Documents

There are no additional online documents for this record.

Summary

Description

Andrew Wilson, Banff, architect and builder, 1790; tower and spire, William Robertson, Elgin, 1828-9, completed Thomas Mackenzie, Elgin, 1849; apse and re-casting of interior, Jeffrey Waddell and Young, Glasgow, l927.

CHURCH: rectangular, harled with ashlar margins and dressings. 5-bay long south elevation with regular fenestration (largely re-modelled in 1927).Windows are round-arched, key-stoned and with blocked imposts. Paired small lights at ground floor and 3 large similarly shaped mullioned and transomed windows in centre of lst floor. Bowed ashlar apse at east gable, fronted in southeast re-entrant angle by single pitch entrance porch. Deep moulded wallhead cornice. Slate roofs.

SPIRE: tooled and polished ashlar. Tall Gibbsian spire rising above 2-stage Roman Doric pilastered tower with base as porch served by round-arched north and south entrances. Clock faces in each face below 3-stage octagonal spire with louvred oval openings terminating as tapering, facetted steeple with blind oculi lucarnes.

INTERIOR: re-cast to east and re-furbished, 1927. Gallery at west; chancel and semi-circular apse; communion table, pulpit and font also l927. Marble paving to chancel and apse, lit by 3 stained glass windows (circa l927 by Stephen Adam Studios). Coombed ceiling, segmental barrel-vault over chancel. Various 19th and earlier 20th century mural memorial plaques.

Statement of Special Interest

Place of worship building in use as such. The design of this church was based on that for St Andrew's in Dundee (1774). The Banff Kirk Session Minutes and the Scotsman records that the 1927 re-casting and refurbishment of the church was to plans and specifications prepared by Jeffrey Wadell and Young. The cost was estimated at £7,900 and the work was largely paid for by Misses Katherine, Helen and Susan Martin, St Catherine's, Banff to whom there is a memorial plaque in the chancel dated 1929. The original fenestration of the south elevation was altered in l927 with 2 long round-headed central windows being replaced by the present fenestration pattern.

The church was built to replace the old St Mary's Church at High Shore, which was largely demolished in 1797 leaving only a south aisle (see separate listing).

Statutory address and listed building record updated in 2014. Previously listed as 'High Street, St Mary's Church of Scotland'.

References

Bibliography

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.

If part of a building is not listed, it will say that it is excluded in the statutory address and in the statement of special interest in the listed building record. The statement will use the word 'excluding' and quote the relevant section of the 1997 Act. Some earlier listed building records may use the word 'excluding', but if the Act is not quoted, the record has not been revised to reflect subsequent legislation.

Listed building consent is required for changes to a listed building which affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest. The relevant planning authority is the point of contact for applications for listed building consent.

Find out more about listing and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.