Foulden Parish Church

Foulden Parish Church

This is a rectangular-plan parish church rebuilt in 1786 on the site of an earlier structure, with a vestry added in 1934. The building is constructed of tooled sandstone rubble, squared in part, with predominantly droved rubble dressings. It features a gabled belfry to the west and a raised, crenellated parapet to the east. A gabled vestry projects to the southwest, and a burial enclosure adjoins the south side.

The church displays plain gothic styling throughout. Stepped, gabletted buttresses divide the bays in part on the north and south elevations. The openings are characterised by long and short surrounds to pointed-arched, chamfered openings with stone tracery, and quoins mark the angles.

The south elevation, which serves as the main entrance, comprises six bays. The principal block has buttresses at the centre and offset to the right. A pointed-arched entrance to the outer right is flanked by nookshafts and contains a boarded timber door, above which is a blocked quatrefoil opening. Four Y-traceried windows set in pairs between buttresses occupy the bays to the left. The projecting vestry to the outer left has a single window centred in its gable end. A rectangular-plan burial enclosure adjoins the front with low, coped walls, decorative iron railings featuring fleur-de-lys finials and barley-twist uprights, and an iron pedestrian entry gate.

The east elevation is a crenellated gable end with a Y-traceried window at its centre, flanked by quatrefoil openings. The vestry is recessed to the outer left with a single window offset to left of centre. A flat-roofed projection is recessed to the outer right.

The north elevation comprises three bays with Y-traceried windows in all bays and buttresses flanking the centre. A flat-roofed projection is offset to left centre.

The west elevation is a gable end with a Y-traceried window at the centre, which has a trefoil motif in its infilled upper section. A plain hoodmould frames this opening. An inscribed rectangular panel sits at ground level to the right. The gabled belfry surmounts the gablehead and contains a bell inscribed "For Fuldin Kirk 1704", with the bell rope in place. The later vestry adjoins to the right with a boarded timber door offset to left of centre, topped by a trefoil motif and a pointed-arched, columnar surround.

The church is roofed in grey slate with sawtooth-coped sandstone skews to the west and scroll-bracketed skewputts. The windows predominantly feature diamond-pane leaded glazing, while the west window has stained border glazing.

The interior displays a Tudor gothic decorative scheme. Boarded timber dado panelling runs throughout, with plain plaster walls to the south and west and rubble walls to the north and east. The ceiling is Tudor-arched with architraved ribs, decorative springers, and circular vents.

The raised chancel to the west features a timber panelled screen at its centre, with a timber communion table, chairs, and font. An earlier sandstone font is also present. A stair provides access to a polygonal timber pulpit. Timber pews are arranged throughout the nave.

A full-width, five-bay former laird's loft occupies the east side, comprising a Tudor-arched, arcaded screen with decorative circular spandrel motifs and a full-width foliate frieze framing a three-bay central opening. Linenfold mouldings appear in the balcony fronts. The infilled outer bays have basket-arched doors at ground level, with an entrance or porch to the right.

The vestry features boarded timber dado panelling and plain plaster walls, with a two-leaf timber panelled door providing access to the nave.

The graveyard is of near rectangular plan and contains various gravestones dating from the 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, including table-top monuments, recumbent stones, classically-detailed stones, and earlier examples with memento mori. A family burial enclosure is located to the south.

The site is enclosed by coped rubble boundary walls, which are mutual with the adjoining tithe barn in part. Corniced, square-plan sandstone gatepiers flank the entrance to the west, surmounted by lamps, and a two-leaf iron gate hangs between them.

A substantial mounting stone adjoins the outer west wall elevation, with stone treads, positioned to the south of the entrance.