Former Parish Church, Main Road, Cardross

The former Parish Church at Main Road, Cardross, was built between 1826 and 1827 by James Dempster. It was severely damaged by bombing in 1941 and subsequently preserved as a ruin and monument in 1954. The church features a Gothic tower with flanking buttressed bays, and a surrounding wall standing to cill level, marking the original rectangular plan. The building is faced in ashlar with ashlar margins and dressings, and a battered base course.

The north-west elevation and tower are two-stage, topped by a crenellated parapet, angle buttresses, and spikey pinnacles with crocketted finials. Pointed arch, three-light plate traceried windows, symmetrically disposed at each stage, are a prominent feature, connected by a string course. A moulded, pointed arch doorway is set into the right return, now blocked with a later hoodmould featuring red sandstone carved mask labelstops; a plaque with a floreate boss sits above the door. A window at the upper stage has the same detailing. Symmetrical flanking bays incorporate hoodmoulded lancet windows and ashlar parapets to skews. A low, square-plan block in the re-entrant angle to the left was formerly the boiler room.

The south-west and north-east elevations show the remains of a partially carried original wall, including a chamfered window surround and sections of hoodmoulds. A 1954 wall has been constructed to cill level, mirroring the original walls.

The south-east (inner) elevation displays a rubble wall to the tower, with a partially blocked doorway at ground level and a blocked, three-centred, pointed window at the upper level.

The entrance is marked by gabletted ashlar gatepiers, recessed panels, arrowhead cast-iron gates, and a wrought-iron overthrow with a lantern. A squared sandstone rubble wall, incorporating harl and cement pointing, forms the boundary.

The graveyard contains numerous interesting 17th, 18th, and 19th century grave monuments.

Two early 19th century, rectangular-plan burial enclosures stand side-by-side against the north-west wall. They are constructed in ashlar, with a base course, sandstone eaves course, and crenellated coped parapets. Each enclosure features a red sandstone pediment with an armorial plaque at the centre, a central door, and flanking ashlar oval plaques. One enclosure bears the inscription "Charles Johnston 1827" on its right oval plaque, with a blank plaque on the left. A modern galvanised roof sits above a boarded door, and gunloops are present. The other enclosure is roofless and doorless, with a faded inscription on the door lintel and blank ovals flanking it. A table monument to John Innes is located inside.

In the north-east corner, a pink sandstone gothic wall monument commemorates the Burn family. It features a trefoil-headed blind arcade along two sides, set on a low plinth wall and enclosed by railings (now mostly removed). The arcade is supported by colonettes and terminates in sawtooth, gabletted pier buttresses; a "B" is inscribed in the gablet. Engraved pink granite panels are situated in the arches of the back wall, with an armorial plaque above the right-hand arch. Grey granite Greek cross discs are found in the squinches.

Along the west boundary wall are the remains of several early 17th and 18th century monuments.