Old Parish Church, Ayr Street, Troon

Old Parish Church, Ayr Street, Troon

This near cruciform-plan church was designed by Hippolyte J Blanc and built in 1894. It is constructed in squared and snecked bull-faced red sandstone from Barmskimming (pink in colour) with polished sandstone dressings. The building features a part-built two-stage tower to the east angle, and a later single-storey wing linking the earlier church to the northwest. The design exhibits decorated Gothic detailing throughout, with a raised base course, moulded string and eaves courses with polished skews, and buttressed angles topped with gableted pinnacles. Flying buttresses divide the nave bays. Polished quoins and long and short surrounds frame the pointed-arched openings, which have chamfered reveals and decorative tracery with foliate stops to architraved hoodmoulds.

The northeast elevation on Ayr Street features a gabled entrance with a two-leaf timber-panelled door centred at ground level beneath an architraved pointed arch with nook-shafts. Three-light glazing rows at ground level flank the entrance in side bays. A large five-light geometrically-traceried window with engaged colonnettes is centred above, with a small tripartite window beneath the finialled apex. Clasping angle buttresses with gableted pinnacles frame the gable. A square-plan tower to the outer left contains a three-light window at ground level with a single window aligned above. A single window at ground level is offset to the left of centre in an adjoining bay. To the right, the recessed north transept has a timber-panelled door at ground level and a traceried window above, with a small tripartite window centred beneath its finialled apex. The single-storey linking wing recessed to the outer right has a two-leaf timber-panelled door in a central buttressed gable with a single window beneath the apex, a tripartite square-headed window in the adjoining bay to the outer right, and paired and single pointed-arched windows in bays to the left.

The southeast elevation features a projecting tower at the outer right with a two-leaf timber-panelled door at ground level in a pointed-arched architraved surround with nook-shafts and crocketed finials, and a single window at the second stage above. An engaged conical-capped tower occupies the re-entrant angle to the left, housing the gallery stair. The nave is recessed at the centre with paired aisle windows at ground level and traceried lights above between flying buttresses. The gabled south transept projects to the outer left with single and paired windows at ground level, a four-light geometrically-traceried window above, flanking blind pointed-arched niches, and an almond-shaped opening centred in the finialled apex, with clasping angle buttresses to either side. A narrow light at ground level in a full-height gabled bay recessed to the right (containing the gallery stair) is surmounted by a cinquefoil opening set within a circular surround. A blind at ground level in a gabled bay recessed to the outer left is complemented by narrow lights at the second stage and a small tripartite opening beneath the apex.

The northwest elevation displays a five-bay nave with paired aisle windows at ground level and traceried windows above between flying buttresses. The gabled north transept projects to the outer right with single and paired windows at ground level, a four-light geometrically-traceried window above, flanking blind pointed-arched niches, and a vesica centred in the finialled apex, with clasping angle buttresses. A narrow light at ground level in a full-height gabled bay recessed to the left (containing the gallery stair) is surmounted by a cinquefoil opening set within a circular surround. The single-storey linking wing projects to the outer right.

The windows predominantly feature small-pane leaded glazing, some part-stained, with decorative stained-glass windows by Gordon Webster and Morris & Company. The roof is covered in grey slate with raised stone skews and red tile ridging. Moulded water spouts and cast-iron rainwater goods complete the external detailing.

The interior features a mosaic-tiled vestibule hall floor and a panelled ceiling with boarded timber infills and red sandstone ashlar detailing. Two-leaf timber-panelled doors with small-pane leaded infills and cusped-tracery fanlights lead throughout. Stone treads ascend to the rear gallery stair. The nave is boarded with a timber barrel vault, with decorative ventilator strips lining the ridge. Lean-to side aisles flank the space, and the transepts are galleried. Polished sandstone circular-plan columns on polygonal bases form pointed-arched four-bay arcaded aisles, with engaged columns on the upper wall face and decorative stops with floral spandrel panelling. Full-height two-bay pointed-arched arcades frame the transept galleries with clustered columns and carved timber fronts at the upper stage.

A narthex at the northeast contains a small-pane leaded screen at ground level dividing the vestibule, with a part-leaded two-leaf timber-panelled door at the centre. Projecting brackets beneath the gallery and timber pews line the space, with a carved timber front completing the composition. A large colonnettd chancel arch is fitted with a carved timber screen, above which sits a decorative timber canopy with ogee-arched panelling over the communion table centred beneath a three-light chancel window. A crocketed organ flanks the chancel to the left. Timber pews are positioned throughout, with a carved pulpit for the minister. The east window depicts the Ascension (unsigned), while various other windows are by Gordon Webster, dated to 1936, 1949 and so forth. A simple corridor links the earlier church to the northwest, furnished with timber skirting boards, timber dado rail, and timber doors.

The boundary walls are constructed of stepped, coped squared and snecked sandstone, enclosing the site to Ayr Street and Academy Street, and are topped with cast-iron railings featuring decorative central panels. Coursed ashlar octagonal piers with decorative trefoil-headed friezes and tapering octagonal caps stand at Ayr Street and Academy Street, each surmounted by decorative cast-iron gates.