stirling-1963-vol-1/05_177

Transcription

No. 134 -- ECCLESIASTICAL MONUMENTS -- No. 136
an ornamental border: HERE LYES WIL/IAM MAKIE /
BAX [TER] -- BUR/GES IN CANNI/GATE HE
DE/PARTED OCT 12 / 1685 HIS AGE 32 / YEARS
WITH / HIS CHILDREN / -- Above the border is a
fragment of another inscription, now illegible. On the
W. face is the date [16] 85 and a carved skull and cross-
bones below which is the inscription PULVIS ET
UM [BRA] ("Dust and shade") and a label which
contains a motto, now illegible. There are also traces of
further inscriptions, the style of which seems to be later
than that of those already described, but these are so
fragmentary as to be quite unintelligible. On the modern
base is the following inscription : SUPPOSED TO HAVE
BEEN REMOVED FROM HOLYROOD CHURCHYARD /
WHEN CHAPEL WAS SACKED BY MOB IN 1688 /
LODGED IN SOME ECCLESIASTICAL BUILDING IN
SAFETY / & ON ITS DEMOLITION USED IN CON-
STRUCTION OF NORTH BRIDGE / EDINBURGH /
WHERE FOUND IN REBUILDING 1896.

796916 -- NS 79 SE ("Church"), "Belfry")
10 August 1955

134. Parish Church, St. Ninians. The present church
was completed in 1750 or 1751 ¹ on a site about 100 yds.
E. of that occupied by its mediaeval predecessor (No.
133). The original structure is a plain rectangular block
the overall dimensions of which are 82 ft. 6 in. by 59 ft.
8 in.; the porch and vestry, which adjoin to the W., have
been added, probably during the 19th century, while
the S. wall of the main block was rebuilt to include
an outshot in 1940. The original building is of rubble
and is now rendered in cement. The walls finish in a
moulded eaves-cornice and the gables are coped and
have simply moulded skewputs. The building has been
planned to accommodate a gallery on the W., N. and E.
sides, and a pulpit centrally placed in relation to the S.
wall, ² and this arrangement is reflected in the position of
the entrance doorways and in the fenestration. Access to
the ground floor is gained from doors centrally placed in
each gable, while a third door in the centre of the N.
wall is now blocked; a stair rises against each gable to
give access to the gallery. The original fenestration of
the S. wall is uncertain, but to the W., N. and E. the
building is lit by two ranges of symmetrically disposed
windows, of which the upper serve the gallery; all have
chamfered arrises. The interior was renovated in 1940,
but the general disposition of gallery and pulpit still
approximate to the original plan.

796917 -- NS 79 SE -- 26 April 1956

135. "Club's Tomb," Linkfield. This structure,
evidently a mausoleum, stands beside the road from
Airth Station to Airth midway between Powbridge and
West Westfield. It is said ³ to have been built by a local
farmer, perhaps the James Club, of Westfield, Airth,
whose will is registered under the date 29th July 1757,
and who wished to be buried in it, along with his dog,
beyond the reach of the resurrectionists. It is built of
coursed ashlar, and its SE. side, which contains the
entrance, is straight; the remainder of the plan is sub-
oval, the internal dimensions being 12 ft. 8 in. by
9 ft. 6 in. At the entrance the wall is 3 ft. thick. The roof,
though now much damaged, was originally pyramidal
and is supported on a barrel-vault 7 ft. 10 in. high at the
crown. The corners of the façade were originally topped
by moulded finials. The entrance, which is 3 ft. 1 in.
high, has a depressed arch and a pronounced external
check; it has been secured by an external grille and
perhaps by an internal one as well.

881874 -- NS 88 NE -- 26 April 1955

136. North Church, Airth. The North Church of
Airth was built to replace the old parish church (No. 137),
the fabric of which, at the beginning of the 19th century,
stood in need of extensive repairs. A proposal for the
erection of a new church had been put forward as early
as 1806, ⁴ but nothing was done until 1816 when David
Hamilton, of Glasgow, and William Stirling, of Dun-
blane, were invited to submit plans. ⁵ After a further
year's delay the old church was finally condemned after
a survey by Hamilton and William Burn, and it was
decided to proceed with the construction of a new
church at a cost of £2000, which sum was to include the
provision of a new schoolhouse. ⁶ William Stirling's plans
and specifications (cf. Pl. 31 B) were approved, ⁷ and
building began early in 1818 ⁸ ; the church was opened
in 1820. ⁹
The church (Pl. 31 A) stands at the NW. end of the
village close beside the Stirling road. Its orientation is
from NW. and SE. parallel with the road. It is a building
in the Perpendicular style, of pale greyish-yellow free-
stone ashlar and measures externally 65 ft, by 40 ft.
(exclusive of buttresses) with a tower 16 ft. 6 in. wide
projecting 14 ft. from the NW. end. At the SE. end there
is an apsidal projection one storey in height. The body
of the church, which is seated for 800, consists of three
bays subdivided by buttresses offset in two stages and
terminating in crocketed finials; similar buttresses, with
gablets at the lower stage, are set obliquely at the corners.
Each bay contains a high, pointed three-light window
with a transom and Gothic tracery, splayed jambs and

1 N.S.A., viii (Stirlingshire), 321.
2 In the original arrangement the pulpit seems to have stood
clear of the S.wall, leaving room for a number of seats behind
it (Ibid., 334).
3 Falkirk Herald, 20th June 1914.
4 H.M. Register House, Heritors' Records of the Parish of
Airth, 1770-1845, s.a.
5 Ibid.
6 Ibid.
7 These plans, together with some sheets relating to the
rejected design by David Hamilton, are in the possession of
Mr. A. F. C. Forrester of Airth.
8 Heritors' Records as above.
9 N.S.A., viii (Stirlingshire), 286.

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