Description

James Gillespie Graham, 1835; additions by Archibald Macpherson, 1893-5. Aisled neo-Norman chapel with later apsidal gothic E end. Squared coursed sandstone with polished dressings; grey slate of.

W END: symmetrical 3-bay; openings round-arched, roll-moulded and hoodmoulded. Steps up to doorway; panelled door. Tripartite window above. Corbelled stone fleche with swept pyramidal roof at apex. 2 angle buttresses with angle nook-shafts; polygonal stone finials with swept caps. Windows to aisle ends; polygonal angle buttresses with finials detailed as above.

NAVE AND AISLES: 4-bay. Deep-set round-arched windows to aisles and nave, with hoodmoulds and label-stops.

APSE AND LADY CHAPEL: 1893-5. Polygonal apse with full-height buttresses; vestry and polygonal stairtower adjoining to W; Lady Chapel adjoining to E. Traceried pointed arch windows to apse with hoodmoulds and label stops beneath parapet. Similarly detailed window to E Lady Chapel. INTERIOR: circular-section piers supporting 4-bay arcade between nave and aisles; saw-tooth details to cushion capitals and arches. Rib-vaulted plaster ceiling with decorative corbels and bosses. 2-bay chancel and 3 sided apse with stone rib-vaults and bosses to ceiling. Pointed arch panels behind elaborately traceried altarpiece; statues by William Vickers of Glasgow above panels. Lady Chapel reredos by George Goldie, executed by Thomas Earp, 1877. Decorative carved and stained arcaded rood screen, possibly part of original fittings, now removed to W end (stalls in similar style removed to St Mary's Cathedral). Silver lamp in chancel, designed by Gillespie Graham and executed by Cross & Carruthers of Elm Row, 1837. Painted Gothic casket containing relics of St Crescentia, by Bonar & carfare to designs by A W N Pugin, 1842. Crypt with tombs of John Menzies and Bishop Gillis. Stained glass, predominantly figures of saints ddating from late 19th century.

Statement of Interest

A-group with other Gillis College buildings. See listing of conventual buildings for extent of curtilage. Ecclesiastical building in use as such. St Margaret's was the first religious house tobe founded in Scotland since the Reformation. The Rev James Gillis acquired the Whitehouse property with the financial help of John Menzies of Pitfodels, Aberdeenshire, and the first Convent of the Ursulines of Jesus in Britain was founded on 26th December 1834. A W N Pugin may have had some involvement with the initial chapel scheme, but he certainly became involved with proposed alterations in 1846-7. At that time he designed a new arrangement of chancel windows, new clearstorey windows, elaborately decorated fittings and furnishings, and suggested painted decoration of the walls. In 1861 Pugin's eldest son, Edward Welby Pugin, proposed a grand formal quadrangle incorporating the chapel (see separate listing of former school).

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Gillis Centre at Wikipedia
• Gillis Centre official website
• Wikidata Q11839020

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

• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)