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Summary

Description

1857, John Anderson of Galston (mason) & William Scott of Kilmarnock (joiner); spire 1888. 5-bay, rectangular-plan gothic parish church with octagonal 2-stage tower with slated spire to S corner, shouldered buttresses, pointed-arch windows and church hall to rear. Squared pink Galston sandstone with ashlar dressings. Base course; discontinuous string course to SW (entrance) elevation; 3 string courses, arcaded frieze and eaves cornice to tower. Chamfered margins to windows; pointed-arch windows and shouldered half- buttresses to side elevations; full-height stepped buttresses to corners; quatrefoil-headed windows to tower; pilaster quoins to upper stage of tower;4 pilastered gables for clock faces at base of spire; gabled louvres to spire. 2-leaf timber-panelled entrance door with strap hinges to centre of SW elevation in double-chamfered pointed-arch architrave with hoodmould and flanking gabled buttresses; 5-light traceried window above door.

Predominantly 20-pane glazing in timber windows. Octagonal stack to rear gable. Lead ball-finial to spire. Ashlar-coped skews. Graded grey slate with bands of fish-scale slating to main roof. Cast-iron rainwater goods with decorative hoppers.

INTERIOR: Curved stone staircase in tower to gallery. Timber gallery supported on cast-iron columns. Ceiling beams with decorative bosses; plain supporting corbels. 2 stained glass windows to NE depicting Jesus under inscription 'Feed My Sheep' and John the Baptist with inscription 'Prepare Ye The Way'. Scots Pine gothic pulpit, communion table, lectern, font and chairs. Timber pews. War Memorial stained glass window depicting St George and other saints in organ screen (see Notes). 1875 organ by Forster and Andrews of Hull in gothic carved timber organ case with stencilled and gilt organ pipes (see Notes).

BOUNDARY WALL: round-coped random rubble boundary wall to SE; dwarf round-coped boundary wall to SW.

CHURCH HALL: Gabled hall to rear, linked to church by vestry. Pointed-arch windows; peind-roofed session room adjoining hall to SE. 1974 addition to NE.

Statement of Special Interest

Ecclesiastical building in use as such. Built as a Free Church, and formerly known as The Reid Memorial Church. A simple, but well-detailed church standing in a prominent position on the main road through Crookedholm, near Hurlford Bridge. The church was erected in 1857 for the relatively new mining communities of Hurlford and Crookedholm on land donated by the Duke of Portland. The total cost of the church and hall was about £1340, and they are the only buildings to be built of Galston sandstone: the quarry seems to have been opened specifically to provide stone for the church, and was closed when the church was built. When the spire was added in 1888 the quarry was re-opened to provide matching stone. Although the plans for the church are held in the church safe, access to them was not possible at the time of visiting (2004), and the architect is unknown. The church was formerly called the Reid Memorial Church after the first minister and his son, whose joint ministry spanned 70 years. A marble plaque in memory to the elder William Reid is fixed to the wall behind the pulpit. In 1996 the congregations of this church and Hurlford Kirk (Church of Scotland) were merged, and Hurlford Kirk was closed. The memorial stained glass window and the organ were taken from Hurlford Kirk at that time, and re-located in their present position. The organ is one of the best (possibly the best) in Scotland and the makers, Forster and Andrews of Hull, were the leading organ builders of their period. The company was active between 1843 and 1956, and during that period constructed over 13000 organs, very few of which survive today in their original condition. The organ has 1056 pipes, and weighs over 2 tons.

References

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