Parish Church, High Street, Selkirk, Selkirk, Scottish Borders

Description

R Baldie, 1880. Early gothic church with 3-stage tower and steeple, nave, chancel, presbytery and hall. Stugged ashlar with polished ashlar dressings with droved ashlar to chamfering; squared whinstone with stugged ashlar dressings to side elevations. Base course; string course at impost level, stepping over windows forming openings at ground of bay to centre; string course defining each stage of tower; string course at cill level of gallery height, stepping over lancet windows in bay to right forming hoodmould; eaves course; point-arched openings.

NW (HIGH STREET) ELEVATION: 3-bay with tower to left. Buttresses defining each bay. 2-leaf boarded door at centre in columned and hoodmoulded doorway; flanked by 2 narrow windows; quadripartite geometric-traceried window above with hoodmould; blinded arrow slit to gablehead. Paired trefoil-headed windows in bay to right.

NE ELEVATION: 6-bay group with further single bay (hall) to outer left. Each bay defined by buttresses. Window to each bay except tower to outer left. TOWER: HALL: advanced; tripartite window in gabled addition to outer right with platform-roofed link section.

SW ELEVATION: 6-bay, defined by buttresses, with advanced further bays to outer right (not seen fully, 1995). 2 paired windows in bay to outer left. Window to each remaining bay; door to outer right.

TOWER: NW ELEVATION: bay to left. Blank at 1st stage; 2 paired trefoil-headed windows at 2nd stage; window at 3rd stage; sawtoothed buttress-heads at 4th stage; 2 paired openings at 5th stage with louvring; mutuled course defining tower from steeple. Steeple with quatrefoil-studded band course. NE ELEVATION: window at 1st stage; cinquefoil opening at 2nd stage; stages above as before.

Leaded lights with coloured border. Slate roof with coped ashlar skews with ashlar cruciform finial to apex of gable to centre of NW elevation. Lucarnes to roof to NE side. Wallhead ashlar coped stack to SE elevation. Moulded gutter.

INTERIOR: impressive galleried scheme. Horse-shoe gallery supported on cast-iron columns with timber boarded parapet, with clock set to centre (formerly in old Meeting House, dated 1815); columns rising above to sides with tall, 2-storey point-arched arcade. Boarded dado to ground. 2 aisles. Pine pews with brass umbrella stands. Modern glazed partition beneath gallery to NW. White marble font dedicated to memory of Rev John Lawson; "Suffer the Little children to Come unto Thee" carved to bowl side; brass lid with "In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost" inscribed. Finely carved oak altar with rich gothic ornamentation, in memory of William Linton; brass lectern on top dedicated to memory of William Strang Steel of Philiphaugh. Oak seats behind altar (2 Hamilton oak chairs and tall-backed chair). Organ set between pulpit and altar with pipes set in SE wall. Pulpit and arrangement to SE altered in 1952-55; pine gothic pulpit. Pine lectern in memory of Jane Muir, 1953. Stained glass window above organ screen. Timber boarded ceiling. 4-part gothic screen in vestibule with stone stair to each side with cast-iron balustrade and timber handrail. HALL: large room with boarded dado.

BOUNDARY WALLS, GATEPIERS AND RAILINGS: squared whinstone with ashlar coping; square-plan stop-chamfered ashlar gatepiers with pyramidal coping, formerly with cast-iron lamps. Cast-iron railings.

Statement of Interest

Ecclesiastical building in use as such. Wood's map shows that the site which this church now occupies was once where the dovecot stood which was the namesake of the piece of land which ran from the present Council Buildings (see separate listings) to the lane now known as Dovecot Park. The building houses some furniture taken from the other Church of Scotland churches in Selkirk which have subsequently been closed for worship - St Mary's West and Heatherlie Church, which amalgamated in 1986. The original Parish church was to be found in Kirk Wynd (see separate listing) until 1750, when it was rebuilt. This church was used until 1860, in conjunction with the Thatched Kirk between 1758 and 1805; and this was replaced by the use of the Meeting House in the Fleshmarket 1805-1880. This was however clearly becoming too expensive to maintain by 1872 and so it was eventually decided, through a vote, that a new church should be erected. The architect was selected in 1878, after various architects were assessed through their recent work. Mr Baldie of Glasgow was chosen. The Meeting House was closed on 12th September 1880 and the opening service of the new church took place on 16th September 1880. The principal alterations to the church was the installation of the pipe organ in 1900. To mark the 75th anniversary of the building, the church had some redecoration and "interior improvements", including the new timber boarded ceiling, rearrangement and refurbishment of the chancel, remodelling of the pulpit and a complete overhaul of the organ. In 1880, the centenary of the church, the church was redecorated and vinyl tiles were laid.

Rev John Lawson was minister of the congregation 1850-1898.

External Links

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