Listed Building

The only legal part of the listing under the Planning (Listing Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 is the address/name of site. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing – see 'About Listed Buildings' below for more information. The further details below the 'Address/Name of Site' are provided for information purposes only.

Address/Name of Site

ROSEWELL, CARNETHIE STREET, ST MATTHEW RC CHURCH INCLUDING PRESBYTERY, BOUNDARY WALLS, GATEWAY AND CLOISTERSLB13024

Status: Designated

Documents

There are no additional online documents for this record.

Summary

Category
B
Date Added
22/01/1971
Local Authority
Midlothian
Planning Authority
Midlothian
Parish
Lasswade
NGR
NT 29049 63043
Coordinates
329049, 663043

Description

Archibald Macpherson, 1925; cloisters by Reginald Fairlie, 1935. Single storey, symmetrical 5-bay galleried Byzantine style church with prominent corbelled gable, centre advanced and canted. Transept to NE and presbytery attached to SW transept. Brick with ashlar and patterned brick dressings. Base course; dentilled eaves course; raised, stepped brick eaves course to gable angles; clasping buttresses to angles.

SE (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: 5-bay church elevation to right with 4 bay presbytery elevation and linking transept, set back to left. CHURCH FRONT: full-height canted bay to centre: bipartite, round-headed window at ground with circular light above; round-arched windows flanking. Tall round-arched window above corbelling to gablehead with crucifix indented above; round-arched windows flanking. Round-arched doorpiece at ground in bays flanking with raised ogival hood-mould above; 2-leaf boarded door (louvered to left); round-arched window above. Round-arched window to flanking aisle bays to outer left and right. PRESBYTERY ELEVATION: advanced 2-bay block to centre: segmental-arched doorway with deep-set part-glazed door and glazing surround and window to right flanking at ground in bay to right of centre; bipartite window at 1st floor above. Window at ground in bay to left of centre; window at 1st floor above. Window to each floor in bay set back to outer left. Linking transept bay to outer right: window at ground; bipartite window above.

NW (REAR) ELEVATION: irregular 7-bay, divided 4 (church rear to left)

3 (presbytery rear to right). CHURCH REAR: Chancel bay to centre: advanced, buttressed full-height gabled belfry tower to centre; window at 1st stage; pointed-arched window at 2nd stage; twin, louvered, point-arched openings with vescia opening above to 3rd stage; twin flanking wallhead stacks breaking eaves of dormer set back behind with stepped links above. Gabled bay (vestry) to right of centre: window to each side of gable eaves; hexagonal light to gablehead above. Blank mono-pitch bay set back to left of centre. Wide bay set back further to outer left: round-arched window with circular light above with small light to left. PRESBYTERY REAR: irregular 3-bay with gabled bay to centre, bay set back to left and canted bay to right: advanced, full- height canted stair bay to right of centre. Lean-to 4-centred arched shelter in angle to left; various level stair lights above; pitched dormer windows to returns. Lean-to shelter in re-entrant angle in centre bay; window above; bipartite window at 1st floor above; gablbehead stack above. Pitched, 2-stage bay, set back to left of centre: twin windows at 1st stage; mono-pitch roof to 2nd stage; bipartite window above.

NE (TRANSEPT) ELEVATION: 8-bay, regular aisle elevation, grouped

2-2-2-2, with 5-bay, asymmetrical transept elevation advanced to outer right. Window to each bay. 2-bay group to outer left advanced. Half buttresses between remaining 2-bay groups. Transept elevation: window at ground in bay to centre; window to gablehead with hexagonal light above. Windows at each level flanking. Windows at ground in bays to outer left and right. Gablet wallhead stack truncating eaves to outer right. Pitched bay breaking eaves and invading re-entrant angle to left return; window at ground; bipartite window above. Segmental arched doorpiece with 2-leaf boarded door to right.

SW ELEVATION INCLUDING SIDE ELEVATION OF PRESBYTERY: 13-bay, divided

5 (presbytery side to left) 8 (aisle elevation to right). PRESBYTERY SIDE: tripartite window at ground in bay to centre; tripartite window at 1st floor above. Window at ground in bay to right of centre; window at 1st floor above. Advanced, 2-bay gabled bay to outer right: full-height, raised stack, breaking gablehead to centre; windows flanking to each floor; window to each floor in left return. Single storey bay with attic to outer left: window at ground; dormer window above. AISLE ELEVATION: regular 8-bay, grouped 2-2-2-2. Window to each bay; 2-bay group to outer right advanced. Half buttresses between remaining 2-bay groups.

INTERIOR: brick. Baptistery located in full-height narthex to SE; rectangular-plan vestibule with gallery above separated from nave by triple round-arched colonnade with glazed infill. Exposed, timber framed roof with short hammer beams. Nave flanked by 5-bay round-arched arcades; carved wooden Stations of the Cross over the piers. Organ set behind 4th arch in aisle to NE. Axial arches to transepts with median arch spanning crossing area; square-plan chancel behind; pointed chancel arch with sacristy recessed into bell tower behind and spanned by 3 further arches; point-arched niches and saints flanking timber altar with blind fretwork to centre of chancel. Square-plan galleried transept to NE with vestry below. Transept to SW giving access to presbytery. Stone, multi-columned communion rail; arcaded brick pulpit to NE of crossing; timber pews.

Plate glass round arched windows; fixed rectangular windows and 2 pane tilt windows to presbytery; red tiled roof with ridge; piended red pantile roof to presbytery; red tiles and ridge to cloisters; pitched, tiled and coped brick stacks; cast-iron rainwater goods.

BOUNDARY WALL, GATEWAY AND CLOISTERS: brick, double-sided round-arched gateway with swept skews and pitched link between. Brick boundary wall to SE with pitched and tiled cope, plain to road, blind, round-arched colonnade to inward face. Continuous cloisters to remaining boundary with tiled, pitched canopy and square-plan corner pavilions with pyramidal roofs; archway to centre of NW colonnade.

Statement of Special Interest

According to Thomas, the church was built using local volunteer labour. The impressive interior is achieved through the almost sculptural use of brick and careful manipulation of light. The cloisters were designed by Reginald Fairlie in 1935 and, according to the church warden, were built in order to keep the local brickworks open with continuous demand. McWilliam comments on the church's "odd profile like the bow of a ship". According to a plaque, the organ was made by D & I Hamilton in 1864, enlarged in 1890 and moved from St James', Leith in 1980.

References

Bibliography

C McWilliam, LOTHIAN (1978) p408; JThomas, MIDLOTHIAN RIAS GUIDE (1995) p50.

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.

If part of a building is not listed, it will say that it is excluded in the statutory address and in the statement of special interest in the listed building record. The statement will use the word 'excluding' and quote the relevant section of the 1997 Act. Some earlier listed building records may use the word 'excluding', but if the Act is not quoted, the record has not been revised to reflect subsequent legislation.

Listed building consent is required for changes to a listed building which affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest. The relevant planning authority is the point of contact for applications for listed building consent.

Find out more about listing and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.

Images

There are no images available for this record, you may want to check Canmore for images relating to ROSEWELL, CARNETHIE STREET, ST MATTHEW RC CHURCH INCLUDING PRESBYTERY, BOUNDARY WALLS, GATEWAY AND CLOISTERS

There are no images available for this record.

Search Canmore

Printed: 28/03/2024 20:52