Description

Thomas Burns, 1839. Early gothic church, aligned N-S, T-plan church, 3-stage entrance tower with elongated 2nd stage terminating in corner pinnacles. Squared and tooled sandstone coursers with ashlar margins. Diagonal buttresses with sawtoothcoping, stopped hoodmoulds to openings with chamfered reveals, geometric tracery, string course to cill level.

N (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: 3-bay, symmetrical. 3-stage engaged entrance tower to centre; Tudor arch entrance with double chamfered rolled moulding to reveal, panelled timber door; castellated dividing band between 1st and 2nd stages with gabled coping; elongated window to centre; blind cusped arcade below trefoliated arcade with plain columns to 3rd-stage; terminating in plain entablature, castellated balustrade with raised pyramidal corner pinnacles. Large single window to flanking bays.

S (REAR) ELEVATION: 5-bay, symmetrical. Gabled bay to centre with 2 windows, blank flanking bays. Single storey offices abutting at ground.

E (SIDE) ELEVATION: 4-bay, asymmetrical, regular fenestration; advanced gabled double bay to left; door in bay to far right with correspondingly truncated window above.

W (SIDE) ELEVATION: mirror to E, except stone steps to door.

Leaded diamond-pane windows. Grey slates, lead flashing, stone coped skews, finialed gables, coped stack to S gable, cast-iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: plain galleried interior with modern fixtures and fittings.

VESTRY AND SESSIONS HOUSE: later 19th century addition. Single storey front-facing gabled block, adjoined to rear of church. Squared and snecked sandstone coursers with ashlar margins. Tripartite segmental-arched window with stone mullions to centre, oculus to gablehead, sawtooth buttresses. Single storey communications passage to left; 2 small cusped windows. Adjoining entrance porch on the left; depressed arch door with chamfered reveals and flanking buttresses to finialed gable at centre.

Leaded windows, grey slates ands lead flashings, cast-iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: plain plastered offices.

CHURCH HALL: adjoining porch to left. Later 19th century. 2-storey, rectangular-plan, gabled hall; large Tudor arched window to centre of gable, stone mullioned and transomed with intersecting tracery, hoodmould; flanking buttrusses; 4 large mullioned and transomed windows to S return.

Lead windows. Concrete roof tiles.

WAR MEMORIAL: freestanding tripartite arch; pointed-arch to centre with blind narrow flanking bays. Cavetto moulded reveal; small nepus gable with cross-finial; gabled buttresses to flanking bays; carved serpent entwined around spear to left buttress, sword beneath a crown to right; gabled parapet with saw tooth coping.

N (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: keystone carved with grapes and cross: statue of knight upon plinth within lancet arch niche to nepus gable.

S (REAR) ELEVATION: nepus gable inscribed: TO THE GLORY OF GOD CAMBUSNETHAN PARISH CHURCH 1914 + WAR MEMORIAL.

BOUNDARY WALL AND RAILINGS: waist-high wall, squared sandstone coursers, piended and jettied coping; gatepiers with jettied pyramidal caps to wall to church. Leading to low wall, squared sandstone coursers with flat coping stones, supporting modern cast-iron railings to offices.

Statement of Interest

Ecclesiastical building still in use as such. Thomas Burns of Glasgow designed several parish churches before the Disruption of 1844 when he fell from favour having been closely associated with the landed interest. The old parish Kirk of Cambusnethan was condemned as "damp, unsafe and dangerous" by the Edinburgh architect Andrew Burn in 1837 and work started on the "New Church" on an adjacent site in 1839. Burns' original dimensions for the nave were increased as Lord Belhaven the chair of the Heritor's thought "it would look much better". Work was carried out by local contractors; masons Smith and Co. and joiners Hendersons.

Typifying the Disruption, the Church was not opened until 1851 due to an ongoing dispute between the Minister and the Church Heritors. This particular schism had started in 1837 when the minister had refused to provide Lord Belhaven with the keys to the old Kirk for Andrew Burn's inspection leading Belhaven to smash the door. Belhaven was particularly incensed as the keys were normally to be readily found behind the bar at the next door inn.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q56644187

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.

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