St John's Church, Church Street, Inverkeithing, Inverkeithing, Fife

Description

Built 1753; widened, heightened, and galleries added 1799; renovated 1882. Single storey, 5-bay, rectangular-plan Secession church. Coursed rubble; moulded dressings; stugged quoins with margins to E (principal) elevation; pedimented porch. Squared and snecked, tooled stone vestry and hall buildings adjoining church to S. Built on high ground above road, bordered by retaining wall. Lean-to stone-built boiler house to right of hall porch at street level. 2-storey 19th century snecked rubble rectangular-plan house to S linked to church and adapted as church hall and church officer's accommodation.

E (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: central pedimented ashlar porch, round arched door and side lights (blocked with boarded timber); flanked by full-height large round arched windows with lancet mullions; timber-panelled doors and round arched fanlights with lancet arched astragals to outer bays.

N ELEVATION: 2 windows at gallery level.

W (REAR) ELEVATION: 2 ground floor windows. Cast-iron rooflight.

S ELEVATION: church hall link adjoins to right at ground floor; square window to left; E-W boundary wall adjoins to left. 2 windows at gallery level. Ball finial to gable apex.

12-pane timber sash and case windows; large round arched windows to E with timber lancet mullions. Pitched roof, grey slates; ashlar skews.

INTERIOR: timber queen-strut roof trusses with quatrefoil detailing and drop pendants. Plain box pews. Large grained pine pulpit with console set before former Minister's entrance to centre of E wall between large round arched windows. Entrance vestibules and passageways to N and S, leading to rear gallery stairs; 2 internal fixed windows light both passages. Tongue and groove timber dadoing. Turnpike stone stairs to SW and NW corners leading to gallery. Puginesque oak communion table; small oak organ to right. Gallery to N, W and S of semi-octagonal plan with corniced timber-panelled front, supported by 4 cast-iron columns, neo-Egyptian palm leaf capitals.

CHURCH HALL and OFFICES: 19th century. 2-storey, 5-bay (2 wide bays to 1st floor) rectangular-plan hall (ground floor) and former church officer's residence (1st floor); pitched-roof link to N connecting to church building. Squared snecked sandstone rubble to W; rendered to N, W and S; random rubble link. Hall occupying S portion of 2-storey building and portion of single-storey link to N. Link also includes additional church offices. E elevation: central sandstone gabled porch, 3 windows to right (part of link) and 3 windows to left (part of 2-storey building). Door to far left leading to hall and upper flat (former Church Officer's accommodation). W elevation: 2-storey section to right: rendered. Central forestair flanked by ground floor windows, door to far right; 3 1st floor windows. Single storey link to left: two windows to right; small flat roof extension to left. Timber sash and case windows; 4-pane timber windows with stylised lancet detailing to hall windows; coped rendered gablehead stacks; circular clay cans.

BOUNDARY WALLS and RAILINGS: high retaining wall to E (along Church Street) with wide central steps to church; decorative cast-iron arch with street lamp over stairs. Coped random rubble boundary walls to rear delineating separate gardens to church and hall.

Statement of Interest

Ecclesiastical building in use as such. St John's Church of Scotland was originally built as a Burgher chapel following a disputed appointment of a minister in the Parish Church in 1752. In 1779, a protracted dispute over the first minister of the Church led to a large part of the church becoming Cameronian. Thereafter the Burgher connection was resumed. Later incarnations included the Associate Congregation in or before 1786; the United Associate (Secession) Congregation in 1820; the United Presbyterian Church in 1847; the United Free Church in 1900; and the Church of Scotland in 1929. The large scheme of reconstruction of 1799 saw the building heightened and the E elevation extended by approximately 1.8 metres. Around the same time the gallery was installed and the retaining wall beside the street was built. A small hall and vestry was originally built into a single storey house adjacent to the church to the S. Neighbouring the hall to the S was another cottage which was used as the Church Officer's house. These two buildings were amalgamated in 1927 to form a larger single storey hall with an additional floor added to the S-most house, providing accommodation for the Church Officer. Apart from some internal improvements, this church has not changed significantly since its major additions of the late 18th century. It also plays a significant part in the development of Inverkeithing's socio-religious history, with particular relevance to its status as a royal burgh and reflects the staunchness of its citizens. The Burghers, formed in 1747 from part of the Scottish Secession Church, defended the morality of taking the Burgess Oath necessary to become burgesses even though the oath seemed to support the established religion.

Statutory address changed from '58, 60 Church Street, St John's Parish Church (Church of Scotland) including adjoining Hall and Offices, Boundary Walls and Railings' in 2009. St Peter's Parish Church (see separate listing) and St John's Parish Church were united on 5th November 2006 to become Inverkeithing Parish Church.

External Links

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