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Summary

Description

William Paterson, 1932-5. 2-storey obtuse L-plan Anglo-Dutch Renaissance style church with prominent shaped gables and 3-arch stylised Corinthian columned porch. Church oriented S to N with gable end to Queensferry Road, attached church hall to rear (S) oriented E to W. Harled with some sandstone ashlar dressings. Banded cill course at ground floor and corniced eaves course (except to rear (S) elevation). Large shaped gable to N (Queensferry Road) elevation, similar smaller gable breaking wallhead to W Elevation with doorway at ground floor and cartouche (from previous church at Bristo Place).

FURTHER DESCRIPTION: advanced, single storey arcaded Corinthian columned porch at ground floor to N (Queensferry Road); large window above with moulded architrave and bracketed semi-circular broken apex pediment with moulded foliate panel; small arrowslit with shaped surround to gable apex. Similar gabled porch in re-entrant angle to E (Buckingham Terrace) with large shouldered arched window over corniced doorway. Regular fenestration with large 2-storey windows to church, single sandstone mullion to centre; keystoned shouldered arched surrounds. Regular rectangular windows to church hall with raised sandstone ashlar surrounds (except to rear (S) elevation); some narrow rectangular windows and some large timber transomed and mullioned windows to S elevation.

Small pane leaded windows to church; predominantly small pane glazing in timber sash and case windows to church hall. Steeply pitched roof; clay tiles. Small harled stack to rear (S) elevation. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: simple interior believed to contain high combed ceiling and large flat shouldered arch to rear with Art Deco organ screen. Organ 1888 by D and T Hamilton, built for St. James Place Church but rebuilt in Bristo Baptist Church by C. P. Scovell in 1935. Large marble baptismal tank.

Statement of Special Interest

Place of worship in use as such. Bristo Baptist Church is a large church building on a prominent corner site, with a dramatic curvilinear gable terminating the vista up Orchard Brae and lining one of the principal routes into Edinburgh city centre. The site was originally for the planned extension of Buckingham Terrace, but this was never completed. The congregation of the Bristo Baptist Church dates from 1765, although it only moved to the Queensferry Road site in 1935 on the completion of the church. Previous to this the congregation had met in a chapel on Bristo Place and this is the reason for retention of 'Bristo' in the naming of the new church.

William Paterson worked predominantly for the Office of Works, before later forming a partnership with the former master of works William Thomas Oldrieve. He is probably most famous for the design of the head office of the Edinburgh Savings bank at 28 Hanover Street (see separate listing); although he did complete other work in Edinburgh, including another branch of the Edinburgh Savings Bank on Abbeyhill.

List description revised as part of resurvey (2009).

References

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