Description

1596, enlarged and recast 1774, extended in 1911(?) W E Wallace, architect. Aligned E to W, with W tower, large N aisle, smaller S aisle, and porches to E and W. Stonework in sandstone variable with age - earliest work random rubble, then coursed rubble, latterly squared and snecked with stugged and smooth-dressed ashlar margins. Tower and E gable white-painted.

W ELEVATION: 3-bay. Central tower (1596) 4-sided, topped by broach roof and octagonal belfry (1774?), with clock face at upper level on all 4 sides, 2 small windows to W wall only. Flanked to S by single window at 1st floor level, infilled window to ground. Flanked to N by single round-arched window at 1st floor. Central porch (1911) advanced and piended, base course; door to S, 6-panelled, moulded architrave; bipartite window to both W and N.

E ELEVATION: large gable (1774) with single tall round-arched window (now internal). Large gabled porch and stairwell (1911) advanced to centre, with Venetian window to gable (E) with raised margins, keystone and bracketed cill; door to S, 6-panelled, round-arched and moulded surround in rusticated ashlar doorway with dentilled cornice; single plain window to N. Modern low flat-roofed extension adjoins at NE, with vestry etc.

S ELEVATION: irregular, essentially 7-bay. Highlighted by projecting Hamilton Aisle, roughly central; gabled with imposing central doorway to vault with heavy Gibbs architrave, moulded and rusticated with massive segmental keystone and cornice, below large wall-tabernacle with Corinthian pilasters and open pediment, flanked by small windows to each side; outside stair to plain doorway on N side; 1 small window to upper level on S. E section has 2 tall arched windows with keystone and impost blocks, several tombstones incorporated in wall. W section in 3 bays, westmost with single stairwell window over infilled doorway with rough relieving arch; eastmost with talled arched window with keystone and impost blocks; central bay retains moulded round-arched doorway, infilled.

N ELEVATION: symmetrical, 4-bay. Central 2 bays advanced as gabled N aisle with 2 tall round-arched keystoned windows facing N below ocular window, single window of same style to each side, flanked by same windows to E and W. 2 large rooflights to E and W.

Windows timber sash and case, small-pane, tall arched windows predominantly with 15 panes topped in Y-tracery pattern. Roof in graded Scotch slate, ridged in plain red clay tiles, simple finials. Small plain stacks to N aisle and Hamilton Aisle, decorative ashlar stack to E porch.

INTERIOR: essentially T-plan with galleries to E and W wings supported on single columns. Organ (Ingram of Edinburgh 1911) central in S wall, flanked by pulpit and communion table to left (E). Most fittings 1891.

GATELODGE AND PIERS: small gabled structure (19th century) mostly squared and snecked sandstone, dressings stugged and droved; plain door to E, small window in N gable, incorporates mortification panels of late 17th and early 18th century. Adjoins gatepiers in square-section ashlar, corniced with squat pyramidal caps. Gates in decorative cast- iron. Walls of random rubble with rubble cope.

Statement of Interest

Ecclesiatical building in use as such. One of Scotland's first post- Reformation kirks, largely paid for by the first minister, John Davidson, on land bequeathed by the Hamiltons of Prestongrange. There was a church at Preston, or Saltpriestoun (later Prestonpans) since the 12th century, but this was destroyed by the English Army in 1544.

The Hamilton (or Prestongrange) Aisle originally formed the Laird?s loft, above the family burial vault, but the loft now houses the organ. An earlier aisle stood parallel to the S of the Hamilton Aisle, but was demolished in the 19th century, and only the surround of its inner doorway survives.

The kirkyard contains a number of interesting gravestones, including a few carved stones of the 17th and 18th century. Notable is that to John Stuart of Phisgul "......barbarously murdered by four Highlanders near the end of the Battle fought in the field of Preston, on the 21st September 1745".

Preston Parish Church united with the Grange Church, the erstwhile Free Church in West Loan, in 1981. It is now known formally as Prestongrange Church.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Prestongrange Parish Church at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q7242048

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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  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
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  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)