First Presbyterian Church, Windmill Street, Ballynahinch, BT24 8HB

First Presbyterian Church, Windmill Street, Ballynahinch

This simple cruciform-shaped Presbyterian church was originally built in 1751 and remains substantially intact, though its south wing was extended in recent years to the boundary wall.

The church sits on the north side of Windmill Street, surrounded by its own graveyard to the north, east and west, with a rendered boundary wall facing the street to the south. The three main wings to the north, west and east are nearly symmetrical in composition.

Each of these wings features an external stone staircase against its gable, with a simple cast iron handrail, providing access to its gallery. Above each staircase, a panelled door with a tall semicircular arched head and fanlight opens onto the gallery. To the side of each stair stands a semicircular arch-headed doorway with moulded surround and semicircular fanlight, fitted with double timber doors secured with strap hinges.

The south walls of the east and west wings each contain two evenly spaced semicircular-headed windows with moulded surrounds. The north faces of these wings are similar but feature single windows without surrounds. The east long wall of the north wing contains one window without surround, while the west face has two evenly spaced windows of similar pattern. A small flat-roofed extension projects from the far right of the west face.

The recently extended south wing now stretches to the pavement edge. Its south face displays a very tall semicircular-headed window with moulded surround. The west face has a small flat-headed pass door with semicircular-headed moulded surround, while the east face contains three windows to the left and a pass door to the right, all with similar moulded surrounds.

A datestone plaque on the west-facing gable reads "Reverence my sanctuary. This house built Ann Dom. 1751. The Rev. John Strong Minister". All windows are fixed with Georgian panes. External walls are finished in unpainted render, and the roof is covered with Bangor Blue Slates with a slight overhang at each gable. Cast iron rainwater goods complete the exterior.

The boundary wall to the south is rendered, with a gateway featuring cast iron gates and square gate pillars built in random rubble. These pillars were recently rebuilt and the gate relocated further east to accommodate the building extension.

The church was shown much as it appears today on the Ordnance Survey map of 1834. An Ordnance Survey memoir of 1837 describes it as "a plain slated, roughcast, rectangular building in good repair containing 3 galleries", noting that it had been "repaired last in 1828". These repairs likely refer to the addition of the galleries, whose cast iron columns appear to be early 19th-century work. A clock was installed in the north gallery in 1843 by local clockmaker William Kenmuir. The church retained substantially its 1830s form until around 1992, when the south wing was extended to the boundary wall and the gateway was shifted further east.

A modern church hall complex stands to the north-east of the site.