Our Lady Of Sorrows Rc Church Including Boundary Walls And Gatepiers, Garrynamonie

Our Lady of Sorrows Roman Catholic Church, built in 1964-5 by Richard McCarron, with engineering by Dudley Gibb, is a significant example of Modernist architecture, set within a dramatic, remote landscape. The single-storey church, with a basement level, has a roughly square plan and comprises three interconnected sections with monopitch roofs of varying heights and massing, characterised by predominantly narrow, vertical windows. The exterior combines black brick, a deep base course, white calcined flint dry dash, and dark grey concrete roof tiles.

The west (entrance) elevation features a tall, square section with a near full-height narrow window on the right. A low stair projection with a monopitch roof and plate glass window sits to the left, accompanied by narrow lights. A lit Latin cross tops the roof. Recessed to the left is the entrance, sheltered by a curved concrete canopy with a narrow window above. A 1994 mural by Michael Gilfeddar, depicting the Mother of Sorrows and titled 'MATHAIR NA DORAINNE,' projects below the canopy. A lower, recessed wing on the far left houses confessionals and a sacristy. The windows are primarily small-paned or horizontally-set. A ramp leads to the wide, boarded mahogany entrance door, with a further uPVC entrance door at the rear.

Inside, the church remains largely original. The walls are simply whitewashed, and the impressive sloping ceiling is crafted from tongue and grooved pine with exposed Douglas Fir structural beams. A gallery to the west is supported by simple white piers and a tall, cubist stair tower. The gallery front is a simple, horizontally emphasised timber design. Bespoke timber pews are in place. The main altar is flanked by tall, narrow side lights and incorporates a painted oak altar dating from around 1878, originally from the Pro-Cathedral in Oban. A side altar features a ceramic mosaic panel by David Harding. Stations of the Cross are displayed with inscribed imagery on local slate. The flooring consists of thermoplastic light grey tiles, with dark brown quarry tiles in the aisles.

The boundary walls and gatepiers are later additions. A section of low wall to the west is constructed from coursed rubble with flat coping, terminating in a pier with a simple metal gate. A pair of square, coursed rubble gatepiers, also with flat coping and sloping masonry flanking a cattle grid, complete the enclosure.