Description

Dated 1884. Neo-Norman roughly rectangular-plan single nave church with gable front to road and landmark square-plan tower and spire to NE angle; church abutting earlier 20th century single storey hall to SE. Snecked and tooled square rubble; ashlar dressings to main entrance; string courses to principal elevation. Tall round-arched windows, plate tracery and multifoil window to principal elevation; carved and moulded round-arched porch; prominent attenuated tower with memorial inscription, plate tracery, and square-plan spire.

NE (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: central round-arched, double chamfered porch; plain 2-leaf timber boarded doors; vine leaf carved lintel with central carving of bible set in cartouche; flanking plain shafts with Ionic capitals; arched fanlight (now blocked); roll moulded hoodmold.

Round-arched plate tracery window with three round-arched lights and 8-part circle window above set within hoodmould; small crucifix finial to gable apex; flanking full-height buttresses. 4-stage tower and pyramidal spire to left; plain 1st stage; 2nd stage with bracketed, round-arched pedimented and pilastered memorial plaque with cartouche inset with 3 cinquefoils (part of Hamilton coat of arms), carved foliage to pediment, inscribed 'HAMILTON / MEMORIAL / CHURCH / FOUNDATION STONE / OF THIS CHURCH / WAS LAID BY / MRS BRUCE/ FOR / MISS HAMILTON / ON 2? OF FEBRUARY / 1884'; arrow slits at 3rd stage; 4th stage bellcote with linked bipartite tracery openings, keystone and blind carved spandrels above; pyramidal stone spire with angle lucarnes, plate traceried openings, angle spouts, arcaded gallery to base, pedimented louvres. Single storey masonry wall linking church to hall to left forming central courtyard.

NW ELEVATION: 5 bays. Pedimented 2-storey stair tower to far left; small, narrow single round-arched window to ground floor; long, narrow round-arched window to 1st floor. Later door inserted to right. 4 large full-height round-arched windows to right of door. Advanced single storey piended annexe to far right (probably former vestry); 3 single windows; later door to left return.

SW (REAR) ELEVATION: partially seen, 2002. Part piended and canted elevation.

SE ELEVATION: partially seen, 2002. 5 bays. Angle tower to far right; linking single storey wall linking church to hall to left of tower; long and narrow single round-arched window to 2nd stage. 4 large full-height round-arched windows to left of tower.

INTERIOR: not seen, 2002.

Plain glass and leaded lattice windows, covered by protective plastic and mesh grilles to exterior; timber sash and case windows to single storey annexe. Pitched roof (part piended to rear); grey slates; flat-headed skews.

GATEPIERS AND CAST-IRON RAILINGS: 2 pairs of square-plan coped gatepiers to flanking entrance elevation; joined by scroll and serpentine finialled cast-iron railings.

Statement of Interest

No longer in ecclesiastical use. Although plain in plan and elevation, this former Free Church of Scotland (latterly a Church of Scotland) has a distinguishing tower and spire, similar to many of the fine towers designed by Leiper, Campbell Douglas and Sellars, and Honeyman for a number of Glasgow churches of the 1860s and 1870s. This congregation joined that of Bank Street in 1909 (Lamb). The Hamilton Memorial church is one of Clydebank?s earlier churches and is one of the few remaining landmarks on the principal arterial road running through the burgh..

The church forms an important part of the former 19th and early 20th century streetscape which has eroded greatly in the latter part of the 20th century, particularly after the World War II bombing of the area

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q77779150

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

• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Warwickshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects, Supplement 2014
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]