South and West Church, Buckie

South and West Church, Buckie

Church

A broad-plan church in the Early English Gothic style, designed by Alexander and William Reid and built in 1849–50 as a Free Church. The building occupies a prominent corner site on Buckie High Street. The northwest corner features a tall three-stage tower topped with a broached spire. Single-storey, rectangular-plan gabled halls dating to 1849, formerly used as the Free Church School, adjoin the rear (east) elevation. The structures are constructed of rubble sandstone with ashlar rybats and dressings. As of 2019, the building continues in use as a place of worship by the Church of Scotland.

The pitched and slated roof is finished with ashlar stone skews, pedimented skew putts, and a small bellcote finial to the east gable. Window openings are predominantly tall, narrow lancets with angled ashlar cills, continuous moulded cill courses, simple hoodmouldings, and latticed glazing. Door openings are recessed pointed-arched openings with moulded surrounds, plain transoms, and timber-boarded doors fitted with decorative hinges.

The church interior underwent renovation in 1885, and the majority of surviving fittings date from this period, including timber pews, flooring, a moulded ceiling, and a decorative cast iron stair rail. The church contains a sanctuary and pulpit to the east, with a U-plan gallery from 1850 extending along the other three sides, carried on slender cast iron columns with a corbelled cornice and decorative timber panelling. The north wall houses an organ from 1900–01 built by Wadsworth & Brother of Manchester. A large stained glass roundel beneath the gallery, dating to around 1930, was relocated from the former West Church in 1997 when congregations merged.

Church Hall

This former Free Church school comprises two single-storey, rectangular-plan halls with ancillary rooms adjoining the rear (east) of the church. Twin-gabled elevations face north (on East Cathcart Street) and east (on Garden Lane). The roofs are pitched and slated with some rooflights. The north elevation is harled with three lancet windows and a round-arched doorway to the right. The east elevation has a rubblestone gable at its centre, predominantly lancet windows, and pedimented skew putts. Adjoining flat-roof and gable-fronted additions dating from the mid-late 20th century are excluded from the listing. The plan form and fabric of the interior have been altered in the late 19th and late 20th centuries.

Boundary Wall

A low rubble boundary wall with ashlar copes and plain iron railings fronts the main elevation of the church on High Street. Decorative iron piers and gates with cross-motif finials mark the northwest corner. A similar wall lines the south boundary.

Exclusions from listing: the single-storey flat-roofed addition at the northeast corner and the gabled and flat-roofed addition to the southeast corner.