Documents

There are no additional online documents for this record.

Summary

Description

David Cousin, 1854, S transept added 1862, N transept 1873, chancel extended 1921, vestry built on S side of church 1929. English Gothic style, gabled church; irregular square-plan but reads as approximate cruciform; whinstone with polished honey-coloured sandstone dressings and details; stugged margins. Plate and geometric traceried windows; hoodmoulds, label stops; low, saw-tooth coped, staggered angle buttresses; base course. Steeply-pitched roofs.

E ELEVATION: broad gabled nave at centre with transepts recessed to left and right, porches set in re-entrant angles. Deep base course, tall 3-light geometric traceried window at centre; honey-coloured shouldered gabled sandstone bellcote, cross finial. Window on right return; porch set in re-entrant angle to right, Tudor-arched door, (boarded with cast-iron hinges and handle), bipartite window to right; gabled porch on left return.

S ELEVATION: 1862, symmetrical M-gable transept, 2-light geometric traceried window, figurative water spout at centre (possibly re-used from earlier building); memorial plaque at ground of outer right gable. Gabled porch to outer right, pointed arch doorway. 1929 T-plan vestry block to outer left in re-entrant angle; canted-end memorial chapel aligned SW-NE, 2-light lancets; piend-roofed block projecting to S, cruciform arrowslit window; chamfered door to right.

N ELEVATION: 1873, M-gable transept, 2-light geometric traceried window to left, window to right 3-light with tracery replaced by pierced roundels (Oliphant stained glass window removed here in 1921 following enlarging of chancel). Tall gabled block, accommodating organ, recessed in re-entrant angle against chancel to right, coped apex stack; 2-light lancet on right return. Chancel with 3-light geometric traceried window at centre.

Leaded and stained glass windows. Grey slate roof, ashlar ridging, ashlar coping to skews.

INTERIOR: The interior with exceptional stained glass. Chancel rubble with dark wood dado, transepts painted, box-pew type seating. High, pointed chancel arch; stained glass chancel window serves as Rosneath and Clynder War Memorial, Stephen Adams, Glasgow; carving of Last Supper below window by Meredith Williams, donated by Princess Louisa 1931. Organ to right gifted by Princess Louisa in 1875, 2 Manual Tracker organ set on carved wooden casing made by Hills. Queen Victoria's bible rests on altar table, gifted by Princess Louisa in 1917; communion cups, 1585 AD by John Mosman, Edinburgh. At N side of chancel arch is St Modan's stone. Bell in N transept, taken from old church, inscribed 'Ian Burgerhuis me fecit 1610 Soli dei Gloria?; window in N transept donated by Mrs Oliphant, 19th century author, was former chancel window. Window to John Leod Campbell in E gable. 2 windows in S transept by Dr Douglas Strachan, 1908 and 1915. Former reredos of 10 commandments painted in cloth over wood now on E wall of S transept, by A Maitland 1862.

Statement of Special Interest

St Modan's church was designed in 1854 by David Cousin who designed a number of churches on the west coast. The church was built to replace the now ruined kirk of 1780 which is listed separately.

The church commands a central site in the Rosneath village conservation area. It has some interesting historical associations and has a fine interior with some good stained glass windows. The 1610 Burgerhuis bell was used in 1715 to call parishioners to the first Jacobite rising, and was apparently mentioned in Walter Scott's "Heart of Midlothian". The reredos of the Last Supper was gifted in 1931 by Princess Loiuse in memory of the 8th and 9th Dukes of Argyll, the artist Meredith Williams and his wife designed the frieze in the Memorial Chapel in Edinburgh Castle.

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.