Parish Church, High Street, Peebles, Peebles, Scottish Borders

Entry Name: Parish Church, High Street, Peebles

Listing Name: High Street, Old Parish Church

Listing Date: 23 February 1971

Category: B

Source: Historic Scotland

Source ID: 384773

Historic Scotland Designation Reference: LB39184

Building Class: Cultural

Also known as: Peebles, High Street, Parish Church

ID on this website: 200384773

Location: Peebles

County: Scottish Borders

Town: Peebles

Electoral Ward: Tweeddale West

Traditional County: Peeblesshire

Tagged with: Church building

Description

William Young, 1885-7; chancel reconstruction J D Cairns, 1937. Substantial early Gothic church with crowstepped gables and SE tower with crown spire, accessed by wide flight of steps. Cream sandstone, squared and snecked stugged rubble with ashlar dressings. Base course; pointed-arched openings with hoodmoulds and label stops; crowstepped gables; string course above ground floor.

TOWER: 4-stage; battered angle buttresses. Moulded doorway to E with boarded door and decorative iron hinges. 2nd stage with lancet window and coat-of-arms (moved from earlier 18th century church) to E, S face with bipartite window carrying vesica-shaped opening; rows of 4 lancets above to sides. 3rd stage with clock face to each side. 4th stage with 2 tall louvred lancets to each side. Open crown spire with trefoiled parapet, crocketed finials and weathervane.

NAVE: E elevation gabled with projecting gabled doorway to centre, deeply chamfered doorway with roll-moulded arch; 2 windows flanking. Large 5-light window with elaborate tracery above; cross finial to gable. Tower to left (see above). To right slightly projecting gabled bay with doorway as tower and 3-light window with traceried head above.

S AISLE ELEVATION: 4-bay; divided by battered buttresses; outer bays with 3 or 4 lancets and 3-light windows above; centre bays gabled with tall 3-light transom windows.

N AISLE ELEVATION: 4-bay; quadripartite lancets to outer bays, bipartite lancets to centre bays; 3-light windows above; easternmost bay return of projecting gable to E front. W gable with projecting chancel, rose window to gablehead.

Square-pane leaded lights. Green slate roof, red ridge tiles. Moulded eaves gutter and gutterheads.

INTERIOR: imposing 4-bay ashlar nave; round piers on tall octagonal bases; westernmost bays obscured by U-shaped gallery with trefoil headed panelling to balustrade. Ashlar chancel reconstructed 1937, J D Cairns, some earlier furnishings : pulpit P MacGregor Chalmers, 1913; white marble font gifted 1898. Extensive stained glass scheme: E window (1887), S and N galleries, 1893, aisle windows and rose window (1899); Daniel Cottier of London. Organ by Auguste Gern (gift of Thorburn

family), removed to new chamber in 1937 and rebuilt by Henry

Willis, further altered 1988. Brass eagle lecturn (gifted in 1897).

Modern entrance screen by Miller and Black Architects, 1963 (gifted by Madge and Eleanor Ramsay-Smith) - origianl cast-iron columns encased in stone.

Statement of Interest

A highly accomplished church design, well positioned for axial impact on the site of the eighteenth century church; this in its turn had occupied the site of the old castle.

External Links

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