Church for sale: 'Only your imagination is the limit' for St Luke's Church of Ireland Church at 58 Northumberland Street, Belfast
A new property on the market off the Shankill Road in Belfast has sparked significant interest - and the only limit on what the Gothic Revival style church could be used for is the imagination of the buyer, it is claimed.
Estate agents UPS have billed it as “a unique opportunity to acquire a magnificent church building close to the city with unlimited potential”.
St Luke's Church of Ireland Church at 58 Northumberland Street, was placed on the market today at £185,000, with a group viewing already organised for yesterday afternoon.
According to UPS partner Johnny McClarnon the building has a wide range of possibilities.
“It could be considered for use as a youth centre, leisure use, a commercial hub or someone might just want to buy a church and live in it,” he told the News Letter.
“There can be 101 different uses. It just depends on the buyers' imagination in terms of what they would want to do with it.
“It is obviously close to the city centre and is set in a large population area.”
According to the brochure it is a Gothic Revival Church consecrated in 1863 with “unlimited potential”.
The nave or main worship area is almost 3,900 square feet and is similar in size to a five a side football pitch or high school basketball court.
It is billed as close to the city centre and convenient to major arterial routes.
An application to reclassify it and change its use from church purposes can be made after July 26.
Some of the key features include:
l A solid wood original entrance door;
l Narthex or entrance hall with twin decorated entrance doors and original tiled floor;
l A cloakroom with wash hand basin and toilet and staircase leading to the 39'0" x 19'2" (11.9m x 5.85m) gallery;
l The nave or main worship area is 97'11" x 39'6" (29.85m x 12.05m);
l It has a decorated vaulted ceiling with a wood strip floor and the raised sanctuary area at the front;
l There is also an inner lobby and a large office space of 24'4" x 12'2" (7.42m x 3.71m);
l And of course, a bell tower is also included.
The Gothic Revival church has a slate roof, built with roughly cut dark stone with dressed corner stones and window surrounds.
The foundation stone was laid in 1862 by John Alexander of Milford Carlow and the building of the church was supervised by architects Welland and Gillespie with the builders listed as Harvey and McLaughlin.
The church was sold by the Church of Ireland some 12 years ago and has been used as a non-denominational church building since then.
Mr McClarnon said it had just gone on the market yesterday.
“It is just the first viewing today and there have been good levels of interest. But what has been unusual is so many calls from the media – I have no idea why.
“It's obviously close to the city centre and is surrounded by plenty of chimney pots, so there is a population within walking distance.”
UPS are just completing the sale of another well-known church on the Shankill, the Presbyterian Nelson Memorial, he added.