Description

John Henderson, 1836; accommodation below, halls and original schoolhouse to rear, 1862-3; additional vestry and session house to S by William McLachlan, 1899-1900. Neo-Perpendicular church set on prominent sloping site; 3 by 4-bay rectangular-plan with nave-and- aisles? gable to W; crowning belfry and pinnacles. Polished ashlar front; architraved and chamfered windows; rubble finish to N, S and E; long and short stugged surrounds to side openings. Projecting base course; raised margins; hoodmoulds to pointed arched windows; stepped hoodmould above entry.

W (CRAIGHALL ROAD) ELEVATION: 3-bay, symmetrical facade. 2-leaf timber Tudor-arched and panelled door set within polished and chamfered doorpiece. Large traceried window above in 4-centred arched recess; projecting sculpted stops; stone Y-mullion to centre; timber mullions either side. Corbelled, gabled open belfry; sculpted finials; side gablets. Buttresses flanking to left and right of centre; timber traceried windows to aisles set in pointed-arches; hoodmoulds; chamfered cills.

N AND S (SIDE) ELEVATIONS: 4-bay. 3-light, timber-traceried windows to each bay set in pointed arches; coped gablets above; sculpted finials (majority missing). Projecting string course to N; variety of single openings to ground floor; droved and chamfered surrounds.

S (REAR) ELEVATION: extended chancel (1899); 5-light timber-traceried window set in pointed arch; sculptured fleur-de-lys finial; flanking transomed windows in recessed aisles.

HALL, VESTRY AND OLD SCHOOLHOUSE: single storey, 4-bay hall to rear; timber boarded door; chamfered and shouldered surround. Single windows to each bay; stone mullions and transoms. Flat-roofed, stone coped additional vestry and session house (1899) to SE; shouldered doorway; arched panel above inscribed "ORA ET LABORA"; variety of single windows. 2-storey, 4-bay schoolhouse facing E, 1862-3 (now private residence) encloses site to rear.

4-light window in central bay, W elevation; 3-light windows either side and to N and S elevations. 5-light window to chancel; 5-light windows divided horizontally in flanking aisles. Leaded and stained glass to large windows; timber astragals to multi-paned ground floor windows to N. 12-pane timber sash and case windows to old schoolhouse (No 7 Craighall Road). Grey slate roof in diminishing courses to main block; pitched roof to hall and schoolhouse.

INTERIOR: remodelled 1936 using furnishings of 1890s. Figurative war memorial in porch (1919) by Hamilton of Glasgow; stair to organ gallery to E of vestibule; stone treads; cast-iron balusters with fleur-de-lys detailing. Flat-roofed aisles; arched nave; thin doric columns running W - E. Timber boarded dado to aisles; subdued stained glass windows (Ballantine & Son) in each bay; naive figures, subtle colours to N aisle, inscribed "I was sick and ye visited Me.." (1858). Original E end window reused in chancel extension; decorative and jewelled colours; the Good Samaritan, Christ and the little children in S aisle (1899). Organ (Conacher & Co, 1883) rebuilt in W gallery by Gray & Davidson (1936); panelled balustrade with pierced detailing. Pitched pine pulpit (William Watson & Sons, 1890); pitched pine baptismal font (1892); oak communion table (1900). Painted timber pews in situ (modernised 1875).

GATEPIERS, RAILINGS AND STAIRS; square-plan ashlar piers with projecting cornices and ball finials flank entrance from Craighall Road; square-capped piers to right and left. Low coped ashlar wall to front; coursed and stepped coped sandstone wall to entry. Iron railings (1870) in place. Stair to Park Road along S boundary (1892); round-headed coping; stone treads; square capping.

Statement of Interest

Ecclesiastical building in use as such. Originally a missionary of North Leith Parish Church with capacity for seating 400. Opened on 30th October 1836, it was the first church in Newhaven for 300 years. James Fairburn, the 1st minister, was officially appointed on 25th January 1838. Five years later, the Secession unanimously resolved to secede from the Established Church of Scotland and "cast in their lot with the Brethren who had given up the privileges and adornments of the national establishment in order that they might maintain their allegiance to Christ as their sole King and Head of His Church". With them went the majority of their congregation and not until 1849 was there a settled ministry in Newhaven. That year saw the re-opening of the church as a mission of North Leith under the service of Rev. William Graham. Within ten years it was declared a Parish Church in its own right, governed by its own minister. From this point onwards, Newhaven Church flourished and various additions (funded by subscriptions and bequests) were made to the rear. With the opening of Craighall Road in 1870, the front was enclosed by railings - much to the disgust of the Trust who expressed "...great regret that such a roadway past the Church should exist at all". Following an agreement to introduce instrumental music to the church in 1883, a pipe organ was installed and an organist appointed in 1884, making this one of the first parish churches in Scotland to possess its own organ. The erection of the Victoria School building led to the abandoning of the church?s schoolhouse in 1887 (see Ordnance Survey, 1876) and its conversion into a hall and private residence. McLachlan?s chancel extension, complete redecoration and the incorporation of a pulpit "...of chaste design and constructed of beautifully marked pitched pine", helped create an impressive yet rather chaste whole.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17808802

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

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  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
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  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
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