Description

William Henry Playfair, 1831. 5-bay, cruciform plan, Gothic revival church with large striking 3-stage tower at E and single storey and basement apsidal-ended burial vault of the Earls of Minto at W. Grey snecked sandstone rubble with droved ashlar dressings. Deep base course; dentilled eaves course. Pointed-arch openings with hoodmoulds and label stops. 3-light windows in nave and chancel and 4-light windows in transepts with Y-tracery, paired lancets at clerestory level.

FURTHER DESCRIPTION: central tower projecting from E gable with 2-leaf boarded and studded timber door recessed in moulded chamfered Tudor arch; single light above; paired louvred lights at belfry level; clock on N face; crenellated corbelled parapet. Single-leaf boarded and studded timber entrance door to left hand bay of N elevation recessed in moulded chamfered arch. Low burial enclosure extending from W gable (roof screened from view); steps, flanked by low wall, extended from base course, to 2-leaf timber-boarded and studded door below ground level.

Predominantly diamond-pane glazing in fixed lights. Welsh slate roof with ashlar ridges and ashlar-coped skews with moulded skewputts. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: simple flat-ceiling cruciform interior with narrow plaster decorative cornice; Minto loft at E (access via exterior door in tower to private room and loft) with panelled front. Stained glass in W gable window circa 1926. Furnishings date from the 1934 recasting.

GRAVEYARD: 19th and 20th century stones to N and W of church; Minto enclosure surrounded by low wall SW of burial vault, with 20th century stones.

BOUNDARY WALLS, GATEPIERS AND GATES: low rubble boundary walls. Square ashlar gatepiers with mouldings and pyramidal capstones. 20th century wrought-iron gates.

Statement of Interest

Ecclesiastical building in use as such. This building is significant in that it is one of only a very few examples of a Gothic design by the prominent Edinburgh architect William Henry Playfair who with his rivals William Burn and James Gillespie Graham was at the top of the Scottish architectural profession from 1816 when he won the competition for the completion of Adam's University building until his death in 1857. His other major Gothic building is the Free Church College (1846-50) on the Mound in Edinburgh. It too is designed in the Tudor style and like Minto is simply detailed but at the same time having considerable presence. Minto Church is one of only two churches known to have been designed by Playfair. Playfair's other church design, St Stephen's in St Vincent Street in Edinburgh, though classical in style, like Minto is restrained in detail yet monumental in composition.

The interior of Minto Church was recast in 1934, but the building is externally little changed. This is a large, solid and imposing building and occupies an prominent position in the centre of the village. Minto is a planned village which was designed and laid out by Playfair for the 2nd Earl of Minto.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17844251

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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