Mannofield Parish Church

Mannofield Parish Church

A cruciform-plan Gothic church designed by Jenkins and Marr and completed in 1882, situated prominently at the intersection of three roads. A hall was added to the rear by Baxter, Clark and Paul in 1910, with a further single-storey addition to the southwest dating to around 1982.

The church is constructed of tooled, squared and coursed granite with ashlar dressings. It features a chamfered base course, a string course to the east elevation, an eaves course, and Latin cross apex finials to the nave gables. A tall square tower with an octagonal spire rises at the southeast angle. The tower comprises five stages: the ground floor has a pair of glazed arrowslit windows; the second stage contains a traceried lancet window; the shallow third stage has a glazed quatrefoil opening; the fourth stage features a bellcote with a pair of lancet louvred openings; the fifth stage is an octagonal spire with a clock set within a gablet at its base, flanked by pinnacles, with trefoil detail and spouts to the spire and topped by a weathervane.

The windows are predominantly pointed-arch with geometrical traceried leaded glass and chamfered rybats with raked cills. Those to the entrance elevation have hoodmoulding and label-stops. A glazed arrowslit lights the gable apex. The aisles and chancel are buttressed, with angled buttresses to the tower.

The east (entrance) elevation is dominated by a central gable with the tower to its left and a single bay to the right. A gabled doorpiece with a Latin cross apex finial frames two-leaf panelled timber doors set within a pointed-arch surround. Above the entrance is a tripartite mullioned window with a taller central lancet. The bay to the left has a lancet window at ground floor with blind trefoil carving above.

The south elevation, facing Craigton Road, comprises five bays with a transept gable to the left, three bays of nave, and the tower to the right. The base of the tower has a shouldered flat-arched opening, with a late 20th century addition to the far left.

The north elevation, facing Countesswells Road, mirrors the east elevation except for the tower. A stylistically similar attached hall with a canted gable adjoins to the far right, with a pair of lancet windows to its angles. A later flat-roofed addition occupies the re-entrant angle between church and hall.

The roof is steeply pitched with grey slates and gableted roof vents. It features straight skew with corbelled skewputts and later rainwater goods. Windows predominantly feature stained glass, including those to the 1910 hall, though some uPVC windows have been inserted in later additions.

The boundary comprises a rubble wall with chamfered ashlar copes and square-plan piers with ashlar caps.

Interior (observed in 2012)

The interior is characterised by Gothic timber detailing throughout. The entrance vestibule features a dog-leg stone stair to the right, with a ceiling divided by shallow arches springing from corbels. Pointed-arched boarded timber doors are surmounted by a carved timber canopy. The nave and transept are spanned by timber hammerbeam roof trusses with cusped detail to the infill and stone corbels at the base. A raked timber gallery runs along the east wall, with decorative carving to its balustrade; an organ was added in the 1960s. The original timber pews feature quatrefoil detail, with those to the front having fleur-de-lys finials. Vertical timber boarding forms a dado throughout. Elaborate timber partitions enclose the doors to the former vestry. The chancel was altered in the mid-twentieth century, including the addition of a communion table. The 1910 hall features a vaulted boarded timber ceiling and timber stage, with some late 20th century remodelling having been carried out.