Grange Free Church, Woodstock Street, Kilmarnock, Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire

Description

Robert Samson Ingram, 1877 - 79. Early English Gothic, T-plan church with stair towers and spire. Lecture hall and classroom to east attached by later 20th century link. Coursed rubble-faced red sandstone with Ballochmyle dressings and quoins. Saw-toothed skews with gablet and plain skewputts.

South (principal) elevation: main gable: steps leading to paired doors with moulded reveals and oculus above, under pointed arch with hoodmould and floriate stops, single trefoil top light flanking; cill band leading to five-light arched window above with hoodmould and floriate stops, stone finial with top missing to gablehead. Stepped trefoil top tripartite window to ground floor left, cill course leading to upper level trefoil top tripartite window; stepped gabled buttresses with tripartite window between and small arched window to gablehead on left return. Tower to southeast: two-stage with spire, 140ft high. Lower stage with angle buttresses flanking stepped tripartite light with further stepped tripartite light with cill course above, triple light to east. Second stage: with attached shafts at angles and tall traceried louvred openings to each face. Broached spire with lucarnes on alternate faces, base of original weathervane (ball finial) surmounting.

West elevation: gable to left containing tripartite window with single window flanking to ground floor, tall arched triple light with split light to gablehead; to right triple windows at ground and gallery level in spayed angle bay, adjoining west return of south elevation to right.

North (rear) elevation: gable end with ground floor concealed and multi-light arched window above.

East elevation: adjoining north stage of tower to left; to centre triple windows at ground and gallery level in splayed angle bay, gable to right containing tripartite window with single window flanking to ground floor, tall four-light window with slit light to gablehead.

Multi-coloured stained glass of squared and diamond quarry to interior with later plate glass protecting exterior. Steeply pitched piended grey slate roof with alternate bands of plain and fish-scale detailing and gablet louvres; terracotta crested ridge tiles with zinc gulleys and flashing. Painted cast-iron rainwater goods partially concealed behind low parapet and corbelled eaves course.

Interior, seen 2017: raked circular gallery supported on slender cast iron columns with decorative plaster capitals. Distinctive triangulated and ribbed ceiling. 1896 stained galss window in north gable of the Good Shepherd by Ballantine and Gardiner.

Hall to east: essentially T-plan with later 20th century link to west. Rock-faced red sandstone with dressed quoins, cills and courses. Saw-toothed skews.

South (principal) elevation: lean-to east facing porch in re-entrant angle with door and window to left return, additional open piended porch to right; large projecting gable to left with tall, three-light plate traceried window, ornate brass finial to gablehead; five rectangular windows with chamfered reveals on long elevation to right of porch.

East elevation: projecting gable end with three-light window.

North elevation: tall square brick stack and five rectangular windows on long elevation with later flat-roofed structure in re-entrant angle; stepped gable to right with regularly place bays to left return meeting higher gable with two windows to left return and stone stack on apex.

West elevation: gable with paired bipartite windows to ground floor and slit light to gablehead. Modern Link to right (open to west; solid timber north elevation with semi-glazed door on right; to south black wrought-iron railings with large timber cross to centre supporting flat roof; adjoining hall to east); further paired windows to right.

Boundary walls, railings and gatepiers: rock-faced red sandstone walls with angled copes following slope of incline; decorative wrought-iron railings terminating in two pairs of dressed red sandstone piers with angled bases, moulded shafts and pyramid copes (vehicular access to southwest and pedestrian access to south).

Statement of Interest

The church is built on Woodstock Street, named after the 1st Earl of Portland, Viscount Woodstock. Part of the street to the east of the church is known as Grange Place with Grange Street forming the crossroads between them. The Free Church lies on the part of the road now regarded as Woodstock Street.

The church was built to serve worshippers from a secession of St Andrew's and the West High Kirk. When first opened it was described as a "handsome cruciform structure with a spire of 140ft. There are 860 sittings and a hall and classroom to the east has accommodation for 500 people." The cost to build this church was £8000. The church hall is likely to have been completed first to hold worship until the church opened in August 1879.

Grange Free Church was designed by Robert Samson Ingram, when he was in practice with his father, James Ingram. Robert is known to have designed or altered around 28 churches, the majority of which are in Kilmarnock. Grange Free Church bears striking stylistic similarities with the Hurlford Parish Church (1875) by James and Robert Samson Ingram in nearby Crookedholm.

The interior of the church has been altered by the loss of the organ and integral pulpit (added around 1956), communion table and elders chairs, the font and many of the pews.

Listed building record updated in 2018.

External Links

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