SECTION IV: CHURCHES
63) Shettleston Parish Church in Church Road (now Killin Street) about 1912
SHETTLESTON OLD PARISH CHURCH
Shettleston was originally part of the Barony Parish of Glasgow, but in the middle of the 18th century, due to the distance from Shettleston to the Barony Church — about four miles — Glasgow Presbytery decided to build a preaching station at Shettleston and a subscription list was opened. A site for the Church on the north side of the road that ran eastward out of the village was given by James and George Reston, the proprietors of Budhill, with the stipulation that they be granted a pew in the Church and a lair in the Churchyard.
The Bogle family, prominent Glasgow “Tobacco Lords”of the period and landowners in the Shettleston area, were among the chief subscribers, and as a mark of gratitude. the crest of the Bogles, a three-masted ship in full rig, was duly displayed on the spire of the new Church as a weather-vane. A replica of the same design, a three-masted ship in full sail, is to this day displayed as a weather-vane on the roof of the Church Hall.
Building of the first Church began in 1751 and as far as is known opened for public worship as a preaching station in 1753.
In 1788 the Church became a Chapel of Ease under its parent the Barony Church of Glasgow and Henry Mushet was appointed as its first ordained minister and served the Church until 1825.
William Black served as Minister from 1825—1828 to be followed by John Thomson, who served as Minister from 1829—1843. John Thomson seceded from the Church of Scotland at the disruption, and taking some of the congregation with him, set up a new congregation known until the end of the century as Shettleston Free Church and from 1900 1929 as Sandyhills United Free Church.
John McR. Leckie became the Minister of the Church in 1844 and served until 1861. During his ministry under a new act it was ordained that Shettleston should be erected into a new and distinct parish and that the inhabitants of the district “should repair to the Church of Shettleston as their proper parish Church for the hearing of the Word of God and subject themselves to the Minister of the said Church and parish as proper parishioners thereof for all time coming.”
The modern history of the congregation begins and develops under the ministry of the Rev. John White, M.A., who came to the parish in 1893 and by that date the old Church built in 1752 was in a poor structural condition and quite inadequate for the needs of the parish, so John White set himself the task of building a new Church.
Shettleston at that period was still very much a rural parish and the congregation by no means a wealthy one, its members being in the main farm workers, miners and weavers. The sum of £1,200 was raised by the congregation, augmented by £1,800 obtainable from various trusts, but the combined total was short of the estimated building costs of the new Church of £10,000. The Minister felt therefore that he should appeal to the heritors, that is the landed proprietors of the parish, to make up the shortfall. Some of the heritors were prepared to meet this cost but a few who were not members of the congregation and some who were absentee landlords resident outwith the parish opposed the Minister’s proposals. It was only after prolonged litigation that the heritors were forced by law to bear the entire cost of building the new Church. Building commenced in 1900 and was completed by the end of 1902 but again due to legal difficulties the Church was not opened and dedicated for public worship until 9th August 1903.
Due to the legal complexities of what at is known in legal circles as the “Shettleston Church Case’’, the Church building is now a ‘B’’ listed building of historical interest.
On the reunion of the Church of Scotland and the United Free Church in 1929, the title of the Church was changed to Shettleston Old Parish Church.
64) St. Michael’s Carntyne Free Church, Hill! Street (now Edrum Street).
The church began in 1900 as a Chapel of Ease under the auspices of Shettleston Parish Church The church was built about 1904 with money subscribed for the new Shettleston Parish but not used for that purpose.
The parish was disjoined from Shettleston Parish in 1914 to become St. Michael’s Carntyne Parish Church.
The congregation was dissolved in 1965 and the building sold for commercial purposes and later demolished.
ST. PAULS’ ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
65) The new church built in 1857 served the parish for 102 years. Now the parochial hall.
About the middle of last century a small wooden church was erected in Eastmuir under the protection of St. Paul with Father Patrick McLaughlin as the priest in charge. At that time it was the only Roman Catholic Church between St. Mary’s, Abercrombie Street, and St. Patrick’s, Coatbridge, and had to serve the needs of about 3000 souls, scattered over a wide area including Shettleston, Tollcross, Carmyle, Mount Vernon, Sandyhills, Baillieston, High Carntyne, Lightburn, Provanmill and Ruchazie.
Father McLaughlin built a school opposite the church, and a few years later the wooden church was replaced by a stone built church which was to serve the parish for just over a hundred years.
At the start of his ministry Father McLaughlin was involved in an incident which bound the parishioners of St. Paul’s in a firm bond of unity in defence of this “hero of the confessional”, as Father McLaughlin was acclaimed at the time. He was approached in the Confessional by a penitent thief who, desiring to return the money he had stolen but wishing to avoid detection, asked Father McLaughlin to address the envelope wherein the money was returned. This was done and the money returned to the rightful owner.
