Description

P McGregor Chalmers, 1911-13. Later additions of hall and various rooms at rear. 2-stage, 7-bay near-rectangular plan Italian Romanesque church. Central nave-gable flanked by lean-to side-aisles forming gabled side-chapels at E; semi-circular 5-sided apse surmounted by semi-dome at E; rectangular-plan gabled hall adjoining at SE. Hammer-dressed coursed pink sandstone; polished ashlar dressings. Base course; vertical pilaster divisions at ground; narrow arched openings; dentiled cornice; stepped frieze at gable heads; cruciform finials.

S (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: steps up to advanced entrance porch at left; 2-leaf timber panelled door; carved architrave, semi-circular tympanum and hoodmould supported by columns with carved capitals. 3 single windows to side aisle. Single storey re-entrant angle porch; timber door. 3 single windows to side-chapel. 7 sets of paired clerestory windows to nave.

E ELEVATION: 5 bay apse; moulded cill courses; blind tripartite arcade. Flanking chapels comprise centrally placed pair of windows. Church hall and subsidiary rooms adjoin to outer right.

W ELEVATION: 3 windows to nave; cill course. Single windows to flanking side aisles. Church hall and subsidiary rooms adjoin to outer left.

N ELEVATION: as for S elevation, except no entrance porches. Church hall and subsidiary rooms adjoin.

CHURCH HALL AND SUBSIDIARY ROOMS: hall to rear of church completed 1930, Guild Room doubled in size 1932 by T Bowhill Gibson. Both in similar style and material to main church.

Heavy leaded windows; stained glass; skylights. Grey slate roof; raised stone skews; skewputts.

INTERIOR: continuously arcaded, with a pair of clerestory windows over each arch, supported by a series of square piers and columns. Richly carved column capitals, each of four symbols expressing a theme - Christian Life/Christ/The Children of the Bible/Four Parables/The Word Prophesised and Preached/ Practical Religion/The Trinity/The Church. Domed ceiling of vestibule rests on four carved corbel stones symbolic of Praise - Viol, Harp, Organ and Pipe. 13 stained glass windows of heavy leadwork by Gordon Webster (3 by his father); porch windows by William Wilson 1947. Chancel floor of draughtboard pattern marble from Greece and Iona; timber pulpit and pews.

BOUNDARY WALLS, POSTBOX, GATEPIERS, GATES, RAILINGS AND STREET LIGHT: coped, rubble sandstone wall containing post box at S; square-plan gatepiers with pitched caps; cast iron gates, and railings; black scrolled iron lantern street-light to W of church.

Statement of Interest

Ecclesiastical building in use as such (C of S). In McGregor Chalmers' original design, a tall Campanile tower was intended over the main entrance, but the 1914-18 war intervened and the tower remains unbuilt. Although incomplete, the building is a fine example of McGregor Chalmers' scholarly revivalist work, abounding in high quality materials and craftsmanship.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17570445

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

• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6
• 
  ENGLAND GUIDE TO POST WAR LISTED: A Guide to Post-war Listed Buildings
• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)