Description
A 6-bay, rectangular-plan, gabled church converted in 1867 from an 1840s ironworks engine house and an adjoining, circa 1867, lower, single-storey 5-bay former manse to southeast (Kirklee Cottage). The two buildings form the northwest corner of an L-plan run of adjoining single-storey cottages. The buildings are stugged, coursed, rubble and have smooth margins, raised cills and overhanging eaves. Both buildings have purple slates and there is a ridge chimney stack to the cottage.
The church has a lower porch to northwest and a bellcote on the gable above. There is a 2-leaf timber entrance door on the east elevation of the porch, set within a corniced door surround. The windows are mostly fixed, large, multi-pane timber windows with two horizontal panels of plate glass above 6 panes below.
Kirklee Cottage has a central timber entrance door with fanlight above to the west elevation. There are 4- over 6-pane timber lying-pane timber sash and case windows to the west elevation and replacement windows to the east. There is a later, flat-roofed extension to the east.
The interiors were seen in 2016. The church has a central row of pews with two side aisles. There is a wide, kingpost timber roof and a timber boarded gallery to the north, supported by iron columns. The east wall has an infilled round-arch. The doors are panelled timber doors and some have decorative metal grills above. A curved staircase with metal barley sugar twist balusters leads to the gallery.
Kirklee Cottage has some simple plaster cornicing and decorative ceiling roses in the main public rooms.
There is a square-plan brick outhouse in the garden of the cottage with a slated, piended roof.
Statement of Special Interest
Lugar Parish Church is an unusual, 1867 conversion of an 1840s engine shed which adjoins its former 1860s manse. As one of the few former 1840s ironworks buildings remaining in Lugar, the church is a tangible link to the village's industrial past. Little altered externally, the buildings form a distinctive end to a group of 19th century cottages contributing to the historic character of the village. Both buildings retain some decorative features in their overhanging eaves, church bellcote and the long, low roofline and lying-pane glazing pattern of the cottage windows
Age and Rarity
Lugar Parish church was converted to a church in 1867 from an 1840s engine repair shed, which had been part of the first ironworks company to settle in Lugar. Kirklee Cottage, which was the former manse to the church is likely to be the same date as the conversion of the property into a church. The 1st Edition Ordnance Survey Map, surveyed in 1857, depicts a rectangular building on the site of the church, but at this stage, it was separate from buildings to the south. By the 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey Map, which was surveyed in 1895, there is a defined L-plan of houses with the church identified at the northern end. This corresponds to the current footprint of the church and adjacent houses. Kirklee Cottage is the cottage adjoining the church. The other cottages are listed separately at category B (LB956).
The former ironworks at Lugar was established following the strategic expansion of the Dundyvan Ironworks of Coatbridge to exploit the recently discovered local blackband ironstone. In 1856, this company sold the works to William Baird and Company, which was one of the major ironworking firms of the era. Iron production at Lugar stopped briefly from 1857-1864 and re-opened in the 1860s, in response to an increasing demand for iron. However by this time, the company had decided to relocate the works up the hill to the north of Lugar village and began trading in Ayrshire as the Eglinton Iron Company, operating until 1928. The majority of the buildings related to the ironworks, including the housing, have been demolished.
The church opened in 1867 initially as a chapel-of-ease (Church of Scotland). The 1840s engine shed provided a suitable footprint and shell for its conversion into a church building and appears to have retained the plan form, elevations and roof of the original building with the addition of a bellcote, the insertion of large windows and a new interior in 1867 arranged for Presbyterian worship. The grouping of stone-built cottages which includes the manse (Kirklee Cottage) date from 1867 to around the late 19th century. The church and manse were gifted to the Church of Scotland in the early 1900s. The church was joined with St Ninians, Netherthird, Cumnock in 1961 and the manse then became a private house.
Lugar parish church is an unusual building for its conversion from its former industrial use first dating to 1840s – an early date for buildings connected with ironworks and a rare survival in the local area. Along with its associated manse, it is largely unaltered from the date of its conversion in 1867 and continues to contribute to a historically interesting group (See Architectural or Historic Interest below).
Architectural or Historic Interest
Interior
The cornicing and ceiling roses in the cottage are standard features for a house which would have been of a relatively high status in the village. The room at the north end of the cottage is currently used by the church as a vestry.
The internal layout in the church, with three rows of pews and two aisles is typical, as is the gallery to the rear for a small church building of its date. The infilled archway to the east wall was previously an opening to allow engines to enter and is a visible reminder of the previous industrial function of the building. The open timber roof is a feature of the building, and whilst not uncommon, it adds visual interest to the interior.
Plan form
The gabled, rectangular form of the church is of a standard plan form for both a small industrial building as well as a small village church. The position of the former manse, adjoining the immediate south of the building and which in turn becomes the end of a row of other single-storey cottages, lying further to the south, is more unusual.
Technological excellence or innovation, material or design quality
Whilst the materials and design of the church are not remarkable in terms of church design, the reuse of a former industrial building is of interest. This is particularly the case as the building is one of the only remaining structures in the area associated with the original 1840s ironworks.
Kirklee Cottage has retained its long, low, continuous roofline and its lying-pane glazing pattern to the windows in the west elevation and both these features add to the interest of the property.
The outbuilding in the garden of the cottage is thought to have been a former laundry (2nd edition Ordnance Survey map). As a building of some status, the manse had its own laundry.
Setting
The 19th century buildings form the northern end of an L-plan group of single-storey cottages in the village of Lugar. Kirklee Cottage is part of a continuous run of single-storey cottages of similar date which extend to the south and east, and the church, which is taller, is a distinctive end building. The buildings are prominently located in the village and contribute to a historically interesting group related to the village's industrial past.
Regional variations
There are no known regional variations in the design of the property.
Close Historical Associations
There are no known associations with nationally important people or events.
The church is important locally as one of the few remaining buildings of the original 1840s ironworks at Lugar.
Statutory address, category of listing and listed building record revised in 2016. Previously listed as 'Kirkton Cottage'. Category changed from B to C in 2016.