Church Overview

This historic church was the first officially founded after the Reformation. At the request of Johnne Schaw its building was approved at Holyrood in 1589, to provide a local church in Greenock, and it opened in 1591. By 1841, it had fallen into disrepair, with its congregation decanting to the newly built ‘New West Kirk’. It was used as a place of worship by the local Gaelic community, before it was substantially restored in 1864 by architect James Salmon, and officially renamed the North Parish Church, but called locally the “Old West Kirk”.

In 1917,  the nearby Harland and Wolff shipyard wished to expand, so its owners proposed to dismantle  the kirk and rebuild it on the present site. The original building closed in 1925, and the new site was re-dedicated in 1928, with the deconstruction and reconstruction works supervised by local architect James Miller, who provided the relocated church with its distinctive new corner tower and more windows. Strangely, no ships were ever built on the cleared site. 

In common with most Scottish post-Reformation churches, there are galleries inside that were once reserved for individual households or specific groups. The Crawfurdsburn or Choir gallery, latterly housing  the organ; the Farmers’ Gallery with a model plough suspended over it, and the Sailors’ Loft with a model of a frigate dangling above – the fourth replacement, the original supposed to have been made from wood that was salvaged from an Armada wreck. 

Stairs lead to the St Michael Gallery or ‘Laird’s Loft’ behind which is the vestry, originally the Laird’s Retiring room, latterly housing a small museum. There is a broad stair leading outside from the vestry/loft which originally acted as a private entry and exit for the laird. Beneath this loft is the ‘Rest Room’, so called because it was where bodies recovered from the river were laid out prior to burial. It now forms a link outward towards the Pirrie Hall – named for William Pirrie, the chair of Harland and Wolff who supported the rebuilding on the Seafield site.

The church has an exceptional collection of Pre-Raphaelite stained glass, begun in 1864 with a commission from the eminent firm of William Morris & Co which includes windows by artists such as Edward Burne-Jones, Daniel Cottier, Ford Madox Brown and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. There are also windows by other celebrated artists, such as James Ballantine, Mary Isobel Wood and Gordon Webster. The Adoration of the Lamb, a four light widow designed by Burne-Jones, is dedicated to the MacCunn family who produced the composer Hamish MacCunn.

The graveyard around the church still contains some of the original graves transferred when the site was cleared, but not that of “Highland Mary”, Mary Campbell, one of Burns’ lovers, whose remains were transferred to Greenock cemetery. There are many memorials to the tradesmen who worked in Greenock and to their families which add to the historical impact of this building.

Its congregation was united with that of the Lyle Kirk in 2011 and the Church of Scotland took the decision to close and sell the A-listed Old West Kirk in 2022 as part of a nationwide drive to reduce its property portfolio. Despite several official name changes – North Kirk, St Luke’s, Lyle Kirk – it has retained the “Old West Kirk” name throughout, a sign of its significance as a beloved piece of Greenock history. Since its sale, its future remains uncertain but its remarkable story remains.

CLOSED AND SOLD BY THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND IN 2022. NOW PRIVATELY OWNED

Disclaimer

Scotland’s Churches Trust does not own any of the buildings listed in our directory, the information above is illustrative only and was correct at the time of publication. Please visit the building owner’s own website or social media to check opening times prior to going there to avoid disappointment and drop us a line if you spot any errors or omissions.