Bethelfield Church, Nicol Street, Kirkcaldy

Bethelfield Church, Nicol Street, Kirkcaldy

A Grade B listed building comprising a classical galleried church designed by George Hay in 1831, with a Jacobean hall added in 1897 and further extensions to the rear dating from 1952 and 1970.

The church is a rectangular-plan structure finished in stugged ashlar with rusticated quoin strips and pilasters, complemented by rubble walling with long and short ashlar quoins and some raised margins. A base course, first floor cill course and cornice runs along the south elevation, with an eaves course throughout. The openings are predominantly round- and segmental-headed, finished with keystones, voussoirs and hoodmoulds.

The principal south elevation presents a broad gable end dominated by an advanced, segmental-headed, open-pedimented porch dating from around 1900. This porch encloses a deep-set two-leaf panelled timber door with radial-astragalled fanlight. The flanking bays contain tall round-headed, keystoned and hoodmoulded windows, with deep-set panelled timber doors to the outer bays. Above, a pilastered round-headed window sits within a Venetian recess that breaks the cornice at the centre, with smaller blinded windows flanking to the outer bays. A blind oculus crowns the gablehead, with urn finials to the outer angles.

The west and east elevations on Nicol Street are similar, each displaying four tall windows to the ground floor and regular fenestration above, with two small wallhead stacks visible above the roofline. A hall porch adjoins to the outer left of the west elevation. The north elevation features two tall traceried windows flanking the centre with a small oculus in the gablehead, the hall adjoining at ground level.

Throughout the building, small-pane timber windows and multi-pane leaded glazing patterns are employed. Round-headed windows feature radial or intersecting arch-headed astragals. Stained glass is present to the north elevation. The roof is finished in grey slates with coped ashlar skews and ashlar-coped stacks with cans.

The interior is distinguished by fine fittings including timber crocket-finalled pews with cast-iron umbrella racks. A raked horseshoe gallery is supported on ten fluted cast-iron Corinthian columns, with an original panelled front and boarded pews to the gallery level. A raised chancel area with steps leads to a panelled timber pulpit positioned below a pipe organ, flanked by two three-light windows with cusped tracery and stained glass, probably dating from 1931. A memorial chapel occupies the north-west corner. The vestibule contains a two-leaf part-glazed door with radial-astragalled fanlight, a marble memorial to Reverend James Law (died 1859) and a First World War Memorial, with flanking stone staircases featuring cast-iron balusters and timber handrails. A decorative ceiling rose and plain cornice with decorative brackets complete the vestibule.

The hall is a single-storey, rectangular-plan structure finished in rock-faced squared and snecked rubble with dressed ashlar quoins, cill course, eaves cornice and blocking course to the porch. The west elevation on Nicol Street is gabled with two windows, each set within a Gibbsian surround with semicircular broken pediment and decorative tympanum. A blind plaque in a moulded surround occupies the gablehead centre, corbelled above by a stack. The south elevation largely abuts the church at eaves line but features a bay to the outer left with a stone porch and deep-set panelled timber door with small-pane fanlight, alongside a small pedimented window with moulded apron. A timber-louvered cupola crowns the roof ridge centre. The north elevation contains four margined windows, while the east elevation adjoins a modern extension.

All windows are margined; those to the west and porch retain small-pane leaded glazing, whilst those to the north feature leaded margins with mainly four-pane glazing pattern and top-left pane louvered. The hall roof is finished in grey slates and terracotta ridge tiles. Cavetto-coped ashlar stacks with some cans, moulded ashlar skews and decorative skewputts complete the detailing. The interior features boarded dado and an open-beam ceiling with corbelled brackets.

Low saddleback-coped and coped rubble boundary walls enclose the property, with square ashlar gatepiers (three free-standing and one pilaster) featuring stepped block caps.