded the refurbishment of the church building itself and contributed to the cost of a hospital wing at the Waveney Hospital in Ballymena — where the Magill Ward was named in memory of their father. David died suddenly in 1927, before work on the hall began, and is buried in the churchyard of First Broughshane. The hall first appears in the Annual Revision records in 1929, at which point it was still under construction and assigned no rateable value; by the time of the First General Revaluation in 1935, a rateable value of £72 had been assigned, which remained unchanged at least until the latter half of the 20th century. Around 1980 the hall was extended to the north in conjunction with internal refurbishments.

Exterior

The building is rectangular on plan. Its roof is clad in natural slate with a pitched profile, overhanging boxed eaves featuring original ogee-profile cast-iron rainwater goods with original trefoil fixings to the downpipes. Towards the southern end of the ridge sits an octagonal louvred copper-clad ventilation cupola. Modern Velux rooflights have been inserted into both pitches at the northern end.

The walls are finished in textured cement render, painted white, with contrasting smooth detailing including a smooth plinth and deep, narrow smooth corner quoins.

The principal elevation faces south and is symmetrically arranged. At ground level, a slightly advanced smooth rendered porch contains the central replacement timber entrance doors, flanked to either side by a group of three uPVC windows set within a large smooth rendered reveal. Above the doors, a slate name plaque reads 'First Broughshane / Church Hall'. At upper-floor level, the centrepiece is a Venetian arrangement: a timber door with six lights to its upper portion opens onto a projecting concrete balcony with an iron diamond lattice and rosette parapet with urn finials. This door shares a tall opening with a nine-light timber margined overlight, flanked by 4/4 timber sashes. The entire upper arrangement is set within a single smooth rendered panel, slightly advanced, with a contrasting two-tier hood moulding and keystone.

The east and west elevations are almost identical. Each has a slightly projecting south end embraced by quoins, lit by a margined roundel (the west elevation additionally has a small three-light fixed window close to ground level). The main hall portion of each side elevation is lit by a series of four tall round-headed margined 3/1 sashes with fixed margined toplights over. The north end of the side elevations, which reflects the later reconfigured section containing ancillary rooms, is lit by three high-level rectangular casements with a horizontal emphasis at ground floor, with replacement hardwood doors and a blank first-floor elevation. Windows throughout the side elevations sit on contrasting masonry cills in smooth rendered reveals.

Modern timber casements wrap around the north end. The rear (north) gable is lit by four aligned windows to each floor: those at ground floor are at high level with a horizontal emphasis, while those at first floor are considerably larger and of a conventional vertical format.

Interior

The original plan form is largely intact. The hall is double-height and galleried. Despite modern alterations and the loss of some internal and external historic detailing, the building retains historic character.

Setting and Group Value

The hall sits within a tarmac car park within the grounds of First Broughshane Presbyterian Church. The boundary to Main Street is formed by a painted rendered wall shared with the church, accessed through a pair of replacement iron gates incorporating a burning bush motif. The church itself is set back behind a linear graveyard.

The hall forms part of a notable group of buildings associated with First Broughshane Presbyterian Church, which includes the church building, the session house, the White Memorial, and the Stewart Memorial. The session house — a two-storey building with a pitched slate roof, rendered walls and casement windows — has its own layered history: it appears on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1832–33, was recorded as a National School house by the time of Griffith's Valuation in 1862, was replaced in its school function by a new school building designed by Young & Mackenzie around 1890, subsequently served as a hall in the early to mid 20th century, and is now used as a session house — a meeting place for the body of selected elders who governed the local parish. This group of structures is prominently located on Broughshane Main Street and makes a significant contribution to its character.