Church Overview

This visually striking, pink sandstone, neo-Gothic landmark church, situated beside the Forth & Clyde Canal on the main thoroughfare through Kirkintilloch, was designed and built 1913-14 by the Glasgow architectural practice of Clark & Bell at a cost of £15,000.

It was constructed at the behest of its then parish minister, the Rev Thomas Angus Morrison, who felt that his existing 17th century kirk was too draughty, poorly ventilated and too small for the needs of a 20th century parish church and its growing congregation. The older building, dedicated to St Mary the Virgin, was rebuilt in 1644 on the site of a medieval church that had originally been dedicated to St Ninian, the town’s patron saint. The vacated Auld Kirk is today a museum, owned by the local authority.

The architects designed the new St Mary’s to be cruciform in shape, with a chancel and aisles and an internal gallery on one end that would be built partly within the tower and partly within the vestibule, to provide more seating space. The 120ft high square tower, topped with its carved pinnacles, on the south east frontage, also houses the arched entrance to the church. The final service in the Auld Kirk was held on Sunday the 6th September 1914 and the dedication service in the new building took place the following weekend, on Sat 12th September. Special collections were held at both events for the “War Fund”, as the First World War moved into its second month. A revolutionary peal of patented tubular bells, from the Coventry foundry of Harrington, Latham & Co, was installed in the belfry of the lofty tower.

The church was seated, when it opened, to accommodate over 1200 worshippers, all facing the attractive chancel and the handsome carved sandstone Gothic pulpit and its matching carved oak canopy above. The chancel’s Gothic traceried window was filled in 1926 with a magnificent stained glass war memorial, themed on the ‘Te Deum Laudamus’ hymn. It was designed for the church by the celebrated artist Alf Webster, who tragically died of wounds received in action in the Great War, and was eventually completed in the 1920s in his workshop, the Stephen Adam Studio. It is signed ‘MC Webster’, thought to be his widow Maude Caroline Murdoch Webster, who managed the workshop after his death, but some sources have suggested it may have been completed by Martyn Webster, Alf and Maud’s eldest son, or by Alf’s protégé, the noted artist Douglas Hamilton.

Other beautiful windows in the church include some fine painted glass windows, installed in 1914, depicting scenes from the life of Christ, created by the Newcastle workshop of the Atkinson Brothers. There is a large window in the east transept by Douglas Hamilton, installed in 1954 as a memorial to the building’s instigator Rev Morrison, and appropriately themed on the historic building of the wider Christian Church. Finally, there are also a series of colourful and bold modern windows produced by a creative collaboration between local artist and celebrated print-maker Willy Rodger and stained glass artist John Kenneth Clark.

You can view all of the windows and read more about them on the church’s website here. Rodger also designed several other works that are on display around the building, including a carved table in the vestibule and later various carvings made from pews removed from the sanctuary during works to make the space more accessible.

Significant repair work to the roof was undertaken in 2017, with the assistance of the Heritage Lottery Fund. During local congregational reorganisation plans by the Church of Scotland, it was announced in June 2026 that, following the union of the congregations of St Mary’s and nearby St David’s Memorial Park Church, St Mary’s was to be slated for closure in the near future and St David’s retained as a place of worship. The congregation are currently appealing this decision.

Services

11am on Sundays and (from September to June) 11.30am on Wednesdays

Opening Arrangements

First Wednesday of each month from 10am-3pm and by arrangement with the church at other times

Disclaimer

The information about churches in Scotland’s Churches Scheme has been provided by the congregations or taken from the Historic Scotland list and published sources, in particular, the Buildings of Scotland volumes and the RIAS Illustrated Architectural Guides. To contact this specific church please complete the Contact this Church form above. The information is not authoritative; please contact Scotland’s Churches Trust to let us know of any errors or omissions.