Documents

There are no additional online documents for this record.

Summary

Description

William Leiper (Melvin and Leiper), won in competition, 1865-66. Normandy Gothic church, steeple 195ft (60m). Nave, aisles, chancel, transeptal galleries, 4-stage tower, spire. Coursed rubble with ashlar dressings. Buttressed. Set on plinth.

Entrance front: arched, gabletted, moulded doorway with colonettes, at base of tower. Flanking tripartite aisle windows with geometrical tracery.

Elevation to E: ground floor plate tracery windows with hoodmoulds separated by buttresses, 5 gabletted gallery windows above with geometrical tracery; raked cill band; bipartite pointed window in S bay with central colonette and responds and zig-zag hoodmould, pointed arched entrance with sculpted tympanum.

Tower: 2nd stage plate tracery, 3rd stage blind arcade with tall colonettes, 4th stage bellcote with linked bipartite plate traceried openings, spire with angle lucarnes and plate-traceried openings, tall stone spire. Low, 2-storey halls and offices to rear at N; linking section with lancets in arches at ground floor. N office section with 2-storey polygonal attached turret at NW corner. Hipped roofs with half dormers.

Interior: very wide span church, galleried on cast-iron columns, cusped, carved balcony front. Plate-traceried W rose window. Arcaded, canopied pulpit with parapet, bowed in centre with continuous dwarf columns. Columned stair screens to left and right of vestibule. Stained glass by Daniel Cottier, traces of original stencil decorative scheme.

Statement of Special Interest

Built in 1865-6 as a United Presbyterian church this was the first major commission for the important architect William Leiper. Designed in a Normandy Gothic style, it has a remarkably striking steeple and it also has a very high quality interior with painted decoration and stained glass by the artist Daniel Cottier. It was converted by the Four Acres Charitable Trust from 1989 into the Cottier Theatre with a performance venue in the church and café/bar in the hall and operated from 1994 to 2004 when a restoration programme was begun. No longer a place of worship.

References from previous list description: Gomme and Walker, 1968, p 291. Information by courtesy of Buildings of Scotland Research Unit. Williamson, Riches and Higgs, GLASGOW (1990) p356.

List description updated as part of the Theatres Thematic Study 2010.

References

Bibliography

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.