Description

J & J A Carrick, 1958 and 1964. Church complex comprising 1958 former church to SW (currently hall, see Notes), 1964 church to NE, and with linking single-storey entrance building, situated in prominent corner site. Red brick with contrasting cream rendered decorative sections. Distinctive rectangular brick tower rising from linking corridor with open metal and concrete lantern with cross above. Overhanging eaves.

CHURCH: single-storey, 7-bay, elongated hexagon-plan church. 2-leaf panelled timber entrance door with overhanging canopy in perpendicular linking building to left. Eaves window band with shallow pitched roof above. SW and NE elevations with 5 central, rendered bays, separated by brick pilasters and decorated with elongated hexagon designs; shallow pitched gables above. Plain end gable walls.

INTERIOR: (seen, 2012). Entrance from internal lobby via 2-leaf timber and glass panel doors with side lights. Symmetrical. Orientated NE to SW. Original, unified decorative scheme intact. Pitched timber ceiling. Exposed brick walls; timber pews; timber stairs lead to panelled timber galleries to sides. Walls to SW and NE with rendered bays, divided by brick pilasters and with elongated hexagon designs; some decorative windows. Timber communion table, font and pulpit with curved, floating sound board above.

HALL: to SW. Single storey, elongated hexagon-plan; shallow gables. SW (STREET) ELEVATION: brick base course. Central, 4, full-height projecting windows in canted angular bays with overhanging triangular covers above. Flanking smooth cream rendered sections; narrow vertical bays with upper level glazing to far right. High hexagonal window to NW elevation.

INTERIOR: (seen, 2012). Timber floor and low stage. Tall, slatted timber panel to SE with attached timber cross.

Predominantly fixed timber windows; non-traditional replacements to hall (2012). Shallow gabled roofs to church and hall; flat roofs to linking building.

Statement of Interest

Place of worship in use as such.

This is a prominent and distinctive church situated at a busy corner junction in a residential area of Ayr. It is a period piece of the late 1950s and early 1960s design which remains largely intact. It uses a number of distinctive features from the period including contrasting materials, full-height windows, angled, canted bays and the semi-abstract hexagonal motif. With the simple and unusual tower and cross, all the features add together to form a striking and visually distinguished building. The elongated hexagon design is repeated in the shapes of some of the windows and also the interior decoration of the church.

The cross was originally set in the roof of the tower, but was raised when the new church was built. It is thought to represent the Cross rising above the Crown of Thorns.

The church was required initially as the town of Ayr was expanding and new houses were being built in the area. A barn was used originally as a place of worship, but it quickly became apparent that a more permanent home was required and the hall church was opened in 1958. The complex included a smaller hall, associated rooms and a linking corridor to a north eastern lobby. When the congregation grew too large for this building, it was decided to build another church next to this, using the original building as halls. The local architectural practice of J & J A Carrick was used for both buildings. The original north eastern entrance lobby was enlarged to provide an entrance foyer to the new church. At the beginning of the 21st century, the church extended this linking corridor to include a larger entrance space and a linking corridor to the main hall.

The father and son practice of James and James Andrew Carrick began in Ayr in 1934. Whilst the elder James Carrick excelled in Arts and Crafts design, the younger was more interested in Modernist design. Their work includes Rothesay Pavilion, 1938, one of Scotland's most significant seaside pavilions (see separate listing). Their work was mainly concentrated in the Ayr district. When the elder Carrick died in 1940, J A Carrick carried on the practice and it continued to operate until it merged with a Stranraer practice in 1982.

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External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q77782425

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

• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Hampshire: Winchester and the North (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)