Lilliesleaf Parish Church

Lilliesleaf Parish Church

A cruciform-plan church dating from 1771, substantially remodeled in 1882–1883 and further enlarged in 1910. The building is constructed of squared and snecked rubble with ashlar quoins and dressings, featuring string and band courses, a part mutuled eaves course, and round-headed openings with moulded and chamfered reveals and stone mullions.

The church is dominated by a three-stage crenellated belltower positioned at the re-entrant angle between the north and west elevations. The tower's first stage is engaged to the south and east, with a timber door featuring a semicircular fanlight and decorative ironwork hinges to the north. A band course above marks the transition to the second stage, which has a glazed oculus to the north and west, and a datestone to the north. The third stage features timber-louvered openings to the north, east and west, all surmounted by a crenellated parapet.

The north elevation presents a cross-finalled gabled frontage with a large raised-centre tripartite window, a further window on the return to the right, and the belltower positioned in the re-entrant angle. The west elevation is a blank gabled bay with a ball-finalled truncated belfry at the gablehead and the tower in the re-entrant angle to the left. The south elevation is symmetrical, with a conical-roofed apse at the centre flanked by three small windows, and slightly lower flat-roofed bays on either side with small windows to the outer returns and taller windows to the outer bays. The east elevation features a dominant Celtic cross-finalled gable to the left with two small projecting gables, a window on the return to the right, and a door in a re-entrant angle under a gabled porch, with a set-back bay to the right containing a single window.

The windows display margined multi-pane glazing patterns, some with decoratively-astragalled top lights. The roof is covered in grey slates with ashlar-coped skews stepped to the north and beaked skewputts to the east and west. Cast-iron downpipes with decorative rainwater hoppers and ironwork air vents complete the exterior detailing.

The interior contains fixed timber pews arranged on a raked floor, with boarded timber dadoes and moulded cornices throughout. The chancel is separated by a Romanesque-style arcaded screen with a broad centre arch flanked by smaller arches, pilastered columns and further arches opening to flanking apsidal chambers. Marble mural monuments are situated in the transepts. A polygonal timber pulpit, dated 1910, stands within the chancel, alongside a pipe organ housed in fine timber casing. A timber World War II memorial is also present. The church retains a plain medieval drum-shaped font and a child's stone coffin.

Three stained-glass windows, created by William Wilson and installed in 1966, occupy the apse. These memorial windows depict the texts "Be Servants One to Another" (signed WW 1966), "I am The Good Shepherd" and "He Dwelt Among Us", and were presented by Mr and Mrs W A Mactaggart of Bewlie House, Lilliesleaf, on 17 April 1966.

Historical Development

Of the original 1771 building, only the transepts remain; the original structure measured 52 feet by 41 feet and incorporated a belfry. In 1882, Reverend Robert Blackstock undertook a comprehensive re-design of the building. Galleries were removed, the north side was extended with a new raked floor and pews installed. The three-stage belltower, described as possessing a "fine-toned bell", was added in 1882 as a gift from Sir Edward Sprot of Drygrange. The 12th century font was restored in 1885. The apse was added in 1910 and funded by Dr Arthur Sym. The interior was further remodeled in 1883, with the chancel screen and other fixtures reinstated in Romanesque style.

Setting and Boundary

The church is enclosed by coped rubble boundary walls with pyramidally-coped square-section ashlar gatepiers and two-leaf ironwork gates. The building is grouped with Lilliesleaf Kirk Graveyard, which is listed separately. The church remains in active ecclesiastical use.