BARONY
NORTH CHURCH OF SCOTLAND
14-20,
Cathedral Square
There
does not appear to have been a Free congregation arising directly from the
congregation of the Barony Church in 1843, although it is almost certain that
numbers did quit the charge at the time to worship elsewhere.
The congregation which eventually did take its name began in 1860 when
the Wynd Free Church established a mission in Townhead.
A
church was built to a design by the celebrated architect John Honeyman at the
corner of Mason Street (now Cathedral Street) and Castle Street and the charge
was sanctioned in 1867 as Barony Free Church.
Half of the Wynd congregation, along with its minister, moved to the new
church. In 1929, as a United Free
congregation by this point, it was among those uniting with the Church of
Scotland as Barony North.
The Castle Street building was destroyed by fire on 13th October, 1941. By a very fortunate coincidence, the congregation of the nearby Cathedral Square Church of Scotland had quit their own church only the day before. It was now free for immediate occupation, and provided a new home for Barony North. This highly ornate church, another Honeyman design, was to accommodate the new congregation for the next 38 years before it was terminated by dissolution in 1979.
Loss of membership made its continuance no longer a viable proposition. The building was very soon acquired by the Glasgow Evangelical Church and is currently still in use by that it.
© 2005 Gordon Adams
