Description

1822. 2-storey, 3-bay, square-plan, Classical church with late 19th century gabled hall extension to rear. Painted render with raised, moulded and tabbed margins, angle and eaves bands, rubble to hall. Base course, cornice. Slightly advanced central bay to entrance elevation (N) with pilastered, corniced doorpiece with 2-leaf, 10-panel timber door.

Predominantly small square multi-pane coloured glazing. Piended roof with grey slates. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: good, original, simple classical decorative scheme largely extant. White painted walls with timber panelling to dado. Timber floor. Horseshoe gallery with decorative plasterwork to moulded balcony, supported on slender cast-iron columns with decorative capitals. Timber pews, with distinctive curvilinear pew ends, curved pews in gallery. Fine, large Baroque-style timber pulpit and chair. Boarded timber ceiling with linear moulding. Curved timber staircases lead to gallery. 6-panel timber doors.

BOUNDARY WALL AND RAILINGS: to N, E and W. Low, coped, rubble boundary wall, surmounted by slim iron railings.

Statement of Interest

Ecclesiastical building in use as such. The church is a well-proportioned Classical building with a good quality, little-altered, simple classical interior. The interior is especially notable for its fine timber pews and dominant pulpit and the finely detailed, decorative plasterwork to the capitals and front of the gallery. Constructed in 1822, in the then fashionable classical style, the church is a simple, pared-back interpretation of the form. It is a good example of a provincial church of the period. It is a distinctive feature in the streetscape and is one of the few buildings of the period within Duntocher.

The history of the congregation dates back to 1779, when members from 2 local churches formed the Duntocher Presbyterian Church. A rift in the church in 1799 split this congregation, and some moved out of the building to worship in the local meal loft. In 1802, the local mill owner gifted land to build a larger church and by 1822, this present church, originally Duntocher United Associate Church had been built with accommodation to seat 608 people. The building cost £1200 and the first ordained minister was a Rev John Stark in 1860.

It became Duntocher West United Free Church in 1977.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q77780619

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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