Session House, Glasserton Parish Church And Churchyard

Glasserton Parish Church, Session House, Churchyard, Mausolea and Monuments

The parish church has 17th century origins but was largely rebuilt in 1732 as a rectangular box aligned on an east-west axis. In 1836, architect John Buonarotti Papworth added a north aisle and tower, transforming the plan into a T-shape. The original 17th century bellcote, removed from Kirkmaiden Church in the early 19th century, was relocated to Glasserton. The church shows extensive signs of rebuilding and alteration throughout its history. Construction consists of rubble walling with polished sandstone margins; later work features uniform red sandstone margins with bold tails.

The south elevation presents a symmetrical four-window front with round-arched windows. The outer bays have smaller windows, while the two inner bays contain large windows of almost full height, fitted with sash and case glazing with small panes. The jambs are predominantly polished cream sandstone with segmental stones forming the arch-heads, possibly indicating late 18th century enlargements. At the centre is a large blocked round-arched opening that originally provided access to the pulpit. Above and flanking the outer windows are blocked square-headed openings, presumably earlier windows that lit galleries. A worn and partly inscribed red sandstone block is re-used as part of the margin to the westernmost window. The east and west gables each have two large round-arched openings; the eastern ground opening is glazed as a door. The north aisle contains a single bay with round-arched openings framed by narrow rubble voussoirs, with sash and case windows featuring small-pane glazing. A bolection-moulded eaves cornice runs across the building, with end skews topped by skewputts. The roofs are finished in good graded slate.

The west gable features a small 17th century stone bellcote, bearing a weathered date of 1680 and originally from Kirkmaiden Church. It has a square section with four colonettes at the angles supporting cushion capitals, a moulded cornice, an ogival canopy, and a ball finial to the east gable.

The tower, dated 1836, is buttressed in three stages. It is constructed of rubble with polished red sandstone margins. The base features a pointed-arch moulded doorway. The second stage has single blind, wide lancets, while the third stage has dwarf lancets (now blocked in brick). An embattled parapet crowns the tower, with pinnacles rising from buttress set-offs below eaves level to tall crocketed finials at the angles.

The interior is galleried on three sides with the pulpit positioned centrally on the south wall.

The Session House is a single-storey, L-plan building positioned at the church gate, comprising wings of two dates. It is constructed of whinstone rubble with ashlar dressings. The early 19th century wing is a single room with a door set in an advanced bay, a window on the return elevation, and a rear window. A mid-19th century two-room addition extends at right angles, with a door and window to each room; this wing is now partly roofless. One window retains diamond-pane glazing. Both roofs are finished in grey graduated slates, with the earlier wing using large local slate and overhanging eaves. The building has a coped end and one brick mutual gable stack. The Session House was in poor condition as of 1993, when repairs to pointing and window replacements were in progress.

The churchyard is enclosed by rubble walls and contains numerous good quality 18th and 19th century gravestones. To the southeast of the church are two large free-standing mausolea. Abutting the north wall of the church is a rectangular burial site dating to circa 1595, now roofless, with gables to north and south. Built into the north wall is a mural monument to Lady Garlies dated 159?. Detached to the east is a classical mid-18th century rectangular-plan roofless enclosure constructed of rubble with rusticated red sandstone quoins. The north wall features a round-arched doorway with an iron gate, above which is a blind moulded panel. The structure retains an eaves band and good cornice with ball finials at the angles. A well-executed pilastered aedicular mural monument adorns the west exterior wall.