SHETTLESTON
OLD CHURCH OF SCOTLAND
99, Killin
Street, Shettleston
In
2002, Shettleston Old celebrated its 250th anniversary – marking
its continued history as one of the oldest Church of Scotland parishes in the
city. The present church now serves
quite a limited geographical area around the building, but in its earliest days
people attended from as far afield as Carntyne, Carmyle, Baillieston and
Gartcraig.
In the mid-18th century church parishes were still very large territories and this proved problematic for those parishioners who lived on the fringes of such areas. The rough country roads made travelling both arduous and hazardous, particularly in bad weather and especially during the winter months. Consequently, parishioners often found themselves unable to attend their churches as frequently as they would have liked, and ministers were unable to reach the members of their congregations.
This reflected the situation in the adjoining parishes of Barony and Old Monklands. The Barony Parish Church had held its services in the crypt of Glasgow Cathedral since at least 1595, while Old Monkland Parish Church held its own services 8 miles to the east. For those inhabitants who lived mid-way between these two churches attendance at either could be very difficult.
To help remedy this situation, a committee of locals from both parishes organised in 1751 to promote the building of a new church at the Middle Quarter of Shettleston. This committee included some of the most notable inhabitants of the Barony Parish, such as James Corbett of Tollcross, Colin Dunlop of Carmyle and George Bogle of Daldowie. The land for the new church was donated by the Restons of Budhill and finance for the building was raised by subscription. The right to select a minister was reserved to these original subscribers and their heirs residing within the church's territory.
The original Shettleston church
The church was built and opened for use in 1752. It was a rectangular structure within a rectangular churchyard - all stone-built - and it stood near a minor road leading eastwards to Sandyhills. For 35 years it remained a preaching station, subject to the authority of the Barony Parish and Glasgow Presbytery, but it also embraced a part of the Old Monkland Parish's territory. This accommodation was reflected in the disposition of its collections to both of these parishes in the proportion of two thirds to Barony and the rest to Old Monkland to enable them to continue to meet their commitments to their parishioners.
In these early years it was served only by probationer ministers, but in 1788 it was formally recognised as a Chapel of Ease and elected its first ordained minister. In effect, its affairs continued to be controlled through a Committee of Management selected from its own membership, and had no representation in the Courts of the Church.
It is difficult to envisage the parish thus served, it now mostly being submerged beneath a blanket of housing, but a description is provided in the records which utilised local landmarks which have now long gone. It gives some idea of the lay of the land in the mid-18th century countryside and it makes interesting reading;
"Begin at the mouth of the Calder Water, where it joins the Clyde; keep Clyde's northern bank till you meet the Dalbeth Mill; follow the mill lade till you meet the Dalbeth public road. By this means the whole lands of Dalbeth are included, and the Westthorn lands are excluded, at least parts of them which lie to the south of this road. Continue along this road westward until you meet a thorn hedge leading up to the east end of Janefield building; thus excluding Belvidere, Springbank, and Newlands; from the east end of Janefield across the highway to the westmost houses at Parkhead; from this proceed northward by a thorn hedge which separates Camlachie park from Parkhead park; continue along the march dyke which separates the lands of Kennyhill from those of over Carntyne, thus excluding Haghill and Kennyhill. The north termination of this dyke is very near the lands of Riddry and Cumbernauld road; include Lethamhill, Ruchazie, Frankfield, etc., by the old line of Cumbernauld road; keep the north and north-eastern extremity of Barony Parish until it enters the parish of Old Monkland, at the west end of Bishop Loch it is bounded by the eastern extremity of the lands of Provan joining said loch; then along the eastern boundary of the lands of Easterhouse; along said loch to Dungeonhill lands, bounded partly by the loch to the north of Lochwood lands."
Following the enactment by the General Assembly of the Chapel Act in 1834, Shettleston was constituted a quoad sacra parish, with the Barony Parish remaining as the unit of civil administration. When the Disruption of 1843 took place many of the congregation - perhaps as much as half - quit the Established Church with their minister, John Thomson, to join the newly established Free Church of Scotland. This part of the congregation formed the Shettleston Free Church which survives today as Sandyhills Church of Scotland and, by continuation, Shettleston Free Church (Continuing) in Wellshot Road.
