Cranston Parish Church

Cranston Parish Church

Built in 1824 at the sole expense of General Sir John Dalrymple of Oxenfoord, this T-plan Gothic kirk replaced an earlier church that had stood in the old burial grounds south of Oxenfoord Castle's gardens. The original church, damaged by fire in 1796 and rebuilt in 1798, was finally superseded by this new structure. The church was damaged by fire in 1861 and quickly restored that same year by architect Wardrop. It was further enlarged around 1875 by Wardrop and Reid, with additions to the Dalrymple aisle in the north of the church. By the middle of the 20th century, the interior was slightly altered with the lowering of the pulpit and additional pews. The church now serves the united congregation of Cranstoun, Crichton and Ford. Architectural similarities are suggested between this church and the 1816 kirk of Kincardine-in-Monteith, designed by Richard Crichton.

The church is constructed of droved, tooled and polished sandstone ashlar with a 3-stage tower and enlarged north aisle. Diagonal buttresses with crocketed and pinnacled spirelets ornament the nave, while octagonal castellations crown the tower. Windows feature splayed surrounds with sloping sills. Base, string and eaves courses run throughout.

The east elevation contains the principal tower. The first stage displays a hoodmoulded pointed segmental doorway with a 2-leaf boarded door hung on curved wrought-iron hinges, a pointed segmental architraved doorway to the left return, and a lancet window in an architraved arched surround to the right return. A later stone lean-to now occupies the re-entrant angle with the north elevation. An inset plaque above the door reads "ERECTED IN 1824, DESTROYED BY FIRE IN 1861 AND RESTORED THE SAME YEAR". A string course sits above, with diagonal buttresses at each corner, stepped at each stage. The second stage features hoodmoulded, pointed segmental 2-light windows with multifoil lights above on each face, diagonal buttresses at each corner terminating in sloped skews. The third stage has pointed segmental louvred 2-light windows with multifoil lights above on each face, architraved coping, and octagonal buttresses at each corner terminating in castellated towers.

The south elevation displays a pair of hoodmoulded, pointed segmental 3-light windows with trefoil tops and paired hexagon lights above. Stepped gabled buttresses sit between and to the flanks of the windows. A marble sundial plate from the old church, dated 1797, is inset between them. A diagonal stepped buttress with gablets terminating in a stepped crocket and pinnacle spire adorns the right return (east gable end), with a decorative balustrade adjoining the rear buttress of the tower.

The west elevation, facing the rear, is a gable end with a central pointed segmental 4-light window and an inset marble memorial plaque below. Diagonal stepped buttresses at the corners feature gablets terminating in stepped crockets and pinnacle spires, surmounted by a squared floreate finial. An architraved skew moulding with bellcote crowns the apex.

The original north elevation is now largely concealed by the post-1861 extension for Lord Stair's gallery. This extension comprises a projecting gable at centre with a hoodmoulded, pointed segmental 2-light window and 4 vertical lights above, heavy architraved gablehead moulding with an ornate stone cross on the apex, and diagonal stepped buttresses with gablets surmounting. A blind faces right return with a lean-to porch, door to the left and window in the right return in the re-entrant angle of the main church body. Further diagonal stepped buttresses at the corner feature gablets, one terminating in a stepped crocket and pinnacle spire, the other damaged. A decorative balustrade adjoins the rear of the tower. A squared porch to the left return of the gallery has a central window and door to the left return. Further pairs of sloped gables with diagonal stepped buttresses at corners display gablets with one terminating in a stepped crocket and pinnacle spire and the other damaged, with decorative balustrade adjoining the tower rear.

Windows throughout feature fixed multi-pane lights of diamond quarry, with plain glass in most and decorative coloured Gothic borders in some. Elaborate coloured and stained glass ornaments paired windows in the south aisle. The roof is piended grey slate with lead ridging and flashing to the main body and nave, with side porch. Cast-iron rainwater goods and hoppers complete the exterior.

The interior is flat-vaulted and galleried, with Gothic-bordered stained glass to the main windows. A pipe organ was added in the earlier 20th century to one of the galleries. Timber pews furnish the interior.

The churchyard sits within landscaped grounds and contains various dated headstones and Celtic, Gothic and Classical sepulchral memorials. Coursed rubble walls with squared rubble copes enclose it. Rubble gatepiers to the north of the churchyard feature square neck copes supporting pyramidal capitals, with a wrought-iron pedestrian gate of ovals and curled bracket details.

A boundary wall to the north of the driveway, part of the Oxenfoord policies boundary, incorporates a 3-bay building with a central raised arch and lower doors to the remaining bays, now roofless.

The entrance gatepiers and gates are squared vermiculated sandstone ashlar with squared cushion capitals, projecting neck copes and smaller square flat capitals holding black wrought-iron thistles with gold heads. Plain wrought-iron fencing links the piers to the walls. A pair of open wrought-iron gates features plain bars alternately topped with gold fleur-de-lis finials or left plain, arching downwards to the middle. The centre of each gate bears a round decorative shield: the left gate inscribed with Cranstoun, Ford and Crichton in gold; the right gate bearing a circle with a cross containing a gold inner circle and smaller gold crosses to each quarter. A bronze memorial plaque affixed to the boundary wall reads: "TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN MEMORY OF REV RODERICK MURCHISON, FIRST MINISTER OF THE UNITED CONGREGATION OF CRANSTOUN, CRICHTON AND FORD. 1949-1957. THESE GATES WERE ERECTED BY THE CONGREGATION, FRIENDS AND FAMILY."