The Meeting House of Bessbrook Presbyterian Church, Church Road, Bessbrook, Co. Armagh.

The Meeting House of Bessbrook Presbyterian Church

A five-bay mid-Victorian granite Presbyterian meeting house built in 1855, as indicated by a datestone, in a simplified Gothic Revival style. The architect is unknown. The building has a T-plan form facing south towards Convent Hill. It comprises an original gabled rectangular block oriented north-south to the east, with a later two-storey three-bay hipped roof block with dormers added to the west in 1865. The original block features a later gabled porch to its south and a projecting gabled session-room block to its north, both likely added around 1876 as indicated by a plaque.

The meeting house stands within private grounds set back from Convent Hill. The site is bounded by a low hedge along Convent Hill to the south and an associated graveyard to the east. A tarmaced drive leads from Convent Hill through painted cast iron vehicular gates hung on square-section pillars of rock-faced granite blocks, leading to the Presbyterian Manse to the north of the church. A tarmaced footpath leads from the drive to the front south porch (the original main entrance) and around the perimeter of the building, with the main entrance accessed at the west end of the hipped roof block. The church is surrounded by sloping grounds set to lawn with some mature trees to the north. A decorative timber notice board with a moulded timber burning bush in low relief crowns the south side.

The pitched natural slate roof of the rectangular block to the east has angled black clay ridge tiles and a decorative moulded granite finial to the south gable, with decorative ironwork finial to the north gable. The later block to the west has a hipped natural slate roof with roll top ridge tiles to the dormer windows and a rectangular section chimney (now rendered) with a single pot to its west end. Flush eaves are present, with the original church block to the east having a granite corbel course and moulded kneelers. Guttering is generally uPVC half-round, discharging to rectangular hoppers and circular-section downpipes.

The walling is of random-coursed rock-faced local granite with some strap work pointing visible. Splayed pecked granite cills and splayed surrounds to windows feature stepped jambs. Bays of the rectangular block to the east are divided by two-stage three-quarter height buttresses, angled at the south-east, south-west and north-east corners. The attached gabled porch block to the front south and the large gabled vestry block to the north also have buttresses.

Windows generally comprise pointed arch lancets with replacement uPVC fixed casements having modern coloured and leaded glazing set within uPVC casements and protective glazing. Some upper windows have modern coloured glazing.

The principal elevation faces south towards Convent Hill and consists of a two-storey gabled block with a moulded granite finial to the gable apex, a louvered trefoil opening to the gable, and a first floor window composed of two recessed lancets surmounted by a quatrefoil light, all recessed within a pointed arch. This elevation is fronted by a single-storey gabled side-entry porch at centre. A window to the south side of the porch is recessed within a pointed arch, and a painted sheeted timber door to the east side has a pointed segmental arch head and decorative painted iron hinges. The later hipped roof block is set back and attached to the west—a two-storey three-bay block having narrow gabled dormers to the first floor and pointed arch windows to the ground floor.

The west elevation consists mostly of the later projecting hipped roof block, which is flanked by single bays of the east block (the original church) to either side, having pointed lancets to the ground floor with reduced height lancets in-line above. The hipped roof block has a gabled dormer in-line above a central pointed arch doorway (the main door). The door comprises a two-part painted chevron sheeted square-headed design with a chevron sheeted pointed blind fanlight above. A chimney stands at the west end wall at the north side of the gabled dormer.

The rear elevation faces north towards the Manse and consists of a two-storey gabled block with a decorative ironwork finial to the apex, a louvered quatrefoil opening to the gable, and two lancets to the first floor. This elevation is fronted by a lower gabled projecting side-entry session-room block which has roll top ridge tiles, three tall lancets set within a pointed arch in flush stone to the north, a single lancet to its east, and a door to its west. This door is a square-headed painted sheeted timber design. The hipped roof block is set back and attached to the west—a two-storey three-bay block having narrow gabled dormers to the first floor and pointed arch windows to the ground floor.

The east elevation consists of a central two-storey block with a single bay lower block to the north gable and a single-storey single bay porch to the south gable. The central block contains five bays, each divided by two-stage buttresses. There is a blind lancet to the centre bay flanked by tall pointed lancets, and the outer bays have single pointed lancets to the ground floor and similar shorter windows in-line to the first floor of the outer bays. This elevation is fronted by a tarmac footpath and a grass bank leading down to an access road, which leads from Convent Hill to the south towards the Manse to the north.

The Presbyterian Manse to the north is a two-storey building with a pebbledash finish, dormers, a canted bay window to the south side, and a two-storey entrance bay to centre at the east with dentilated detail above ground floor openings. The Church of Ireland (HB16/22/021) is located a short distance to the east on the opposite side of the graveyard.