Survey Data
Reg No
40909202
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Social
Previous Name
Inver Catholic Parish Church
Original Use
Church/chapel
In Use As
Church/chapel
Date
1890 - 1900
Coordinates
181538, 378797
Date Recorded
12/10/2007
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Freestanding Catholic church, built c. 1895, comprising six-bay double-height hall/nave with single-bay single-storey gable-fronted entrance porch to the south gable end and shallow polygonal chancel to the north. Single-storey sacristy attached to the north-west corner of nave having later single-storey extension adjacent to the south. Pitched natural slate roof to main body of church having corbelled render eaves course, and with cross finials over gable ends. Hipped slate roof to chancel having corbelled render eaves course. Artificial slate roof to sacristy and extension; pitched natural slate roof to entrance porch having ashlar cross finial to south gable. Rendered chimneystack to sacristy. Roughcast rendered walls with smooth rendered block-and-start quoins to the corners of the main body or building and to porch. Modern coloured glass Celtic cross sculpture to centre of the east elevation of nave. Pointed-arch window openings to side elevations of nave (east and west) having smooth rendered surrounds, chamfered sills, and replacement windows; pointed-arch window openings to the north end of nave and to polygonal chancel having figurative stained glass windows and coloured glass windows. Octofoil rose/wheeled window opening to south gable and having ashlar plate tracery, ashlar surround, and stained and coloured glass window. Paired pointed-arch window openings to south face of porch having plain rendered surrounds and leaded coloured glass windows. Square-headed doorway to the east face of porch having smooth rendered surround, and modern timber double doors. Timber ceiling to interior having timber braces supported on moulded stone corbels; timber altar and pulpit. Interior reordered. Set back from road in own grounds to the west of Mountcharles and Inver, and to the north-east of Dunkineely. Tarmacadam carpark to the east of site; rendered boundary wall and gate piers to road-frontage to the east. Freestanding open belfry (on square-plan) to site comprising modern steel-framed structure on stepped concrete plinth having bell metal bell.
Appraisal
This plain but substantial late-nineteenth or early twentieth-century Catholic church retains much of its original architectural character and form despite some modern alterations to both the exterior and the interior. The recent loss of the early timber windows detracts somewhat from its visual expression and integrity but they could be reinstated. The retention of the natural slate roof to the main body of the church adds a pleasing patina of age. The pointed -arch openings to the austere exterior elevations give it the bare minimum Gothic character. The good-quality Octofoil/wheel window to the south gable end is of a quality not found elsewhere to the exterior of this building, and is clearly the work of skilled craftsmen. The attractive figurative stained glass windows to the polygonal chancel and the north end of the nave help to add some artistic and decorative interest. The reordered interior is notable for the braced timber ceiling, and the timber altar and pulpit. The present church replaced an earlier hall-type church or chapel, which was located a short distance to the north of the present site but is now demolished (Ordnance Survey first edition six-inch map sheet c. 1836). This church was described as a 'spacious edifice' by Lewis in 1837. Although altered, this simple church is an integral element of the social history and built heritage of the Inver area, and is a landmark feature in the rural landscape to the west of Inver and Mountcharles.