Inquiries were made to trace and prosecute the thief, and it soon became known that the envelope had been addressed by Father McLaughlin. When challenged on the matter he made no denial and in the subsequent trial he refused to give any evidence or make any statement that could be at all construed into breaking the seal of the Confessional, and rather than do so, he submitted to a sentence of thirty days’ imprisonment for contempt of court. Father McLaughlin went to prison, but through the efforts of Bishop Murdoch was set free after serving half the imposed sentence. This brave priest was held in highest esteem by many Catholics in the city for standing out against all the power the magistrate could inflict, rather than be guilty of a breach of priestly duty.
It was no uncommon sight to see Catholic and Protestant miners of the district escorting him part of the way, with their pit lamps alight when he had to go some distance on foot in answer to a sick call. He presented a picturesque figure, on these occasions, wrapped in a shepherd’s shawl which he always wore on a distant sick visit.
In 1905 St. Mark’s Roman Catholic Church, Carntyne, was formed as a daughter church of St. Paul’s, and over the years St. Paul’s and St. Mark’s have been a great support to each other, and from 1912 until 1945 the priests of St. Paul’s had their home in St. Mark’s Presbytery as the joint parish was administered from St. Mark’s.
Father James Kearney came to St. Paul’s in 1923 and was to become one of the best-loved priests in the Archdiocese, serving the combined parishes of St. Mark’s and St. Paul’s for twenty-two years until his death in 1945.
After his death the combined parishes were divided into separate parishes and Father George Conlon, after service as an Army Chaplain, became the parish priest of St. Paul’s and was given the task of preparing the way for the building of a new church.
On the site where once stood the farm steading of Crownhall, the foundation stone of the new church was laid by Archbishop Campbell in February 1958, and seventeen months later on Sunday 12th July 1959, the new church was opened when Pontifical High Mass was celebrated by the Most Rev. Donald A. Campbell, D.D., Archbishop of Glasgow.
66) Church of St. Paul, Shettleston – 1986.
SANDYHILLS CHURCH
Sandyhills Church began in 1843 when John Thomson, the then minister of Shettleston Parish Church, came out at the disruption, taking a fair proportion of the congregation of Shettleston with him.
This new congregation worshipped for a period in a barn, then in a wooden building in “Goldie’s Land”, between the Parish Church and the Kirk House Inn.
In 1847 they built and worshipped in a stone building at the north west corner of Gartocher Road, but within three years, due to underground pit workings, the foundations collapsed and the building had to be demolished
The materials from this building were used to build a new church adjacent to Sandyhills Pit and opened for worship as a mission station in May 1847 and did not become a sanctioned charge until 1876.
A new and larger building was erected and opened for worship on 16th December 1900, but in 1975 this building also became unsafe and had to be demolished, so the congregation had to set about the task of building the third building on this site.
The church started as Shettleston Free Church, became in 1900 Sandyhills United Free Church, and in 1929 Sandyhills Church.
67) Sandyhills Free Church – 1854-1899.
69) Sandyhills Church, Shettleston – 1900-1975.
68) Sandyhills Church –1986.
69) Eastbank Church, Old Shettleston Road. Laying of Memorial Stone by Mr John Adams of Larchgrove – 11th October, 1902.
EASTBANK CHURCH
Between the years 1891 and 1901 the parish of Shettleston doubled in population. Due to this rapid increase in population, United Presbyterians in the locality felt their Church should be represented in the area. The church extension committee of Glasgow U.P. Presbytery opened a preaching station in Eastmuir School, the first service being held on Sunday 6th September, 1896.
The preaching station was soon formed into a regular congregation and at its first communion on 28th February 1897, had a membership of 61 and 40 adherents.
The school soon became unsuitable for meetings so a hall was built at the corner of what was then Budhill Street and Station Road, (now Old Shettleston Road and Annick Street), and was used for worship during the year 1899.
The foundation stone of the church was laid on 11th October 1902 and the church opened and dedicated on 4th March 1904.
The church which began as Shettleston United Presbyterian Church very quickly changed to Shettleston Eastbank United Free Church and in 1929 changed again to become Eastbank Church as part of the re-united Church of Scotland.
70) Eastbank Church –1986.
SHETTLESTON BAPTIST CHURCH
71) Shettleston Baptist Church — 1986.
On 24th February 1899 a meeting was called for those interested in the formation of a Baptist Church in Shettleston.
A meeting for worship was held in a local shop on Sunday 5th March 1899 and by August of the same year a constitution had been drawn up and signed by 18 foundation members. A few months later Mr Thomas Stewart was appointed as pastor.
In 1900 a site in what was then Springfield Road (now Amulree Street) was acquired and the original “Tin Kirk” was built and opened for worship in 1901. The church affiliated to the Baptist Union of Scotland on 18th September 1904.
