Queensberry Aisle And Douglas Vault, Durisdeer Parish Church

Durisdeer Parish Church is a building probably designed by James Smith, constructed between 1718 and 1720. It is situated alongside the Queensberry mausoleum, which dates to approximately 1708. The church and mausoleum are arranged on a Greek-cross plan, with a wing and tower situated to the west.

The mausoleum is built of polished ashlar, while the remainder of the church is constructed of rubble with pink ashlar dressings, channelled quoins, and a continuous moulded cornice. The roof was simplified and replaced in 1784-5 by Andrew Watson, a joiner, and again in 1957.

The mausoleum adjoins the north wall of the church and has a square plan with a bell-cast leaded roof. It was altered around 1711, with a shallow projection added to the north wall to accommodate a marble sepulchral mural monument by John Van Nost. Square-headed windows were inserted into the east and west walls, the east window now serving as a door. Below an elaborate white marble baldacchino – also by Smith – sits a vault containing the Queensberry family.

The church's windows are mostly round-headed, set within bolection-moulded architraves, and contain small-paned glazing that is not original. Rusticated, square-headed doorways are located to the east and south, each connected to a gallery window cill. The interior was renovated in 1784-5 and re-arranged around 1870. It is separated from the mausoleum by a wide segmental arch with elaborate wrought-iron gates, with the pulpit and its backboard positioned against these gates. Boxed communion pews are present, as are three galleries, each with a panelled front and two supporting columns, the west gallery also created by Andrew Watson.

The west wing is currently part disused, part used as a vestry, and part as a Sunday School, and may never have been completed. It is of rectangular plan, with a long west wall of three bays, featuring a central door. The flanks have four bays, each with closely-spaced windows. The door is set within a bolection-moulded architrave with a dentilled cornice and a round-headed window above. The other windows are all square-headed and linked between floors by shallow aprons. Each face of the tower has a blind oculus with small-paned glazing to the lower stage. A louvered window with Y-tracery and a round head is located in the upper stage, beneath a cornice and a low parapet (the spire was removed in 1825).

Inside the tower is a stone stair with curved nosings, leading to a vaulted passage at its foot, now housing a boiler, with the original entry to the church blocked. A wheel stair to the tower is accessed from the base of the north west angle. There are also some bolection-moulded fireplaces, with flues extending into the steeple.

The churchyard contains fine 17th to 19th century stone monuments, many with classical ornament, including monuments to Daniel MacMichael and a 1685 monument to the children of William Lukup, Master of Works at Drumlanrig.