First Newry Presbyterian Church, Sandy's Street, Newry, Co Down, BT34 1EN

First Newry Presbyterian Church stands on the north side of Sandys Street, a granite-faced classical church set back from the street with its gable facing south. The building is accompanied by a hall and outbuildings to the rear.

The church is constructed entirely in ashlar granite and rises to two storeys, arranged three openings wide over a projecting base course. The façade is divided into three bays by single pilasters at each corner and a pair of pilasters flanking the central bay. These support an entablature topped by a blocking course with a narrow projecting string course and cornice. The entablature breaks forward over the middle bay, which is pedimented and contains a tympanum bearing a rectangular granite plaque inscribed "MDCCCXXIX" (1829). The pitched natural slate hipped roof is topped with a pedimented gable, and rainwater goods are cast metal.

A single step high granite flagged platform fronts the entrance at the centre of the middle bay. Later ramps in smooth dressed granite with modern metal handrails flank either side. The entrance itself comprises a pair of four-panel grained timber doors, each with a two-panel fixed leaf over. Above is a shallow granite doorcase with ears, tapering moulded jambs and moulded cornice. Electric light is positioned directly above the door. Metal bootscrapers stand unattached on either side of the entrance platform. Two shallow platbands run behind the door cornice and at first floor window cill level, continuing across the entire façade between the pilasters. The first floor window above the door features a voussoired flat head and stained glass divided into four panes, with the top two panes having trefoiled heads; the upper left pane also contains an inset opening light. Each end bay contains windows of identical design to the first floor window; the ground floor windows are diminished in height. A pitched natural slate hipped roof with cast metal rainwater goods covers the whole.

The first bay of each side elevation is similarly detailed in ashlar granite, with a door to the ground floor (three steps up) and a window above, finishing with a further pilaster. Side door openings have plain voussoired heads but no doorcase. An electric light stands above the door on the left elevation. Beyond this bay, the walls are lined with cement render and feature a projecting platband between ground and first floor and a raised eaves course. Four window openings serve each storey, matching the front design and including ground floor diminishment. To the right of the door in the first bay of the right elevation is an affixed wrought-iron lantern bracket. A flight of granite steps descends to a basement door (modern) on this elevation, with a modern metal railing at ground level. The church forecourt is bounded to the front by tall metal spear-topped railings set on a chamfered granite plinth. Two pairs of entrance gates rest on ashlar granite pillars with moulded caps; the gates feature similar tops to the railings but with additional double centre bars containing elliptical inserts. The pillars are square granite ashlar with cornice and shallow pyramidal capstone. Boundary walls to the sides and rear are partly rendered rubble granite. A tarmaced surface covers the forecourt and side passages.

The hall is a large single volume structure attached to the rear of the church, aligned at right angles to the church's axis and projecting to each side. Its natural slate roof features moulded granite copings (lead dressed to the west side). Ogee cast-iron gutters and circular downpipes drain the roof. A stepped granite chimney with three stacks joined by moulded cap rises on the right (east) gable. The walls are constructed in coursed rubble granite on a granite plinth, with a projecting ashlar granite eaves course and moulded knee-stones. Stepped vee-jointed granite quoins and finely dressed stepped granite dressings ornament all doors and windows.

The south-facing elevation of the left projection contains a doorway with a grained timber sheeted door featuring a plain semi-circular fanlight set into a similarly profiled arched opening with projecting keystone. The corresponding elevation on the right projection is abutted by a small porch with a flat roof hidden by a blocking course, constructed similarly to the hall. Its south face contains a segmental headed door opening without fanlight. The right cheek (to the east) contains a small 1/1 sash window.

The left elevation of the left projection contains five equal-width semicircular-headed window openings rising in height towards the centre, all with granite cills. The three middle windows share a common ashlar surround with keystones; the outer windows are more widely spaced with individual ashlar surrounds to match. The centre window is a 3/3 sliding sash (horizontally divided) with a 2/2 sash to each side; end windows are 2/1 sash. The corresponding right elevation of the right projection is partly abutted by a more recent single-storey boiler room. Only the middle window and that immediately to its right are visible from outside; the head of the window to the left is also visible. The gable apex contains a blind circular opening with raised keystones at the four cardinal points. A small flat roof annexe abuts the right side of the gable. The boiler house features a flat roof and rendered walls. Inside, the hall windows have been infilled and the wall rendered. The right cheek of the boiler house is blank, and the rear elevation contains a modern 1/1 top-hung window. The small annex has a 1/1 sash to its south elevation but is otherwise blank.

The rear elevation of the hall features a single-storey return at each end, both projecting beyond the hall gables. The right return (as viewed from the rear) has a hipped natural slate roof with exposed rafter tails and semicircular metal gutters. Its walls are line rendered. On its south-facing elevation is a grained, framed and sheeted timber door with semi-circular fanlight over. Three windows to the left (west) wall are all 1/1 semicircular-headed sliding sashes. The rear wall is blank. The left return has identical roof and wall construction but is longer with a pitched roof at the centre of which sits a rendered chimney. The right (east) wall has two sets of paired 1/1 sashes in semicircular openings. The back wall is blank. Between these two wings is a modern flat roof line-rendered infill of T-plan, which envelopes the north-east corner of the right return and partly abuts the west elevation of the left return. It contains no features of interest.