In 1923 a fund was started for the building of a new church on the same site. Building commenced in 1931 and the new church opened for worship on 5th March 1932.
ST. SERF’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH
St. Serf’s Episcopal Church was established about 1914 and the congregation worshipped for a period in a classroom in Eastmuir School. In 1917 a corrugated iron structure in South Chester Street was dedicated as a mission church of St. John’s, Baillieston. A new church was built in Shettleston Road and opened in 1934.
The new church continued to be linked with St. John’s, but at a later date became linked with Christ Church, Brook Street, and then for a short period was on its own until more recently the link with St. John’s was restored.
72) St. Serf’s Episcopal Church – about 1960.
TRINITY METHODIST CHURCH
The founding of Shettleston Methodist Church was the responsibility of one man William Brown, who was converted at Methodist prayer meeting. He initiate open-air rallies around the district and worked unceasingly to establish a church in Shettleston. His work came to fruition when in November 1889 the “Tin Tabernacle” was opened.
Some years later the present church building was commenced, on a site in front of the older structure, which continued to be used as hall accommodation
The foundation stones of the new church were laid on 27th April 1901 and the church was officially opened for worship on 1st January 1902.
Since that date several ministers and man~ lay people have left their mark on Shettleston society.
73) Trinity Methodist Church, 1114 Shettleston Road — 1977.
The church celebrated its Diamond Jubilee in 1962, a date which heralded a period of difficulty and change. The hall accommodation was burned down and was eventually replaced by the present splendid premises. In 1965 Shettleston Methodist Church as a distinct entity ceased. Amalgamation with the Parkhead and Easterhouse Societies produced the united society which went forward under the new name of “Trinity” which, apart from its theological significance, seemed an apt name for a society which was three-in-one.
74) Silver Key used for official Opening of Church on 1st January 1902.
CARNTYNE OLD CHURCH
A great deal of evangelical missionary work was carried out by various religious bodies in the old Shettleston area during the period 1875—1885.
Due to this missionary zeal the Shettleston Sabbath School Association opened a Sunday School in a hall in Reid Street, (now Dinnet Street), and evening services were held in another hall in the same area, under the auspices of Shettleston Free Church.
In 1884 a new hall was built and opened by the Association in Hill Street, (now Edrom Street), and a divinity student was appointed in charge, and a congregation was sanctioned in 1890 and a church built and opened in 1893. The church was then known as Carntyne Free Church, becoming in 1900 Carntyne United Free Church and in 1929 Carntyne Old Church.
75) Carntyne United Free Church – Corner Main Street (now Shettleston Road) and Wellshot Road – about 1904.
76) Salvation Army Junior Choir with Captain Margaret Brown — about 1950. The Salvation Army have had a meeting place in Shettleston for over eighty years. For many years it was organised on a Corps basis and now operates as a Goodwill Centre at their premises in Etive Street.
ST. MARK’S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
77) St Mark’s Roman Catholic Church, Carntyne – about 1925 woth on the left a section of St. Mark’s School and on the right St. Mark’s Presbytery.
St. Mark’s Church, Carntyne, was formed in 1905 as a daughter church of St. Paul’s Shettleston. A piece of ground on the hill south of Main Street, (now Shettleston Road), was secured and under the guidance of Father Paterson, the first parish priest of St. Mark’s, the building of a red-sandstone chapel-school was soon in progress. The upper hall of the school, a large two-storey building, was adapted as the chapel and was opened and formally blessed by Archbishop Maguire in May 1906.
Under Father Paterson’s direction the parish was soon fully organised, with various confraternities, guilds and societies all flourishing, and a tremendous zeal for the church dictated many enterprises which helped to ease the financial burden on the parish.
As time went on, however, it soon became evident that the burden of debt on the parish, arising from the chapel-school teachers’ salaries and the presbytery was far beyond the people’s means to clear it.
It was eventually decided to unite St. Paul’s and St. Mark’s and so from 1912 until 1945, the two parishes were combined and administered from St. Mark’s.
The 1918 Education Act relieved the parish of much debt but placed existing chapel-schools in an ill-determined position, so plans for a separate and permanent church were revived to be built of red-sandstone to match the school and the presbytery. Unfortunately, the prohibitive cost of such a building meant such plans had to be discarded and a building of a more temporary nature was commenced, progressed rather slowly, and was eventually completed and blessed by Archbishop Macintosh in June 1927.
The new church soon endeared itself to all and became the power-house of prayer and a source of countless blessings for the parish, and although built originally as a temporary structure, served the parish for 47 years until disastrously destroyed by fire on 8th February 1974.
However, within a few years a new church arose from the ashes of the old church and was opened and dedicated on Sunday 21st September 1980.
78) St. Mark’s Roman Catholic Church – 1985.
