Sorbie Old Kirk is a Grade B listed building in the Dumfries and Galloway local planning authority area, Scotland. First listed on 20 July 1972. Church.
Sorbie Old Kirk
- WRENN ID
- slow-turret-myrtle
- Grade
- B
- Local Planning Authority
- Dumfries and Galloway
- Constituency
- Dumfries and Galloway MP: John Cooper (Con)
- Country
- Scotland
- Date first listed
- 20 July 1972
- Type
- Church
- OS grid reference
- NX 438 467
- Coordinates
- 54.79165, -4.42969
- Source
- Historic Environment Scotland listing
Description
Sorbie Old Kirk was built around 1750, likely designed by James Douglas, and restored in 1826. It is a T-plan church with a long single bay on the north side that features a four-window elevation, which includes a private family gallery for the Earl of Galloway. The structure is complete to the wallhead but has no roof. It is constructed of rubble with granite margins and squared rubble quoins.
On the southeast elevation, there are four regular round-arched windows with raised granite margins and bold keystones. The west gable has a chamfered door at ground level and a square-headed window or gallery door above. The east gable features a low door at ground level, with polished cream sandstone margins surrounding a large opening, likely a door to the gallery, which may be part of the 1826 repairs and improvements. This gable is heavily covered in ivy.
The north jamb has a squared granite doorway at ground level, above which is a boldly detailed egg and dart moulded panel that is now blind. Above this, there is a bracketed chimney stack flanked by scrolls, all crafted in polished red sandstone. The execution of these details suggests John Douglas as the architect, as similar bold decoration is found at Galloway House, designed for the Earl of Galloway in 1745 by Douglas. Inside, sockets for gallery floor joists are visible, and there is a polished red sandstone chimneypiece in the north jamb.
The churchyard is surrounded by a rubble wall and contains many notable 18th and 19th-century gravestones. To the west of the church, there is a rectangular-plan classical mausoleum for the Stewart family, which is also likely designed by Douglas. This mausoleum is rubble-built with polished red sandstone smooth rusticated quoins, featuring a round-arched door to the south with a rusticated surround and alternating bold voussoirs. Above the door is a moulded red sandstone panel displaying the Stewart Arms, dated ANNO 17–. The mausoleum includes an eaves cornice and a blocking course, with gatepiers topped by ball finials.
Local climate
Sorbie Old Kirk sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,360 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 96% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 99% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 8 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 94% of listed buildings. Of these, 4 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.2°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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