Christchurch, Church of Ireland

The old church was taken down in 1716, and rebuilt in 1720 by a tax of 1s. per ton on coal imported for 15 years: the steeple having afterwards sunk on one side so as to swerve 334 feet from the perpendicular, though without any fissures, thus presenting a very singular appearance, was lowered to the level of the roof and ultimately wholly removed, and the church rebuilt by the Messrs. Pain. The new structure is 97 feet by 57, its richly panelled ceiling rests on ranges of Ionic pillars of scagliola continued across the eastern end; along the northern and southern walls are galleries supported by Doric pilasters. Several of the lower columns, with parts of the floor, having been destroyed by the dry rot, Richard Beamish, Esq., civil engineer, in 1831, replaced the whole lower range of columns with pillars of cast iron without the smallest derangement of the upper columns, thus effectually securing the stability of the entire edifice. Several grave stones, some of the 16th century, and bearing emblematic devices, were discovered during the progress of the alterations.

Samuel Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, 1837