With the introduction of the Government's New Parishes (Scotland) Act in 1844, Shettleston applied for disjunction from Barony Parish and erection into a separate and independent parish. This was allowed in 1847 when Shettleston was erected as Shettleston Parish Church, a quoad omnia parish. One concession which the congregation had to make was that it could no longer select its own minister. This right fell to the Patron of the originating parish - Barony - who in this case was the sovereign.
In 1851 the church was approached by the Budhill Coalworks with a financial proposal that it be allowed to mine the coal beneath the church and yard. Despite the ever ongoing fiscal shortages, the management of the church declined the offer. However, their own investigations revealed that mining had already taken place beneath their property. Court action was taken to have this terminated and in 1865 the church received £800 in compensation.
With the passage of years, and partly as a consequence of the mining beneath the building which had taken place, the old church became increasingly unsafe. In 1886, the Glasgow Presbytery recommended that it be replaced. However, this did not happen until the ministry of John White who initiated the necessary action. The struggle to have a new church built became known as the Shettleston Church Case. The consequences of the actions taken were the building of a new church for the Shettleston congregation from 1901-02 at its present location in Killin Street, St. Margaret's Tollcross Park in Tollcross, and St. Michael's in Carntyne. The old church Shettleston church was demolished in 1909.
War Memorial Window
Prior to the union of the United Free Church and the Church of Scotland in 1929, a union approved by the Shettleston congregation, enabling legislation had had to be passed which allowed the transfer of property from heritors to the individual congregations. The Shettleston church building now belonged to the congregation, as now did the responsibility for its financial upkeep.
Another consequence of the union was that parishes were subdivided. This was necessary given that other churches in the vicinity were now also Church of Scotland establishments. Also, in 1930, Shettleston was obliged to alter its name to the present title of Shettleston Old Parish Church.
Interior of the present church
The Shettleston church is a magnificent building of red sandstone in a French gothic style by W.F. McGibbon. It is probably the largest and grandest of all the Presbyterian churches in east Glasgow. Through the years it has acquired a considerable number of memorial stained glass windows which enhance the elaborate interior. The three lancet windows in the chancel were donated by John Adams of the Larchgrove estate, and is a depiction of Hymn 345, “Te Deum Laudamas.” Those in the west gable were created as a memorial to the fallen of the Great War.
It
retains a number of relics of its long history.
Within its vestibule is the bell which was presented to the old kirk in
1752 by Glasgow Town Council. This
had been cast for the town in Amsterdam in 1663 and for a time it was used with
others in the Tolbooth Steeple at Glasgow Cross.
Three of the town's bells were gifted; one to Calton Kirk, one to the
Grammar School and the other to Shettleston.
The
weathervane of a ship in full sail, which had sat atop the old kirk steeple
since it was built so many years before, was rescued in 1909 and placed on the
roof of the new hall. It is
believed to have been displayed originally in gratitude to Colin Dunlop of
Carmyle for his efforts in securing the building of the first church.
It was the symbol of the Ship Bank - one of his commercial interests.
The
church also contains a memorial tablet in the north wall dedicated to John White
who went on to become minister at the Barony Church and one of the principle
architects of the 1929 union.
The old churchyard in Shettleston Road remains in existence, with a large vacant area in its centre where the original church stood for so long. Many of the grave stones have been vandalised or are too weather-worn to be read but some of the earliest stones, with deep cut inscriptions, are still clear. Even the watchmen’s stone sentry boxes have survived – a guard against the dreaded resurrectionists of those troubled days.
Eastmuir-born Thomas Waugh is a member of the congregation. He has produced two liberally illustrated texts on the Shettleston district which have become standard reference works on the area - "Shettleston from Old and New Photographs" and "Shettleston Past and Present." He also produced a detailed account of the parish church in 1991 in celebration of its 240th anniversary - "Shettleston Old Parish Church, 1751-1991."
Most recently there has been some doubt cast on the future viability of the congregation to maintain itself in this venerable charge. It is located in close proximity to Eastbank Church, already linked to Carntyne Old, and it may be that the area can no longer sustain the three churches.
Waugh, Thomas, M. (1991); “A Short History of Shettleston Old Parish Church, 1751 – 1991.” Glasgow, Kirk Session of Shettleston Old Parish Church.
© 2005 Gordon Adams
GALLERY:
Chancel
window
The Good Wife, Abraham, Martha & Mary.
The Lamb of God, the Light of the World, David.
Lawson Memorial, Blessing the Children, St. Luke.
Rachel, Baptism