Description
John Henderson of Edinburgh, 1837-9. Rectangular-plan 5-bay
Gothic church; interior remodelled and single bay narrow
chancel added (?1878) with porches and vestry in re-entrant
angles. Red ashlar. Principal S gable elevation to St Mary
Street divided by pinnacled buttresses into nave and aisles,
pointed central doorway in shallow porch, 3 tall lights above
(with secondary glazing protecting leaded windows) with timber
cusping, pierced parapet linked to 2-stage square apex belfry
with spire. Door to S end of both flank walls. Slate roofs.
Interior: renovated and re-seated 1878 by Crombie brothers;
gallery to 3 sides with cusped-panelled front, and supported
on clustered cast-iron columns, upper tier columns with
foliated capitals support thin arcade separating nave and
aisles. Timber ceilings; leaded windows including memorial to
Captain James Anderson of the "Great Eastern"; artists include
Wm Meikle and Sons, and J T Stewart and J E C Carr. Good
(gothic) brass lectern (1907). Organ by J J Binns, Leeds.
Churchyard: boundary lined by continuous series of headstones;
many good monuments, mostly with classical details, some
with pediments; burial place of Captain James Anderson of
the "Great Eastern". Some fragments of Christopher's chapel
near main church door, and 1777 (dated) sundial on later
pedestal. Massive gatepiers to roadside, retaining walls,
steps, and cast-iron gates.
Statement of Special Interest
Ecclesiastical building in use as such. On or near site of Christopher's chapel, founded by Christiana, sister of King
Robert the Bruce, in memory of her husband, Sir Christopher
Seton, who was executed on that spot for alleged complicity
in the slaughter of Comyn. Chapel was dismantled in 1715 and
the stones used to help fortify the town.
References
Bibliography
Information regarding Crombie brothers courtesy of Buildings
of Scotland Research Unit.
Groome, GAZETTEER, n.d. (2nd ed), Vol II, p. 392.
NMRS - photo elevation drawing. W MacDowall, HISTORY OF
DUMFRIES, 1867, p. 699. G Hay, ARCHITECTURE OF SCOTTISH
POST-REFORMATION CHURCHES, 1957, pp. 126, 253.
Dickie, DUMFRIES, n.d. (3rd ed), p. 116.
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Printed: 16/06/2024 21:31