Description

Former United Free church, presumably built early 1900s (the UF Church was formed by the union of the Free and United Presbyterian Churches in 1900), and disused since 1987 (Campbell 2000, appendix No 12).

Standard pattern prefabricated timber-framed and corrugated-iron clad church made by Spiers & Co. Glasgow (whose nameplate it bears), one of a number transported in the later part of the 19th - early 20th century to places throughout much of the Highlands, but few of which survive more-or-less intact.

Rectangular-plan building set on a masonry plinth, (southeast-facing) entrance gable to the road, its site and that of the adjacent manse are bounded to the roadside by harled rubble walls with rough-dressed curved coping stones; circular and domed gatepiers also harled. Standard features include vestry wing projecting at northeast corner, timber belt course, door and window bands and gablehead detailing; windows shallow-arched externally with top hoppers, 3-light and set high up, polygonal gable-head window above pulpit, axial ventilator. A porch, presumably the minister's entrance, for it faces the manse, abuts the vestry. The 2-leaf main door has decorative hinges. Cream painted cladding, timber painted green. Interior v-lined and largely stripped of original church furnishings (2004).

Statement of Interest

The church is not depicted on the 2nd edition Ordnance Survey map (1903) but was presumably built soon after. It is a typical example of the many corrugated iron churches which were erected in the 19th and early 20th centuries but which are now becoming increasingly rare.Prefabricated corrugated iron structures were popular because they were relatively cheap to buy, easily transported, and quick and simple to erect which dispensed with the need for skilled labour and specialist tools. The setting of the church is important, for it sits near to Stratherrick Free Church, illustrating the development of the Church.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q77781139

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

• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Leeds, Bradford and the North (Pevsner Architectural Guides / Buildings of England)
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)