Crichton Parish Church

Crichton Parish Church

Built in 1449 by Sir William Crichton, Lord Chancellor to James II, as part of his establishment of a college at Crichton. The church is a Gothic and Romanesque cruciform collegiate church now in a T-plan, following the loss of its nave. It sits on a sloping site with a central tower and is constructed in ashlar with a moulded base course and cavetto eaves course featuring carved details.

The west elevation displays the former nave wall with a timber door studded with thistle hinges set within a Romanesque arched doorway, flanked by square metal ventilators. An inset armorial plaque sits above the doorway, with an infilled pointed archway on single pillars with foliate capitals. Original roof raggles of the nave roof remain visible above all elevations. A semi-hexagonal corbel-topped stair turret with a slit light and carved monk's face stands on the left return. The tower is a single stepped square structure with a corbelled parapet and bipartite windows with stone mullions to the second stage on each elevation. The first stage features two horizontally placed slit lights on each face, with a stone gable and bell-cote to the east elevation.

The north elevation features a later skew-gabled porch with a two-leaf round-arched door studded with thistle hinges. Above this, inset pointed Gothic windows with two cusped main lights and a quatrefoil light appear on the flanks. The chancel has paired Gothic windows with square quarry panes and a carved monks' heads cornice at the eaves. The north transept has a pointed Gothic window with two cusped lights and a quatrefoil light above, with a sloping bottom sill.

The east elevation shows the chancel gable with a central pointed Gothic window of geometric design containing four main lights and a sloping bottom sill, flanked by stepped buttresses.

The south elevation features steps down to a central wooden door with a Romanesque arched surround. The chancel has pointed Gothic windows with two cusped lights and a quatrefoil light above to each flank, with carved monks' heads cornicing at the eaves and buttresses with a chimney to the left. The south transept has a recessed central pointed Gothic window with three lights and a teardrop light above, and a sloping sill.

Stained glass windows by Ballantine and Gardiner adorn most of the church, including works from 1899 to 1908 depicting Christ's Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane in the east chancel, the Ascension of the Risen Redeemer in the north transept, the Adoration at Bethlehem in the south transept, and Christ the Good Shepherd and Apostle John in the southwest chancel. Fixed square quarry panes fill the tower windows. The roof is slated with a saddle-back tower and metal ridging, with replacement cast-iron rainwater goods.

The interior is vaulted with crossing arches on single shafts. The chancel's south wall contains an ogee-topped triple sedilia (seats now missing), while a piscina occupies the southeast corner of the south transept. A sacrament house sits on the north wall of the chancel. Interior woodwork was provided by Jones & Willis in 1899, and the organ was built by Joseph Brook & Co. of Glasgow.

The church underwent significant restoration by Hardy & Wight in 1898 and further renovation by Benjamin Tindall circa 1998. Originally a collegiate church, it became the Parish Church in 1641, though its inconvenient location meant that by 1839 it served only 290 of its 600-seat capacity.

The graveyard is surrounded by a rubble boundary wall with curved quoins, containing stone and cast-iron grave markers. The church is set within its own burial ground with entrances to the east and west. Crichton Castle lies to the southwest and the manse to the northwest, both listed separately.