Our Lady of the Assumption RC Church, Downs Road, Newcastle, Co. Down, BT33 OAG

The Our Lady of the Assumption Roman Catholic Church, located on the east side of Downs Road in Newcastle, County Down, was constructed between 1963 and 1967 to designs by McLean & Forte. It replaced a 19th-century Roman Catholic church previously situated on Main Street. The church is a large, modern-style circular building distinguished by its undulating roof and cupola.

The building is composed of a large, ground-level drum surmounted by a smaller clerestory drum, with a folded slab roof made of reinforced concrete. The western side features a projecting, flat-roofed section that follows the building's curve, forming a colonnaded portico. Within the portico are two sets of double timber-sheeted doorways, each featuring a large fanlight, with rock-faced concrete brick and glazed panels between. The portico columns have a terrazzo finish, tapering towards the ground, and the floor is finished with marble, beneath a pitched timber-sheeted ceiling. Rendered walls flank the portico, similarly incorporating glazed panels. To the east of the drum is a recessed colonnade with plain, broad, rendered columns, leading to vestry spaces accessible via timber-sheeted doors. The main drum walls are characterized by a series of pebbledashed (limestone) panels interspersed with dark granite-like concrete and a base finish. A copper-sheeted cupola, originally glazed but now copper-sheeted, sits atop the roof.

The church’s design has been somewhat constrained by its setting, facing directly into the rear of shops on Main Street, which prevented the realization of an intended open forecourt. The stained glass was designed by Jack Calderwood.