St John's And King's Church, Eskbank Road, Dalkeith, Dalkeith, Midlothian

Description

R Thornton Shiells, dated 1870. Early English gothic church. Rectangular plan; steeple to NW corner, octangonal stair tower to NE corner and former church hall to S. Stugged rubble; N and W elevations squared and coursed, E and S elevations squared and snecked . Ashlar dressings. Coped base course to N and W elevations. Eaves course to W and E elevations. Coped set-off buttresses. Chamfered margins. Droved margin drafts and angle margins. Lancet windows. Corinthian capitals to nook-shafts. Hoodmoulds to principal openings. Grey slates with contrasting bands to deeply pitched roof; red ridge tiles to nave.

Coped skews; some gabletted skewputts. Original rainwater goods, rainwater heads dated "18 AD 70". Some moulded eaves gutter.

Decorative iron door furniture to boarded doors.

N (ESKBANK ROAD, ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: short flight of steps to hoodmould pointed-arched doorway in gabled panel at centre; deeply moulded surround with nook-shafts; 2-leaf doors. Lancets flanking; buttress to left. Foliated string course above. Wheel window in hoodmoulded pointed-arched panel, with paired nook-shafts, above, half-vesica in gablehead. Steepleadvanced to right.

STAIR TOWER: 2-stage octagonal stair tower intercepting entrance elevation to left. coped course between stages, eaves course. Steps down to flat-arched doorway at basement to SE. Window to ground and 1st stages, taller at 1st, to N, E and SE. Segmental-arched openings at ground to N and E. Swept polygonal roof with finely splayed iron finial.

STEEPLE: 4 set-off stages. Angle-buttressed to 2nd stage.

Pointed-arched moulded doorpiece to N, with string course stepped over as hoodmould and flanking nook-shafts; pointed-arched and recessed trefoil detail, and "AD 1870" inscribed above chamfered lintel of shouldered-arched doorway with 2-leaf doors. 2-light window to W at ground. 3-light window to N and W at 1st stage. Lancet to N, W and S at 2nd stage. Tall, paired moulded louvred lancets, with clustered nook-shafts, to each face of 3rd stage belfry. Corbelled course above panels and richly carved eaves course. Broached spire; slits with Gothic aedicules, double string course and lucarnes on alternate faces above. Foliate detail to angle of broaching.

W (KING'S PARK) ELEVATION: steeple to left. 5-bay. Bay to left steeply gabled; 3-light window at ground, coped course above, large trefoil-traceried half-vesica in gablehead. Gableted buttress to right. 2-light windows in remaining bays, dividing butresses. Gabled elevation of former church hall with flanking buttresses, advanced to right; 4-light window, trefoiled oculus in gablehead.

E ELEVATION: stair tower to right. 5-bay. Bay to right steeply gabled : 3-light window at ground, large trefoil-traceried half-vesica in gablehead. 2-light windows in remaining bays, dividing buttresses. Gabled elevation of former church hall, with flanking buttresses, advanced to left; 2 windows, trefoiled oculus in gablehead; four-centred-arched door on return.

S ELEVATION: cusped half-vesica in gablehead. 4-light window above adjoining single storey former church hall at ground.

FORMER CHURCH HALL: 4-bay (1-1-2). Four-centred-arched fanlit doorway in bay to right of centre. Shouldered-arched windows; 3-light to left bays, 2-light to outer right bay. Shouldered and coped stacks wallhead to left, ridge to right.

INTERIOR: oblong hall; pulpit and organ to S, panelled gallery on cast-iron columns to N. Painted plaster walls and boarded dadoes. Kingpost timber roof with pointed vault; pierced quatrefoil detailing.

5-bay organ to S wall with built-in pulpit below; blind pointed-arched arcade to pulpit; four-centred-arched doors flanking. Traceried timber communion table, dated "April 1932", timber lectern and font en suite; arcaded timber rail. Stained wood pews.

Four-centred-arched doors to vestibule. Glazed partitions in vestibule; delicate linenfold panelling. Four-centred-arched doors to tower; spiral staircases with cast-iron balustrades and wooden rails.

STAINED GLASS: paired lancets in penultimate bays to S by William Wilson, 1939. Geometric stained glass to 4-light window to S. Delicate pastel coloured glass detailing to remaining windows, including wheel window, lancets flanking N entrance and 4-light in former church hall.

BOUNDARY WALLS: semicircular coped rubble retaining walls; low ashlar coped rubble wall to E.

Statement of Interest

Ecclesiastical building in use as such. Originally United Presbyterian, the church was constructed at a cost of ?3300, and could accommodate 700. The foundation stone was laid on 8 November 1869, and the church was opened by Dr McEwan of Glasgow on 8 November 1870. It became United Free Church of Scotland in 1900, and united with St John's Free Church in 1912, becoming Church of Scotland in 1929.

The church hall and Church Officer's house to the S were constructed in the early 1950s. The spire is 140ft in height.

External Links

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.