Downshire Road Presbyterian Church, Downshire Road, Newry, Co Down, BT34 1DX

Downshire Road Presbyterian Church

This is a classical styled church occupying a prominent corner site facing east onto Downshire Road in Newry. The building was constructed in 1843, as recorded on an architraved plaque with raised gold letters above the main entrance.

The church presents a formal symmetrical composition with a shallow pitched natural slate roof featuring a pedimented gable to the front elevation and flush verge to the rear. A cast iron ridge light is positioned behind the gable, with a ventilator at the centre of the ridge. Cast metal rainwater goods serve the building.

The walls are finished in painted line render, set upon a two-course granite plinth. The principal façade is defined by a central recess framed by two-storey pilasters with fluted Ionic columns paired to their inner faces. Four granite steps rise from the forecourt to the central entrance, flanked by modern wrought iron handrails with urns positioned on granite plinths at the top.

The doorcase features a moulded cornice supported by foliated console brackets and a shallow pediment with simple acroteria at each end. Double six-panel painted doors are surmounted by two fixed panel transoms. The central pilasters and columns support a deep entablature extending across the full width of the façade, breaking forward slightly over the central bay. To each side of the doorway are paired pilasters forming bays that enclose tall semicircular-headed recesses, each containing a recessed stained glass window framed with moulded archivolt and pilastered jambs with moulded capitals and bases. The entablature is finished with a deep cornice and triangular pediment with plain tympanum.

The first bay of each side elevation mirrors the front façade treatment, with pilasters at each corner supporting an entablature and eaves cornice with blocking course above. Each bay contains a full-height recess with a segmental-headed blind window to the ground floor and a flat-headed stained glass window above. The remainder of each side elevation features four window openings on each floor, set within shallow recesses in the otherwise plain lined render wall on the granite plinth, finished with a plain granite eaves course. Ground floor windows are segmental-headed stained glass, while first floor windows are semicircular-headed stained glass, all with granite cills.

The rear wall of the church is blank and abutted by a contemporary two-storey return structure. Behind and offset to the left stands a larger, more recent hall constructed in 1991.

The contemporary return has a pitched natural slate roof with chimneys: one to the end gable and a second to the left pitch. Metal rainwater goods are provided. The right cheek contains three openings on each floor, with three steps leading to a central door flanked on each side by segmental-headed 6/6 margin-paned sliding sash windows. At first floor level, three semicircular-headed 9/6 sashes are aligned above. The back gable is fitted with a low flat-roofed extension containing two small toilet windows of no architectural interest. The exposed section of the return gable displays unpainted lined render with two semicircular-headed windows matching those of the right cheek. The left cheek is abutted by the large double-height hall, which also abuts the back gable of the church.

The hall's front comprises a single-storey block with a passage between it and the right elevation of the church. At the rear of this passage, squeezed awkwardly between the two buildings, is a granite doorcase with entablature and shallow pediment. Plain double doors and a narrow transom light provide entry to the hall. Above the wall rises three segmental-headed high-level 10-pane fixed windows with a stringcourse and a high plain render wall rising above to a cornice and coping with arcaded detailing. The lower block displays two segmental-headed windows to the front elevation and three plain flat-headed casements to the side facing the passage. This composition is very plain and does not contribute to the quality of the group. The walls on both sides of the hall are blank, whilst the rear wall is unpainted plain render with six tall rectangular windows.

The hall standing separately to the left bears a granite datestone reading '1991' and has plain lined rendered walls and a pedimented gable.

The site is bounded to Downshire Road by fine cast-metal railings set upon a low granite plinth. Granite gate piers mark the front centre, presented as square blocks in two sections with recessed panels to all faces, finished with corniced capping and domed square top blocks. Identical piers mark the boundary with the adjoining telephone exchange at the corner of Downshire Road and central double gates positioned directly in line with the front entrance. The spear finials are set to circular bars with central and lower embellishments. The railings continue with similar detailing and occasional restraining posts, finishing approximately level with the church rear wall where they abut a square rendered pier that terminates a rendered wall bounding the remainder of the road frontage and continuing around the rear of the site. The ground around the church is tarmaced, with a grassed area to the Downshire Road frontage.