History in Structure

Newtown Parish Church (Church Of Scotland) Including Boundary Walls And Railings (Former United Presbyterian), Newton St Boswells

A Category C Listed Building in Melrose, Scottish Borders

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Coordinates

Latitude: 55.5755 / 55°34'31"N

Longitude: -2.6668 / 2°40'0"W

OS Eastings: 358056

OS Northings: 631520

OS Grid: NT580315

Mapcode National: GBR 93TZ.F4

Mapcode Global: WH8Y2.04D2

Plus Code: 9C7VH8GM+67

Entry Name: Newtown Parish Church (Church Of Scotland) Including Boundary Walls And Railings (Former United Presbyterian), Newton St Boswells

Listing Name: Newton St Boswells, Newtown Parish Church (Church of Scotland) Including Boundary Walls and Railings (Former United Presbyterian)

Listing Date: 22 July 2010

Category: C

Source: Historic Scotland

Source ID: 400471

Historic Scotland Designation Reference: LB51566

Building Class: Cultural

ID on this website: 200400471

Location: Melrose

County: Scottish Borders

Electoral Ward: Selkirkshire

Parish: Melrose

Traditional County: Roxburghshire

Tagged with: Church building Architectural structure

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Saint Boswells

Description

John Paterson, 1867. Multi-faceted, rectangular-plan, Gothic church with three-sided, gabled apse to front flanked by square-plan, 2-stage clock tower with splayed-foot spire to W and pyramidal-roofed porch to E. Pointed-arch openings. Pink stugged ashlar sandstone to principal elevation with pale sandstone dressings. Sloping plinths; cill course; moulded eaves course. 2-light, Y-traceried window to leading face of apse; single lancet windows elsewhere. Variety of tall cast-iron finials to gables and roof.

Trefoil windows to entrance porches. Plate-traceried rose window to N gable end with bellcote to apex. Lower vestry block adjoining NE corner with tall coped stack.

Multi-pane leaded glazing in fixed timber windows. Timber-boarded and panelled doors. Grey fish-scale slates. Moulded skews to gables.

INTERIOR: Scissor-braced roof. 3-bay cast-iron arcades to aisles with cylindrical piers and traceried spandrels. N end: pulpit set within arched recess below rose window; Gothic communion table circa 1926. Box-plan pipe organ to NE corner.

Stained glass: Agnus Dei and Evangelist symbols, 1963 to aisles. Chalice and cross and XP monogram, 1965 to apse.

BOUNDARY WALLS AND RAINLINGS: Low, stepped and coped rubble wall fronting road with finialed cast-iron railings and gate.

Statement of Interest

Place of Worship in use as such. Prominently sited on high ground to the SE end of the town, making a strong contribution to the character of the area. The triple gabled apse to the principal elevation is particularly significant in this respect, and shares characteristics with other examples in the region such as Traquair, adding to its wider significance. Good quality materials are employed throughout, with the plethora of finials adding to the varied composition. The interior is characterised by a lightness of touch with slender cast-iron arcades and scissor beam ceiling, all defining its architectural interest.

The building wasd originally constructed for a United Presbyterian congregation. The bell at the N gable came from Bowden Free Church in 1879. The church contains a number of good quality fixtures including a heavy marble octagonal baptismal bowl of 1872 on a timber stand; a panel of the ministers of the church; a cradle roll and a hymn board of 1956. The vestry currently (2009) displays a photograph of the church taken shortly after its opening in 1868, revealing that the principal elevation remains unchanged other than the glazing pattern within the apse.

External Links

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