First Presbyterian Church Manse, 73 James Street, Cookstown, Co Tyrone, BT80 8AE

First Presbyterian Church Manse, 73 James Street, Cookstown, County Tyrone

This is a detached two-storey Presbyterian manse built around 1855, constructed of squared rubble sandstone with dressed stone detailing. It occupies a prominent elevated corner position at the junction of James Street and Fairhill Road in the commercial centre of Cookstown, and shares a strong group value with the adjoining Presbyterian church and hall. The building is rectangular in plan with two two-storey returns to the rear, and a modern single-storey double garage added around 1980.

External Walls and Roof

The front east elevation facing James Street is finished in squared rubble sandstone throughout. The remaining elevations — the south side facing Fairhill Road, the rear west elevation, and the north side — are rendered. Chamfered and vermiculated stone quoins articulate the external corners. At the base of the building runs a projecting carved stone plinth, and at first-floor level a projecting cut-stone stringcourse divides the two storeys. At the roofline, projecting carved stone eaves incorporate a dentilled course. The roof is slated and pitched. There are brick chimneys with profiled stepped cappings at each gable end to the east and west of the main house, and four further brick chimneys serve the rear returns.

Front Elevation (East, facing James Street)

The front elevation is symmetrically and classically composed. At the centre of the ground floor is an open colonnaded porch formed by four squared stone columns supporting a plain frieze and projecting cornice. To each side of the central doorway is a single-storey splayed canted bay. The doorway is square-headed, fitted with a panelled timber door and a plain overlight, and flanked on each side by a narrow rectangular window. The canted bays contain 2/2 windows and each has a projecting cornice over; all windows in these bays, and those flanking the doorway, are replacement uPVC, set on carved stone sills. A projecting carved stone cornice runs above the bays.

At first-floor level, the central feature is a tripartite mullioned window: the centre light is segmental-headed and flanked by narrow rectangular lights, with a carved stone surround, a carved stone keystone over the segmental-headed centre, and four pilasters supporting a cut-stone frieze and cornice. To each side of this central tripartite window is a segmental-headed window with projecting cut-stone surrounds, carved stone sills, and carved stone label-stops. All first-floor windows are replacement uPVC.

Side and Rear Elevations

The rendered south elevation faces Fairhill Road. It is gable-ended to the right, with the side elevation of the two-storey rear return to the left. It has an assortment of segmental-headed and square-headed uPVC windows set on painted cut-stone sills, and a brick chimney at the apex of the gable.

The rear west elevation has a gabled section to the left, a short section of wall in the centre, and the two-storey return to the right. At first-floor level in the gabled section there is a coloured and leaded window set on a cut-stone sill. There is a further window at ground-floor centre, another at first floor to the right of the gabled section, and a larger central stair window. The return has a single-storey lean-to running its full width at ground-floor level and a window at first-floor left. All windows are replacement uPVC.

The rendered north elevation is gable-ended to the left, with the side elevation of the two-storey rear return to the right. It similarly has an assortment of segmental-headed and square-headed uPVC windows on painted cut-stone sills, and a brick chimney at the gable apex.

Returns

The returns are rendered and fitted with an assortment of square-headed replacement uPVC windows. A single-storey lean-to to the rear north has no openings and a corrugated metal roof. A single-storey flat-roofed addition to the rear south also has no openings. The modern single-storey garage has two square-headed garage doors and a pitched tiled roof.

Setting

The manse is set back from the road behind a rendered wall with cut-stone capping. Two cut-stone steps with cut-stone pillars and a painted cast-iron gate lead to a path to the front entrance. The surrounding street is composed mainly of Victorian buildings ranging in date from the early to late 19th century.

Historical Background

An earlier manse occupied by a Reverend John Davison is recorded on this site in the first valuation of 1835. Its dimensions were recorded as 44ft × 22½ft × 17ft, with a return of 18ft × 20ft × 8½ft, and a substantial collection of thatched outbuildings measuring 38ft × 18ft × 6½ft, 16ft × 16½ft × 6½ft, 30ft × 12ft × 6ft, 28ft × 12ft × 5ft, and 21ft × 13ft × 10ft. By 1859, the neighbouring Presbyterian church — belonging to Cookstown's original Presbyterian congregation — had been rebuilt, and the styling of the manse suggests it was rebuilt at around the same time, though the exact construction date of either building is not known. The manse appears to date from around 1855 and may post-date the church itself. The occupant recorded in 1859 was Reverend Hamilton B. Wilson. In 1884, the rateable valuation rose from £42 to £44, suggesting a small addition to the property, probably to the rear. Subsequent recorded occupants include Reverend Thomas Glass in 1910, Reverend Robert Hyndman in 1915, Thomas Robinson in 1923, Reverend A. Stanley Hill around 1932, Reverend W.J. McKinstry Wallace in 1944, and Reverend E. Morrison, who became resident in 1952 and remained so until at least 1972.