Old High Kirk And Kirkyard With Soulis Monument, Soulis Street, Kilmarnock

Old High Kirk and Kirkyard with Soulis Monument, Kilmarnock

A classical church designed by Robert and William Hunter from a James Gibbs pattern book, built between 1732 and 1740. The building comprises a 5-bay by 3-bay rectangular-plan church with a tower and entrance at the east end, and a T-plan session house to the west designed by Thomas Fulton in 1858. The interior was remodelled in 1868, with further additions by John H Railton in 1909 and 1929.

The church is constructed of coursed local sandstone from the Townhead and Dean quarries, with dressed ashlar eaves cornice and door and window surrounds. The skew gables are topped with lead capping.

The principal east elevation features a simple round-arched door at the centre, with rectangular doorways to the flanking bays. Every outer quoin is rusticated with a moulded lintel, prominent keystone and sloped cornice. The first floor has round-arched windows to the outer bays, following a similar treatment to the ground floor doors. An eaves course continues to form an implied pediment, with a blind squared bay at the centre of the gable marking the original position of the clock. The tower rises from the gablehead on a square base with a string course, with a clock to each face. Above this is an octagonal upper stage featuring round-arched belfry openings, surmounted by a tall domed leaded roof with a diminutive lead cupola and weather-vane.

The south elevation has 5 segmental-headed windows at ground floor level and 5 matching round-arched windows to the first floor, with ventilation bricks under some window sills. All windows have later security grilles.

The west (rear) elevation contains the later single storey T-plan gabled session house with angle margins adjoining the main building. A bipartite window appears at the end of the main section, with blind windows to each gabled arm. Later single storey gabled extensions in the re-entrant angles feature a window in the left extension with a door to the left return, and a pilastered door to the extreme left of the right extension with a window to the right return. The main building rises behind this with a Venetian window with internal treatments to the centre of the first floor, slightly lower blind arched windows to the outer bays, and a rose-pattern ventilator to the gablehead with a surmounting finial.

The north elevation mirrors the south, with 5 segmental-headed windows to ground floor and 5 matching round-arched windows to the first floor, with ventilation bricks under some window sills. All windows have later security grilles.

The roof is piended grey slate with zinc ridging and flashing. Painted cast-iron rainwater goods with shaped hoppers drain to down pipes on the side elevations.

The interior of the main church is nearly square with galleries on three sides. An ornamented plaster ceiling features mostly acanthus pattern borders and three later ceiling roses, the central one formerly for a chandelier with flanking roses leading to roof ventilators. Two rows of massive Etruscan columns with idiosyncratic acanthus decoration to squared capitals support the roof and oak-panelled galleries. Attached columns divide the lights of the Venetian west window, with a panelled, boxed entrance below with doors to each return. At the centre stands a semi-circular oak raised pulpit on a squared base with gothic panels, with a later altar directly in front. Timber pews with scrolled ends line the sides, with every third pew in the central block being a folding pew. An 1868 timber organ with gilded pipes occupies the east gallery.

The east entrance hall contains an inset marble memorial to Reverend James Aitken at the centre, with stone dogleg stairs to the north and south featuring timber newel posts, balusters and planked treads. The tower houses the original bell dated 1762 and a present bell from 1853 by G & A Mears, London, inscribed "GOD SAVE OUR CHURCH AND STATE", together with a clock currently not working. A series of 21 stained glass windows in timber frames is present, formerly with zinc and diamond quarry treatment.

The churchyard walls are of coursed and random rubble to the east, south and west, partially lined with red ashlar behind inset memorials, with a mixture of plain and segmental coping. A pair of alternate red and white rusticated ashlar piers to the centre of the east elevation feature moulded copes with ball and stalk finials, the left finial now missing. At the centre of the west elevation stands a pair of squared red ashlar gatepiers with rusticated bands and moulded copes with ball and stalk finials. The churchyard contains interesting 18th and 19th century ashlar gravestones including plainer headstones, plinthed obelisks, ornate marble headstones inset into the wall and gothic tombs. A cobbled entrance path runs to the east, with black tarmac paths to the north, south and west.

The Soulis Monument in the south-east boundary wall comprises an ashlar Doric column with an urn surmounting, set in a pilastered and round-arched niche. It is inscribed "TO THE MEMORY OF LORD SOULIS 1444. REBUILT BY SUBSCRIPTION 1825. THE DAYS OF OLD TO MIND I CALL."