Description

1835, incorporating 1641 fabric and small 1884 addition. T-plan, 2-storey, gabled church with 3-stage crenellated tower, gothic detailing, and Dunlop Aisle with 1641 strapwork window pediments. Squared, snecked sandstone with sandstone ashlar dressings. Base course; eaves course; string courses above and below belfry stage of tower. Raised, chamfered margins to most windows; square-headed, hoodmoulded windows to ground; bipartite, traceried, pointed-arch windows at clerestory; shouldered, clasping buttresses to tower and East gable.

TOWER AND E ELEVATION: 2-leaf timber panelled door to N elevation of tower with pointed-arch roll-moulded architrave recessed in moulded, splayed jambs; hoodmould; lancet window above at 2nd stage; similar window on S elevation of tower. Tall, bipartite, traceried window to E (principal) elevation of tower with central transom; clock above with gilded hands and Roman numerals set in diamond-shaped panel with chamfered margins. Paired, louvred, lancet windows with M-hoodmoulds to all elevations of belfry. E gable bisected by tower; windows at ground and 1st-floor of each bay.

DUNLOP AISLE AND N ELEVATION: 3-bay, gabled Dunlop Aisle advanced to centre of N elevation with octagonal gablehead stack: central studded timber-panelled door with raised, roll-moulded architrave; small recessed panel or blind window above with corbelled cill and flanking mini-columns supporting corniced cill of window above; semicircular pediment to upper window with strapwork decoration and central shield inscribed with monogram IDEC and 1641; herm pilasters and strapwork panels flanking window. 2 windows flanking door; finialed pediments containing strapwork decoration and central shields inscribed ID (left) and EC (right) (see Notes). Strapwork pediments to ground floor windows of left and right returns. Lean-to porch adjoining right return with stone roof, to Dunlop vault in basement; steps leading down to timber-boarded door in roll-moulded archway dated 1884. Windows to both floors of N elevation.

W ELEVATION AND VESTRY: gable elevation with window at 1st floor and gablehead stack. Single storey, gabled vestry advanced to centre, enlarged 1924; tripartite mullioned window to gable; 2-leaf timber panelled door in raised chamfered architrave to left return.

S ELEVATION: 4 bays. Tall clerestory windows to centre; smaller windows to outer bays.

Predominantly stained glass leaded lights; 8-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows to vestry. Ashlar-coped skews. Corniced stacks. Graded grey slate; leaded roof to tower. Cast-iron rainwater goods with hoppers.

INTERIOR: stone-flagged narthex with stone steps to galleries. Pitched ceiling with exposed, painted rafters. Depressed arch with consoled brackets to Dunlop Aisle. Timber-panelled galleries to N, E and W; timber-panelled pulpit with arched and open-pedimented backing board; timber panelled Communion Table; decorative timber font with lid; timber choir platform with ball-finialed side panels; timber pews: all by John W Small, 1884. 1924 brass and frosted-glass light fittings. Stained glass by Powell of London (1882), Gordon Webster, and others depicting Biblical and allegorical figures, armorial bearings and saints (see Notes). Bronze bell inscribed THOMAS MEARS. LONDON. FOUNDED 1837.

BOUNDARY WALLS, GATEPIERS, AND CHURCHYARD: coped random whinstone rubble boundary wall with some railings; round, conical-capped gatepiers to main entrance with 2-leaf cast-iron gates; pyramidal-capped, stop-chamfered red sandstone gatepiers with 2-leaf cast-iron gates to churchyard; predominantly 18th and 19th century gravestones and monuments, including John Brown and Barbara Gilmour (1732).

Statement of Interest

A-Group with Clandeboye School and Hans Hamilton's Tomb. Ecclesiastical Building, in use as such. The present church was built in 1835 to replace an earlier church, of roughly the same shape, which was built in 1766. This in turn had replaced a church of about 1641, of which the Dunlop Aisle is a surviving fragment. During the 1835 work, the Dunlop Aisle was almost completely taken down and rebuilt, although great care seems to have been taken in preserving the decorative stonework. According to MacGibbon and Ross, the original aisle was much lower, with the window pediments forming dormerheads above the roofline. The initials on the pediments, ID and EC are those of John Dunlop and his wife Elizabeth Cuninghame of Corsehill, who were responsible for the building of the aisle. The Dunlops were the chief Heritors of the parish, and most of the interior fittings were paid for by their descendent Thomas Douglas Cuninghame Graham. A full description of the history of the church and its interior fittings, including the stained glass can be found in both Bayne and Dobie.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17815064

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)