Description
A Scottish Episcopalian church, built in 1982-84 to designs by Frank Burnet, Bell and Partners. It includes an adjoining, asymmetrical interlinked arrangement of church hall, offices and rectory, of pale orange brick construction, forming a Z-plan. The building is located on a rocky outcrop in a residential area of Port Glasgow.
The church hall and offices adjoin to the north of the church. The rectory adjoins the complex to the northwest and is set around a recessed courtyard area.
The church has a distinctive A-frame roof structure, rising to a gabled peak to the east elevation. There is an apsidal sanctuary projection with a lean-to roof light at the east end and a smaller, lower baptistry projects from the west end. The former bronze-coloured, standing seam roofing panels were replaced by a grey membrane covering in 2021. The rectory retains its bronze roof panelling (2024).
The interior of the church and church halls (seen 2019) have dark stained woodwork, including a steam moulded and glued, laminated timber frame roof structure which appears as the massive hull of an upturned boat. A glazed waffle-grid screen separates the northside chapel. There are exposed, reconstituted stone block walls and dark timber parquet floors. The vestibule has a timber-panelled ceiling and louvred windows.
There are some features salvaged from the earlier church of St Mary The Virgin (located near Newark Castle). These include a carved altar, carved font, a stone dated 1856, an eagle lectern and carved timber pews. Stained-glass windows from the earlier church are set within later 20th century surrounds. The names of those killed in the two World Wars appear on the front of the choir stalls. The small side chapel (Epiphany Chapel) to the north has stained glass representing the Three Kings and an icon of the Virgin and Child.
There are plain brick gatepiers and a brick boundary wall with stone coping at the south entrance to the church from Bardrainney Avenue.
Historical development
The church opened in 1984. It replaced an earlier Episcopal Church of St Mary the Virgin, with parsonage and schoolhouse (built 1856-7 and located near Newark Castle), which was demolished in 1977 as part of the A8 dual-carriageway development scheme.
Strathclyde Regional Council met the cost of the new church, which was designed by Frank Burnett, Bell and Partners in 1982 (The Scotsman, 1982). A condition was placed that the stained-glass windows and some of the dedicated furniture and fittings from the old church should be incorporated into the new building.
The metal roof covering in bronzed finish was replaced with a grey plastic membrane covering in 2021. The roof light above the altar was also replaced at this time.
The church complex is otherwise little altered and continues to operate as a place of worship (2024).
Statement of Special Interest
St Mary The Virgin Episcopal Church including adjoining hall and rectory, and boundary wall, meets the criteria of special architectural or historic interest for the following reasons:
- For its high-quality interior design, incorporating fixtures and fittings salvaged from its predecessor building.
- As a little altered example of a church of the later modern period that retains all its original ancillary components and setting.
Design
Dating from 1982-84, the design of the church complex has linked geometric forms, pared-back detailing, and a bespoke, modular plan-form. These are features typical of modern church architecture that was first developed in the early post-war period from the 1950s onwards. Influenced by liturgical reform, Modernist architectural planning and the availability of new materials, this new design treatment for churches became widespread and increasingly standard by the 1970s.
The design of St Mary The Virgin Episcopalian Church is also typical of many churches of the late1970s and early 1980s that were built after the initial experimental phase in post-war church architecture. The brick construction, irregular plan form and modular components are characteristic of this period.
The church is set apart from others, however, by the quality of its interior. The high, A-frame roof structure of the main body of the church creates a tall and distinctive internal space, which is evocative of boat hull. The design motif of a boat resonates with the local area which is known for its shipping and ship building industries but also represents symbolic Christian references.
Exposed, pale concrete block walls contrast with the dark-stained timber ceiling, and the effect of the simple, pared-back materials is enhanced by combined natural and artificial light. Additional interest comes from the integration and display of salvaged fixtures and fittings, including the stained-glass windows of the previous St Mary The Virgin church.
The building is an unusual example of a later 20th century church design by Frank Burnet, Bell & Partners. This architectural practice was established in 1961 but derived from earlier practices originating from Frank Burnet (1846-1923). William Douglas and James Rennie were the senior partners at the time when the St Mary The Virgin Episcopal Church was designed and built.
While the replacement of the bronze-coloured, raised seam roof cladding lessens the authenticity and completeness of the building, especially when seen from higher view points, the complex is otherwise little-altered.
Setting
The church complex stands within landscaped grounds on an elevated site beside Kilmacolm Road in the eastern part of Port Glasgow. Access is from Bardrainney Avenue, and the wider setting is a residential area. The setting has not changed significantly since the church was completed in 1984.
The church has prominence within its suburban setting due to its high A-frame roof, and its distinctive architectural design. This prominence within a suburban setting is typical of the building type.
Adjoining the church are a hall, offices and rectory and there is a boundary wall to the site. These are all of the same date, materials and design - together they form a good group of ecclesiastical structures that enhance the special interest of the church.
Age and rarity
Churches are a prolific building type, with thousands of examples surviving across Scotland. Those dating from the post-war period are not rare and a significant number survive and remain in use as places of worship.
Built in 1982-84, St Mary The Virgin Episcopal Church post-dates the main phase of post-war church construction and innovation that accompanied the development of Scotland's New Towns and the expansion of suburbs in the decades after the Second World War. By the 1980s, fewer new areas of housing were being built and the period of architectural innovation for new churches was largely over. New churches from this time – often built as replacements - tended to be smaller and more utilitarian in design (Hume, scotlandschurchestrust.org.uk).
While St Mary The Virgin Episcopal Church is not of a rare building type, its design quality for this period, particularly of the interior, is unusual.
Social historical interest
Social historical interest is the way a building contributes to our understanding of how people lived in the past, and how our social and economic history is shown in a building and/or in its setting.
Because they are found in every community, all churches by their nature will have some level of social historical interest but will not be of special interest for this reason alone.
Built to replace the earlier St Mary's in Port Glasgow, the design and construction of this church to an integrated design, incorporating fixtures from the older church, reflects continuity of local provision for a place of worship.
Association with people or events of national importance
There is no association with a person or event of national importance.