Reformed Presbyterian Church, Main Street, Cullybackey, Co Antrim, BT42 1HF

Reformed Presbyterian Church, Main Street, Cullybackey

This Reformed Presbyterian church was originally constructed in 1789 but was substantially altered and extended in 1887, reducing its architectural integrity. The building is set close to but slightly lower than the pavement on the south side of Main Street, in the south-east of Cullybackey town centre.

The church is a T-shaped, single-storey structure with a symmetrical north front elevation. The north elevation features a projecting gabled bay of late Victorian date (1887) flanked by lean-to entrance porches. Each entrance has sheeted timber double doors set within a segmental arch headed opening with archivolt moulding, and slated lean-to roofs. To both left and right edges of the elevation are tall semicircular arch headed windows with wooden frames, horizontal divisions and margins, and moulded reveals. The projecting gabled bay has semicircular arch headed windows either side of the front gable, and at its centre is a small moulded plaque inscribed "R.P. Church A.D.1789". Directly above this is a semicircular arch headed louvred opening. The east and west faces of the bay have smaller semicircular arch headed windows. The main east and west gables are symmetrical, each with two semicircular arch headed windows. The south rear elevation is symmetrical with four windows of the same type, the two central windows being more widely spaced.

The main building and front bay are gabled with slightly overhanging eaves. Main corners are finished with in/out quoins. The roofs are covered with Bangor blue slates and have two small gabled wooden ventilators. Cast iron rainwater goods are present throughout.

The Cullybackey Reformed Presbyterian Congregation traces its origins to around 1670, when adherents of the Solemn League and Covenant gathered for open air worship at Laymore, to the east of the town. The church was built in 1789 during the pastorate of Reverend Mr Gibson as a simple rectangular structure with end galleries. It was known initially as the "Pound Meeting House" having been constructed on ground immediately adjoining the old village pound, and is shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of circa 1833. Contemporary Ordnance Survey Memoirs describe the church as "a simple old building 51 feet long and 24 wide, and has a gallery with stone staircases outside. It contains 50 seats and would accommodate 350 persons". In 1887 the structure assumed much of its present form with the removal of the galleries and the addition of the transept bay and lean-to porches. A lecture hall was erected to the west side of the church in 1929, replacing a single-storey schoolroom of 1869.

The north side of the site is bounded by decorative cast iron railings.