Old Parish Church, The Cross, Beith

The Old Parish Church, now a mausoleum, largely dates to the late 16th century, with significant remodelling in the mid-18th century. Date stones indicating 1593 and 1754 are set into the south gable. Originally the parish church, it was truncated in the early 19th century with the construction of a new, larger church (the High Church) in 1810. Stone from the Old Parish Church may have been reused in the High Church’s construction.

The present structure is a crowstepped gable end, set within a burial ground containing interesting early 18th-century tombstones and enclosed by a rubble boundary wall. The church’s exterior features a central, square-headed doorway with a roll-moulded arch and timber boarded door, leading to the gable. Two round-headed windows are located on the first floor, with plain leaded glazing. A clock, dating from approximately 1794, sits above the doorway. A small square bellcote, built around 1850, crowns the building. The bell itself dates from 1614 and was refounded in 1734. Tombstones are set into and against the walls on three sides of the building. The walls are constructed from rubble sandstone with dressed margins, topped with a pitched roof covered in grey slates and a stone ridge.

The interior serves as a mausoleum for the Cochran-Patrick family.

The vault, accessed via a simple doorway on the west elevation, contains flanking slit windows and tombstones set against the walls. It is constructed of rubble sandstone with dressed margins and features a stone slabbed roof.

The church occupies the medieval heart of Beith and the burial ground provides an important area of green space. The burial ground contains a number of early 18th-century tombstones, alongside some highly decorative 19th-century examples, including those commemorating the Spier family in white marble, carved in a high Gothic style. Sections of the northern boundary wall have collapsed, and some tombstones are deteriorating. The site is marked on the 1858 Ordnance Survey map and is referenced in historical local publications.