West Free Church, Argyle Street, Rothesay, Bute

Charles Wilson, 1846-7. Symmetrical 3- by 6-bay Romanesque style church with 3-stage entrance tower beneath octagonal spire centred in 'nave-and-aisles' gable to NE; flanking flat-roofed bays advanced to right and left; canted apse centred at rear; piended single storey addition to SW. Slightly droved, coursed yellow sandstone ashlar; polished sandstone dressings. Raised, roll-moulded plinth; architraved cill course; dentilled eaves. Polished surrounds to round-arched bipartite openings; columnar mullions and reveals; scalloped capitals; soffit-mouldings; architraved round-arched hoodmoulds; moulded label-stops. Harl-pointed random rubble sandstone at sides and rear; raised, polished band course at principal floor; droved rubble quoins; droved long and short surrounds to polished round-arched openings; chamfered cills.

NE (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: steps to recessed 2-leaf boarded timber door centred at ground; decorative cast-iron hinges; deep columnar reveals comprising dogtooth, chevron and billet-frieze moulding; curvilinear strapwork set in round-arched tympanum. Blind round-arch, roll-moulded tracery detail aligned above; large bipartite window centred in tower at 2nd stage; small bipartite openings flanking gabled, louvred lucarnes; pinnacled angle-buttresses flanking octagonal spire. Advanced bays to right and left of centre comprising bipartite windows set on 2nd stage cill course in slightly recessed central panels; dogtooth soffits; architraved hoodmoulds.

NW AND SE (SIDE) ELEVATIONS: 2-bays recessed to outer left and right respectively; bipartite windows at 2nd stage in bays to outer left (NW) and right (SE); boarded timber doors at ground set in round-arched surrounds in penultimate bays to outer left and right. Large Y-tracery bipartite windows equally disposed in 4 remaining bays to right and left; 3-bay single storey addition to S; canted apse centred at SW.

Predominantly replacement opaque glazing (some missing); 12-pane timber sash and case windows to rear addition. Graded grey slate roof; raised skews; coped apex stack to SW; cans missing.

INTERIOR: not seen 1996.