War Memorial, Ayton Parish Church

War Memorial, Ayton Parish Church

This is a Grade A listed building comprising a church designed by James Maitland Wardrop in 1864-66, with internal repairs and alterations carried out in 1973, together with its associated war memorial, boundary walls, railings, gatepiers and gates.

The church is constructed in a near T-plan arrangement and follows the First Pointed style of Gothic architecture. It features a 3-stage square-plan tower with a stone spire positioned to the south-west; a single storey gabled porch and adjoining lean-to vestry to the north-east; a gabled aisle projecting to the south; and a 5-sided chancel to the north-east.

The building is constructed of coursed, lightly bull-faced cream sandstone with sandstone ashlar dressings. It has a projecting base course, moulded string and cill courses (stepped in part), and moulded eaves. Buttresses reinforce the angles. Pointed-arched openings feature long and short surrounds with regular voussoirs, architraved hoodmoulds with moulded stops, and chamfered cills. The decorative stonework includes ornamental tracery in sandstone and carved gargoyles to the tower and chancel angles and lucarnes.

The south-east elevation contains the main entrance, with a 2-leaf boarded timber door centred beneath a trefoil-headed surround with decorative iron hinges. The tower to the outer left dominates this face, with pointed-arched louvred windows in the upper stages and gabletted stone lucarnes aligned above to the four faces of the finalled and broached sandstone spire. The remainder of the elevation shows a 2-bay nave recessed to the right with bipartite windows, trefoil openings in circular windows above, and a large traceried window in the gabled bay projecting to the right (the south aisle) with a trefoil window centred in its finalled apex. A single storey porch, set at an angle in a re-entrant, features a boarded timber door with decorative iron hinges beneath a shouldered-arched surround.

The north-east side elevation displays the buttressed chancel projecting to the right of centre with single windows, a single storey porch in a re-entrant angle to the left, a window in the south aisle to the outer left, and a gabled porch to the outer right.

The north-west rear elevation shows a large traceried window in a gabled bay offset to the left of centre (the north aisle) with a trefoil window in a circular opening centred in the finalled apex. A gabled porch to the left features decorative timber bargeboards, a surmounting finial, a mosaic-tiled floor, a pointed-arched outer entrance, and a trefoil-headed surround to a boarded timber door. A 2-bay lean-to addition to the right (the vestry) contains a tripartite window in its left bay and a single window to the right. Single windows appear in the buttressed chancel to the outer left, and a 2-bay nave slightly recessed to the right of centre shows single windows set between buttresses.

The south-west side elevation is dominated by the 3-stage tower offset to the right of centre, with a single window centred at ground, an arrowslit opening aligned above, a pointed-arched louvred window in the upper stage, and a gabletted dormer aligned above in the finalled and broached sandstone spire. The gabled nave adjoins to the left, featuring a tripartite window centred at ground and a large rose window above with a vesica centred in the finalled apex. A shouldered-arched surround frames a boarded timber door in a single storey lean-to addition recessed to the outer left. The south aisle presents a blind elevation to the outer right.

The roofs are covered in grey slate with stepped stone skews and gabletted skewputts. Windows contain some plain leaded glazing and decorative stained glass windows by Ballantine & Sons. Decorative rainwater goods are fitted throughout.

The interior was significantly altered in 1973, when the east wing was converted to a chancel and the Ayton Castle pew was removed. The floors are predominantly boarded timber with decorative tiling in places. Walls feature boarded timber dado panelling with a whitewashed finish above and cream sandstone ashlar dressings. The ceiling is open timber construction with carved sandstone springers beneath hammerbeams.

Timber pews with trefoil-headed finials and quatrefoil panels are supported by columnar supports. A tiered gallery to the south-west has a timber-panelled front. Pointed-arched arcading to the south-east features ashlar columns (engaged to the outer left and right) with carved foliate capitals. A plain stair with boarded timber dado accesses the gallery. An octagonal-plan timber pulpit and decorative timber communion table are positioned centrally, and a sandstone font dated 1856 is installed. The organ occupies the north-west position with timber casing and decorative painted pipes. A church bell inscribed 'Mears & Stainbank, founders, London....A.D 1865' hangs in the tower.

The boundary of the site is defined by low coped walls partially enclosing it, with hopped iron railings. Plain arched gatepiers flank both the pedestrian and vehicular entrances, with hooped iron gates hung between them.

The war memorial itself consists of a rectangular-plan stepped base beneath a tapering shaft with inscribed granite panels centred on each face, surmounted by a large, stylised cross-shaped finial.