Old Parish Church, Main Street, Wishaw, Wishaw, North Lanarkshire

Entry Name: Old Parish Church, Main Street, Wishaw

Listing Name: Wishaw, Main Street, Wishaw Old Parish Church (Church of Scotland)

Listing Date: 19 December 2000

Category: B

Source: Historic Scotland

Source ID: 394849

Historic Scotland Designation Reference: LB47504

Building Class: Cultural

Also known as: Wishaw, Main Street, Old Parish Church

ID on this website: 200394849

Location: Motherwell and Wishaw

County: North Lanarkshire

Town: Motherwell And Wishaw

Electoral Ward: Wishaw

Traditional County: Lanarkshire

Tagged with: Church building

Description

Possibly by Thomas Burns, 1840 with additions 1874, 1891, 1931. Plain Venetian gothic church. Rectangular-plan, aligned NE-SW, 3-stage entrance tower to centre with stone spire. Yellow/pink ashlar sandstone. Hoodmoulded semicircular openings, chamfered reveals, windows with bipartite Venetian tracery; battered base course, continuous cill course and projecting cornice to eaves course.

SW (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: 3-bay, symmetrical, advanced bay of entrance tower to centre being engaged clock-tower; door with fanlight to centre, rolled moulding to reveal, string course cornice below window, semicircular arch arcaded top stage, terminating in Lombard frieze, projecting cornice; cast-iron brattishing to blocking course and stone obelisk finials to corners framing spire, cross finial to spire. Clock faces on projecting pedimented and corbelled timber cases. Shouldered wallhead to flanking bays, with windows slightly lower than central window. Recessed wallplane framing .

NE (REAR) ELEVATION: 19th century addition obscured by modern additions.

SE (SIDE) ELEVATION: 5-bay, symmetrical, regular fenestration, rectangular windows to ground, door to far left bay, semicircular arched to upper storey.

NW (SIDE) ELEVATION: mirror of SE.

Leaded glass. Grey slates and lead ridges, cast-iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: flanking stairs to gallery at sides, stained glass depicting Tree of Life to centre with flanking doors with fanlights to nave. Galleried nave, full-height semicircular arch to chancel. Chancel, 1874, two stained large stained glass to rear wall depicting saints dedication to base in memorial to Lord and Lady Hamilton; timber panelling, fitted organ to right. Flanking vestry and session house.

Statement of Interest

Ecclesiastical building still in use as such. It is probable that Thomas Burns is the architect as the design is very much a simplified version of Burn's Cambusnethan Old Parish Church of which Wishaw was originally a satellite. Dating from the time of Burn's involvement with the Cambusnethan Parish "New Church" its construction was supervised by the same church Heritor's Committee.

Built as a chapel-of-ease from 1837, to save the congregation the walk to Cambusnethan Parish Church, it was opened in 1840 and raised to quoad sacra parish status in 1856 following petition to the Church Assembly by Lord Belhaven. However, as eventual parish status was intended from the outset a full church building was constructed including the extant facade and bell tower. An extra bay was added to the rear in 1874 to incorporate a new chancel and church offices. The original box pews were removed in 1891 and replaced with the existing bench pews. New church hall and session house added to the rear in 1891. The church spire was repaired and the clock electrified in the 1930s when the timber casing was added. Though a simple building the Old Parish Church is the oldest existing building in Wishaw and the only church not in the gothic style. It also serves as Wishaw's principal landmark being built on the top of the hill leading up from the Glasgow Rd.

External Links

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