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Summary

Description

G T Ewing, 1882. First/Second Pointed gothic church with tall attached NW bell tower; 7-bay aisled nave with dividing buttresses and apsidal chapel to E. Squared and snecked bull-faced rubble with ashlar dressings. 3-stage sawtooth-coped battered buttresses, pinnacled buttresses and full-height angle buttresses to bell tower. Chamfered plinth; moulded string courses and eaves course. Plate traceried and dial traceried windows; continuous hoodmould; voussoirs, chamfered reveals and stone mullions. Timber doors with decorative ironwork brackets.

SW (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: symmetrical tall-gabled elevation with continuous hoodmould across 1st stage. Deeply-moulded doorcase to centre with narrow lights in flanking bays, tall 2nd stage with hoodmoulded full-height triple lancet window and flanking pinnacled buttresses, moulded glazed oculus in cross-finialled gablehead. Slightly set-back low flanking aisles, each with bipartite window. Bell tower (see below) to outer left.

BELL TOWER: 5-stage gabled bell tower nearly free standing with unusual upper stages. Tall 1st stage with string courses and traceried window to SW giving way to 2nd stage with 2 narrow lights to each face and set-back 3rd stage with 3 similar narrow lights set into large tripartite frame; further set-back tall 4th (belfry) stage with bipartite opening and surmounting small blind 5-part arcade to each face; cornice and angle water spouts giving way to gabled top stage with blind rose window below tiny gunloop to each face and diminutive lead spire with cockerel weathervane.

SE ELEVATION: single stage nave aisle in 4 bays to left with deep-set door to outer left and 3 raised-centre trefoil-headed tripartite windows to right, taller M-gable beyond with 2 large traceried windows; recessed face of clerestory above with 6 small dial windows and tall traceried window to outer right (bay 7). Lower bay to outer right (extending beyond main church) with trefoil-headed tripartite window. Diminutive triangular ventilators to roof pitch.

NE (CHANCEL) ELEVATION: canted elevation with traceried window high up to each face and cross-finialled polygonal roof over. Low flanking bays, that to left with boarded timber door and plate glass fanlight linking church with projecting apsidal bay with trefoil-headed tripartite window; set-back bay to right with similar door and adjacent narrow light to left and small bipartite to right.

NW ELEVATION: mirrors SE elevation but with low piended bay to outer left and bell tower projecting at right.

Leaded multi-pane glazing; stained glass see below. Small grey slates with decorative terracotta ridge tiles. Ashlar-coped skews with mitre and flat skewputts. Cast-iron downpipes with decorative rainwater hoppers and fixings.

INTERIOR: small gallery to SW. Boarded timber vaulted ceiling to narthex with dog-leg stone staircase and memorial tablets including War Memorials. Wide nave with pointed-arch arcaded side aisles, circular columns and uncut capitals, clerestory windows set deeply into pointed-arch openings with raked cills and continuous hoodmould; kingpost barrel roof. Boarded timber dadoes and fixed timber pews. Chancel with arcaded Communion Table, decorative panelling and full-width organ; carved white stone pulpit and font, each on granite base with coloured marble columns.

STAINED GLASS: much fine stained glass including St Michael Window to SW; memorial window by M Kemp, 1950, dedicated to the 'Parents' of 'Duncan Kay and Catherine Mason Sinclair', the infant Jesus with Mary and Joseph flanked by scenes from the nativity; and memorial to 'A REVERED PARENT JOHN DEWAR AN ELDER OF THIS CHURCH' (died 1889) depicting elaborately winged angels flanking haloed figure with scythe. 2 tripartite windows to Session House, 1 with Mary and infant Jesus to centre light flanked by praying children, other with children and animals.

BOUNDARY WALLS, GATEPIERS, GATES AND LAMPS: stepped ashlar-coped squared rubble boundary walls; square section ashlar gatepiers with trefoil-detailed gablet caps and 2-leaf decorative ironwork gates. Pair of decorative cast-iron lamps with small-pane glazed lanterns.

Statement of Special Interest

Ecclesiastical building in use as such. Built at a cost of ?4,500 with seating for 1000, St Michael's Parish Church is the only one of four Parish Churches in Crieff still in use (2001). Nearby St Andrew's is now used as the church hall, the South Church has become an Antiques Centre and the West Church (St Ninian's) is now a Church of Scotland training centre. Apparently the competition winning entry of 1879 by McLeran of London was never executed. Competition details were published in THE BUILDER (1899), pp1235, 1289. The entrance elevation of St Michael's is a variant of that at Dunblane Cathedral.

References

Bibliography

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