Belfast pulpit goes from sermons to soapbox

A 19th Century pulpit in which ministers conducted services and delivered sermons for more than 100 years could soon be used by bingo callers and DJs.

The wooden pulpit was designed in 1878 for the former Christ Church in College Square North in Belfast.

The church was deconsecrated in 1993.

The pulpit was then given to the care of the Department for Communities' Historic Environment Division and put into storage.

The restored pulpit is an impressive feature inside St Joseph's in the docks area of Belfast

Heritage craft students at South West College in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, were recently given the job of restoring it.

The pulpit has now been given to the Sailortown Regeneration project based in another former church, St Joseph's, in the docks area of Belfast.

There are plans to use the pulpit for community events, concerts and bingo sessions.

The pulpit arrived in Enniskillen in bits and had to be rebuilt like a massive jigsaw puzzle

The pulpit, designed by architect William Batt, consists of two tiers on columns with a central metal support.

There are lecterns on each level connected by a staircase with ornate details which were all crafted by hand.

It is thought that when it was used for services they were mainly conducted from the lower tier and the upper tier was reserved for sermons.

The South West College students who carried out the restoration work were funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and were supervised by Trevor McLean.

Bingo callers and DJs will have this view of St Joseph's whenever they use the pulpit

He said that when the pulpit arrived at the college "it was all in bits".

"You do have to be good at jigsaws in this game - it's not just as straightforward as people think," he said.

Once it was reassembled the students began removing decades of varnish and repairing pieces that were broken.

Mr McLean said it was a rare opportunity for students to learn new skills.

Decades of coats of varnish were removed to reveal the original details

"This wasn't produced by machines - this was produced by people," he said.

"To be cleaning all the varnish off and bringing out all the details that were there and to show the details which were originally designed in the thing, to see that beauty come forward again.

"For me it's actually a privilege to get working on something like this because the craftsmanship back years ago was second to none."

After many months of restoration, the pulpit had to be taken apart again to transport it to its new home in the former St Joseph's Catholic Church in Belfast, which closed in 2001.

The restored pulpit had to be reassembled in its new home

Terry McKeown, the project manager with Sailortown Regeneration, said people were very upset when the church was deconsecrated and the pulpit was removed.

"They always talked about how the pulpit was taken from them," she said.

"We are now getting a new pulpit which is a much nicer pulpit, a much fancier pulpit."

She added that her group was delighted to give the pulpit a new purpose "and put it back in a place where it can be seen and can be appreciated instead of sitting in storage".

Heritage craft students - pictured with Terry McKeown (top, left) and Trevor McLean (top, right) - worked on the restoration project

As work to restore the church into a venue for community events continues, the pulpit will become a focal point for poetry readings, concerts, lectures and even bingo sessions and discos.

Ms McKeown has even given the pulpit a new name.

"We're going to call it the Sailortown soapbox because everybody in the docks area of Belfast is very fond of going on a rant," she laughed.

"So they can stand up there whenever they want to vent about something!"