St Joseph's R C Church, Hill Street, Kilmarnock

St Joseph's Roman Catholic Church is a 1847 Gothic church located on Hill Street, Kilmarnock, with an adjoining L-plan Priest’s House. The church's facade is of pink sandstone ashlar, with the remainder of the building constructed of coursed sandstone rubble.

The church itself is rectangular in plan, with a large, imposing front facade. The south (principal) elevation features a giant three-bay facade with a central pointed arched doorway, now infilled with later glass blocks and red sandstone, and a tall lancet window above. The doorway is flanked by stepped, chamfered buttresses topped with pinnacles, and the gable features a corbelled parapet. Tall lancet windows are present in the outer bays, and the angles are defined by stepped, chamfered buttresses with pyramid-capped pinnacles.

The west elevation has five lancet windows, separated by stepped buttresses. A later projecting piended porch with a pointed arched doorway sits centrally, with a shortened fifth bay. A lean-to porch with a door has been added to the left return, clasping the third bay and buttress. The roof apex is punctuated by three cast-iron ventilators. The north (rear) elevation features a smaller chancel gable, also with a roof ventilator.

The east elevation mirrors the west, with five lancet windows, buttresses, and a later small window in a shortened first bay. Another lean-to porch with a door sits on the right return, clasping the third bay and buttress. The Priest’s House adjoins the church at this angle.

Internally, the church was refurbished for its 150th anniversary. The principal doorway has been blocked with glass blocks, and the south end is now used as a community room. The interior contains plain timber pews and a later statue of Jesus above the north altar. The roof is of grey slate, supported by cast iron girders, with lead ridging, flashing and valleys. The rainwater goods are painted cast iron.

The two-storey Priest’s House is constructed of coursed Ballochmyle stone and features extensions to the west and north. The principal south elevation has an advanced gable with a tripartite window on the ground floor, a single window above, and a blind arrowslit in the gable head culminating in a stone cross. A recessed bay on the left includes a later timber and glazing porch that hides the entrance. A two-storey, three-bay extension adjoins the church on the front angle. The east, north (unseen in 2001), and west elevations are also described, with the west elevation abutting the church's lower chancel.