Downpatrick First (Non-Subscribing) Presbyterian Church, Stream Street, Downpatrick, Co Down, BT30 6DD

Downpatrick First (Non-Subscribing) Presbyterian Church

A simple, vernacular Presbyterian church of approximately 1711, set on a rise on the east side of Stream Street and surrounded by a small graveyard enclosed by a high rendered wall. The building originally had a T-shaped plan, and assumed its present cruciform form possibly in the late 18th century when a small south projection was added, containing the minister's room, session room, and main entrance.

The church is finished in unpainted roughcast with a slated roof. The main structure comprises four wings arranged around a cruciform plan, each with its own gabled or hipped roof. The roofs of the original T-shaped wings are set at the same ridge level, while the later south projection has a roof at a considerably lower level.

The west-facing wall of the south projection features a timber door with vertical sheeting and a small vision panel on the left side, and a 6/6 sash window to the right. The first floor has a tall semicircular arch-headed 14/6 sash window on the left, set partly within a small gabled half-dormer, and a 6/6 sash window to the right. The south gable of the projection is blank. The east face contains a 6/6 sash window at ground floor left and a smaller similar window at first floor right, both with a dentilled eaves course.

The south face of the east wing has a tall double window to the left: a 6/6 sash at ground floor with an 8/6 semicircular arch-headed sash directly above. To the right at ground floor are two unevenly spaced 6/6 sash windows. The east gable is gabled with a mainly hipped roof stair projection to the right, above which is a semicircular fixed light window. The stair projection's right side is hipped while the left is cut short, creating a lean-to effect. The east face of the return is blank, and its north face has an 11/6 semicircular arch-headed sash window. The left side of the main gable is blank.

The north face of the east wing has two 6/6 sash windows. The north wing has two 6/6 sash windows on its east face. The north gable is largely obscured by a full-width stair projection. The north face of this projection has a semicircular arch-headed fixed window set at the gable apex with 25 panes, the upper forming an intersecting Gothic tracery effect. A timber-sheeted door is positioned on the east face of the projection. Only the apex of the main gable is visible, with a small louvered roof ventilator at its centre. The west face of the north wing has two 6/6 sash windows.

The north side of the west wing has two 6/6 sash windows. The main west gable has a stair projection to its left side, mainly hipped-roofed. Its north face features an 11/6 semicircular arch-headed sash window. The west side of the return is blank while the south side has a plain timber-sheeted door, with the hipped roof cut short to create a lean-to effect. A semicircular arch fixed light window sits above the hipped roof. The south face of the main wing displays two 6/6 sash windows.

The west face of the original south projection (facing Stream Street) is discussed above. A moulded and dentilled eaves course runs along the principal elevations. All windows are sash-hung apart from the fixed lights in the stair projections. Cast iron rainwater goods are present throughout.

The surrounding graveyard is enclosed by a high rendered wall. The gateway on the west side, facing Stream Street, comprises tall square pillars topped with stone urns, with mid 19th-century spear-head decorated gates. The steps to the gateway have been reconstructed in recent years with narrow treads.