St John's Church, Dunoon

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St John's Church
St Johns Church, Dunoon (geograph 3673141).jpg
St John's Church in 2013.
St John's Church, Dunoon
55°57′02″N4°55′44″W / 55.95055°N 4.92877°W / 55.95055; -4.92877
OS grid reference NS172769
Location Dunoon, Argyll and Bute
CountryScotland, United Kingdom
Denomination Church of Scotland
Website Cowal Kirk Website
History
Statusopen
Architecture
Functional statusused
Heritage designation Category A listed building
Designated20 July 1971
Architect(s) Robert Alexander Bryden
Architectural typeNormandy Gothic
Years built1877

St John's Church, formerly Dunoon Free Church, is a Presbyterian church building in Dunoon, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. A Category A listed structure, [1] it is located in the town centre at the junction between Hanover Street and Victoria Road. The church is still in daily use.

Contents

History

The Very Reverend Mackintosh MacKay's 27 February 1840 Address to the Parishioners of Dunoon and Kilmun, given from the Manse in Dunoon, was published later that year. An 1842 addendum by MacKay was later included. [2]

The current building was erected in 1843 on the site of an older church. Architect Robert Alexander Bryden [3] was hired and the present church building was completed in 1877. [4] (Bryden is buried about half a mile to the north of the church, in Dunoon Cemetery.)

Like the predecessor, it was initially called Dunoon Free Church and later renamed St John's Church.

Description

St John's Church was built using dry stone masonry and stands on a steeply sloping site which increases its apparent size and the height of the tower and spire. The architecture is in the Normandy Gothic architecture style with crisply carved details. The interior is laid out with a horse-shoe shaped gallery for the congregation and a raised and raked gallery for the choir behind the central pulpit. There are many stained-glass windows throughout the building. The organ was installed in 1895 by Brook & Co. as a two-manual pipe organ and was subsequently enlarged to three manuals in 1921.

The church was refurbished in 2012 via a £200,000 grant from Historic Scotland and the Heritage Lottery Fund. [5]

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References

  1. "St John's Church,Dunoon". British Listed buildings. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  2. Mackay, Mackintosh (23 October 1840). "Address to the Parishioners of Dunoon and Kilmun". J. Hislop via Google Books.
  3. Robert Alexander Bryden at ScottishArchitects.org.uk
  4. "Scotland's Church Trust". Sacred Scotland. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  5. "Dunoon praises church refurbishment scheme" - Premier Construction News, 2012