Kirk Memorial Evangelical Union Church, 121 Montgomery Street, Edinburgh

Kirk Memorial Evangelical Union Church

A Perpendicular Gothic church designed by Hippolyte J Blanc in 1895, located at 121 Montgomery Street, Edinburgh. The building adopts a Latin cross plan with a projecting canted apse at the south end of the west elevation, and adjoins a tenement to the north.

The church comprises a principal storey and basement. The west elevation is constructed in squared snecked bullfaced rubble, whilst the south and east elevations use stugged squared snecked rubble. Both feature ashlar margins and dressings, with an eaves cornice running across the facades. The fenestration is predominantly regular, with splayed cills throughout. The basement features predominantly bipartite shouldered windows, whilst the principal storey displays predominantly hoodmoulded 2-light windows with flowing tracery.

The south (entrance) elevation is a single bay gabled elevation with the side elevation of the canted apse to its left. The lower level is partially obscured by a modern concrete access ramp and steps. The centre of the gable contains a tripartite window with cusped arched heads to the lights. Above this is a 5-light pointed arched window with flowing tracery and blind panels beneath a cill course, flanked by buttresses. A small slit opening sits at the gable apex. To the left of the windows stands an advanced crenellated porch with 2-leaf timber-boarded doors recessed in a 3-centred-arched and archivolted doorway. To the left of the porch is the side elevation of the apse, which contains a bipartite window with simple tracery. Crocketted pinnacles adorn the skewputts of the gable, and a cross finial crowns the apex.

The west (side) elevation comprises six bays. An advanced gabled bay forming the transept occupies the second bay from the left. The projecting canted apse lies at the outer right bay. At the outer left bay, steps ovarch a basement recess leading to a porch with a parapet and a timber-boarded door set in a 3-centred-arched moulded doorway. A small window opens to the left of the door. Behind the porch sits a recessed chancel with a roundel featuring cusped tracery. The advanced transept gable (second bay from left) contains two basement windows and a 4-light Tudor-arched window with panel tracery to the principal floor. A stringcourse runs above these, and a small slit window opens to the gable apex. The outer right bay comprises a piend-roofed projecting apse with a bipartite window featuring cusped heads to the lights.

The east (side) elevation also comprises six bays. The basement features a modern flat-roofed harled extension across the second, third and fourth bays from the left. The outer right bay is not visible. The advanced transept gable (second bay from the right) contains plain 4-light and bipartite windows to the basement, and a 4-light Tudor-arched window with panel tracery to the principal floor. A small slit window opens to the gable apex. The outer left bay displays a bipartite window with cusped heads to the lights.

The building is roofed in pitched construction with graded grey slates. Stone skews and skewputts are present, alongside red terracotta ridge tiles and an apse finial. At the centre of the ridge sits an octagonal slate-hung and timber ventilator with timber tracery and pinnacles. Some cast-iron rainwater goods survive.

Fenestration comprises predominantly plain glass, with some modern replacements and some coloured and leaded glass to the tracery.

To the west and parts of the south and east boundaries stands a stugged dwarf wall with chamfered coping, surmounted by wrought and cast-iron railings.

Interior

The principal floor is now partly subdivided. At the north end lies a chancel with timber panelling to the lower half. Tudor-arched openings formerly giving access to the east and west transepts are now blocked in to form separate rooms. The side walls feature stone corbels supporting timber beams of a simple hammerbeam roof, now concealed above a modern suspended ceiling. The basement contains a central hall with cast-iron columns.