Holywood Parish Church And Churchyard

Holywood Parish Church is a T-plan church constructed in 1779. It was repaired and renovated in 1845 and again between 1864 and 1865. The church is built of coursed and squared red rubble with ashlar dressings. A prominent feature is the tall, three-stage square tower on the long south wall. The tower’s lower stage originally contained a doorway, now blocked, with a window above. There are two vertically arranged openings in the second stage, and a forestair is located in the re-entrant angle. The top stage, likely added between 1864 and 1865, has a louvred belfry opening with central columns on each face, and a pierced parapet. To the east and west of the tower are two tall, round-arched, keystoned windows flanking a gabled porch. The two-bay jamb has round-headed gallery windows above 12-pane sash windows. The roof is piended and covered with graded slates.

The interior features a gallery, now sealed to form a hall, an organ with a carved case, a flat ceiling with exposed roof timbers supported by brackets, and an acorn light hanging. Two church bells of medieval date, originally from a former abbey church at this location, are housed within the tower. One bell bears an armorial and initials, while the other is inscribed.

The churchyard is enclosed by rubble-built walls with ashlar coping. A gate is situated on the west side, flanked by two octagonal, rusticated ashlar gatepiers, a hearse-house, and a stile. Numerous good 18th and 19th century stone monuments are present, along with a Classical mausoleum at the northwest corner, constructed of ashlar with a stone slab roof. The mausoleum has a door with battered jambs set centrally within a pedimented east gable, while pilasters divide its bays. A Renaissance-style mural monument to the Johnstone of Cowhill family is also located within the churchyard.

The church is no longer in use as a place of worship. The church stands on or near the site of Holywood Abbey, a Premonstratensian abbey of the later medieval period; no visible remains of the abbey survive, but stone from the abbey was incorporated into the construction of the church. The medieval bells, originating from the abbey church, contribute significantly to the site's historical interest and provide insight into its earlier ecclesiastical history. The tower is a notable landmark within the surrounding landscape, and the church remains a legible part of a group of related stone buildings that reflect the site's long history as a place of worship and burial.