Lyle Kirk, Esplanade Building (former Old West Kirk), Campbell Street, Greenock is a Grade A listed building in the Inverclyde local planning authority area, Scotland. First listed on 13 May 1971. Church.
Lyle Kirk, Esplanade Building (former Old West Kirk), Campbell Street, Greenock
- WRENN ID
- dim-lintel-sorrel
- Grade
- A
- Local Planning Authority
- Inverclyde
- Country
- Scotland
- Date first listed
- 13 May 1971
- Type
- Church
- Source
- Historic Environment Scotland listing
Description
Old West Kirk, first designed by James Salmon Senior in 1864, was moved in its entirety to its present location in 1925-8 under the supervision of James Miller. Miller designed the tower and more windows were added at this date. The southwest facing gable has a panel beneath the tracery window which is inscribed 'THE KIRK OF GRENOK Built by Jonne Schaw A.D. 1591 Transferred from the original site now occupied by Harland & Wolff's shipyard A.D.1926'. The church has an outstanding collection of 16 stained glass windows by nationally renowned British artists.
The church is a cross-plan with a battered square-plan, 2-stage, crenellated tower at the east. It is constructed in ashlar. Each gable has a large, pointed arched, 3 or 4 light tracery window. The other windows are rectangular with diamond panes or stained glass. The principal entrance is in the northeast facing gable and has a 2-leaf timber door in a roll-moulded round arched surround with Corinthian columnettes. The southwest elevation has a double gabled, crow-stepped aisle. The gable to the left has balustraded forestair that leads to the Laird's loft (Shaw Stewarts' family aisle). The gable to the right has two arches at the ground floor. The roof has grey slates and the rainwater goods are cast iron with the gutters supported by decorative brackets.
The interior was seen in 2016 and has a largely-intact primarily mid-19th century decorative scheme which was reconstructed in the 1920s. In each arm of the cross plan has raked seating gallery with decorative carved timber balustrades. The galleries at the northwest, northeast and southeast are each supported on a pair of slender columns with Corinthian capitals. The boarded timber ceiling is supported on plain timber roof trusses which spring from stone corbels. The octagonal pulpit and communion table have elaborate timber carvings, those to the sides of the pulpit include figurative carvings of the Evangelists, the Lamb of God and angels. There are plain timber pews. The outstanding late 19th and early 20th century collection of stained glass is found throughout the church and include the work of James Ballantine, Daniel Cottier, Gordon Webster and Mary Wood and for Morris & Co, works by Edward Burne-Jones, Ford Madox Brown, Simeon Solomon, William Morris and Philip Webb.
At the south and east of the church is a low stone wall with a triangular cope and straight iron railings. There are two pairs of square gatepiers which are topped by ball finials. To the north of the church and set in the tall rubble boundary wall are memorials, dating from the mid 18th century and many of them have carvings. In the boundary wall to the northwest of the church is a corbel stone that is dated 1625, and this is understood to have come from the manse of the 16th century church.
Detailed Attributes
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