Parish Church of St. Mary (C of I), John Mitchel Place, Newry, Co Down, BT34 2BP

Parish Church of St Mary (Church of Ireland), Newry

This is a rectangular nave church in the Gothic style, built between 1811 and 1819, with a square entrance tower and a later chancel added in 1886. It stands within a conservation area and is one of the most accomplished ecclesiastical compositions in the region, combining a triple-aisled plan, elegant proportions, immaculate detailing, a vaulted ceiling, and galleries. Its internal fittings, military standards, and many memorials to prominent local people give it exceptional historical and social character.

Construction and History

The church was built to replace St Patrick's Church on High Street, which was falling into ruin. The foundation stone was laid in 1810, but further finance had to be raised through bequests, public subscriptions, and a local tax before the architect and builder Patrick O'Farrell of Blackwater, County Armagh, could begin work the following year. Financial difficulties delayed completion until 1819, when the church was consecrated by the Lord Primate, William Stewart. The clock was installed in 1827 — a gift from the Earl of Kilmorey, made by Edward Smith of Dublin. The organ was built in 1864 by Telford & Telford of Dublin and overhauled in 1917. The lectern was installed in 1884, the gift of Reverend T E Swanzy, son of Reverend T B Swanzy.

The west end of the church was entirely rebuilt in 1886 by Messrs Collen Bros of Portadown, to designs by Thomas Drew, who later designed St Anne's Cathedral in Belfast and was a pupil of Charles Lanyon. This work extended the existing chancel and its flanking rooms to create the present vestry and organ chamber. The font and choir stalls date from this phase — the latter commemorating Reverend T B Swanzy. New open pews were also made from the original box pews at this time. The nave arcades were intended to be rebuilt as well, but only the stone columns beneath the ends of the gallery were completed. Many of the monuments and memorials were transferred from the old church. The spire was rebuilt in 1993 following lightning damage.

Exterior

The walls are built of ashlar Newry granite, with the same material used for dressings to parapets, windows, doors, and all other detailing. The roofs are pitched and covered in natural slate. Geographically, the chancel faces west and the tower faces towards John Mitchel Place.

The Tower

A spired, free-standing four-stage tower is attached to the nave gable by a short link block. Corner buttresses with raised and moulded bases rise the full height of the tower at the front, stepping in slightly at the second stage, and are decorated throughout with recessed quatrefoil and lancet panels.

At the centre of the tower's ground floor, two granite steps lead up to a four-order door opening with a four-centred arched head and stepped voussoirs. This is set within a blind arch of two orders — one decorated with diamond studs, the other with chevrons — springing from pilasters with a vee channel running down the centre of their faces. The opening contains a pair of stained oak four-panel doors with a glazed timber tracery fanlight above, and a cast metal lamp (originally gas, now electric) hangs overhead.

The second stage contains a Gothic window opening with moulded jambs, a hood mould on carved heads, and a corbelled apron panel. Immediately above is a cartouche depicting a seated abbot flanked by yew trees. Over this runs a gable-shaped string course that continues as cinquefoil gablets around the buttresses.

The third stage has a diamond-shaped granite moulding framing a white-faced clock. Above is a horizontal string course between the corner buttresses, which marks the base of the top stage. This uppermost stage has a tall, hood-moulded Gothic opening with chamfered jambs and vertical tracery, behind which are wooden louvres.

Around the roof of the tower is a projecting stepped and crenellated parapet supported by five moulded brackets. Each corner of the parapet has a pinnacle with a cinquefoil gablet beneath and a metal finial cap. An octagonal ashlar masonry needle spire rises from the top.

The side elevations of the tower are treated identically to the front facade, except that the ground floor doors are narrower and there is no cartouche. The rear wall of the tower matches the upper stages of the facade but has a sheeted timber diamond panel in place of the clock. Round metal downpipes are fitted on both sides of the tower at the rear.

The Link Block

Between the tower and the nave is a short two-stage link block. At ground floor level it has a small square window; above is a small Y-traceried lancet window with a hood mould. A moulded string course runs above, and a moulded crenellated parapet steps back to reveal the wall of the upper floor, which also contains a lancet window and its own crenellated parapet. Both sides of the link block are identical, and all window openings have chamfered surrounds and cills.

The Nave Gable

At ground floor level on the nave gable, on either side of the link block, is a small four-centred, hood-moulded window with chamfered surrounds. At first floor level is a tall Gothic window with Y tracery, a hood mould, moulded jambs, and a projecting apron panel on three moulded brackets. There is a buttress at each corner, surmounted by gableted and capped pinnacles, which form the ends of a plain crenellated parapet rising up each gable pitch.

The Nave Sides

Along each side of the nave at ground floor level are five small traceried windows within four-centred arched openings, each with a stepped square voussoir and chamfered surrounds. Directly beneath each window, at ground level, is a small rectangular opening for underfloor ventilation. At first floor level are five tall, hood-moulded Gothic openings with Y-traceried lancets and chamfered surrounds. The windows are equally spaced and separated by four full-height three-stage buttresses with recessed panels to the top stage. These buttresses finish flush with the bracketed eaves course, above which is a moulded cornice. The buttresses at both the east and west ends of the nave form the terminals of the parapet over the nave gable. Metal gutters and plastic downpipes are fitted.

The Chancel and Flanking Rooms

The chancel abuts the west end of the church (geographically). It is flanked by a vestry to the south and an organ chamber to the north, with a projection to the rear. The side rooms are slightly stepped in from the nave, with angled pinnacled buttresses at the junction, and angled stepped and pinnacled buttresses at their outer corners.

Each side elevation of the flanking rooms has a small rectangular window with a flat hood mould at ground floor level, a Gothic window with hood mould at first floor, and above that a tall louvred window with hood mould and Y tracery matching those on the tower. All windows have chamfered surrounds. On the south wall, a metal-sheeted door is set within a square-headed and chamfered opening, reached by three steps. Both side rooms have stepped and gabled parapets. The west-facing walls of these rooms have an identical arrangement of windows, with parapeted gables above and moulded string courses below.

The chancel projection steps in from the side rooms and has an angled, stepped three-stage buttress at each outer corner. Its rear elevation has five traceried lights within a large Gothic-headed opening, with a moulded cill course continuing around the cheeks. Above is a small vent, over which is a plain parapeted gable surmounted by a stone cross and with a moulded string course beneath. This string course continues beneath the plain parapeted cheeks, which have no openings, and meets the rising string course from the side rooms.

In the angle between the chancel projection and the organ chamber at the north-west corner is a modern boiler room with a flat concrete roof and dashed walls. A small lean-to toilet abuts the inside of the south-west corner; it has an asbestos slate roof and cement-rendered walls, and is enclosed by a cement-rendered wall. At the north-west corner is a modern flat-roofed building with an external oil tank.

Setting and Grounds

The grounds are laid out as lawns with a semicircular gravel drive running from John Mitchel Place up to and along either side of the building. On the street frontage are two sets of gates with railings, set between piers of quatrefoil-section ashlar granite. The gates and railings are modern, incorporating finials and details salvaged from the previous gates. Boundary walls to the sides and rear are random rubble, with quarry-faced copings to the side walls. On the rear wall facing St Mary's Street is a cast and wrought iron pedestrian gate flanked by square strap-pointed piers with oversailing pyramidal caps.