Church Overview

This handsome Georgian Gothic church was built 1827-28 as a private chapel of ease to cater for the spiritual needs of the workers in the nearby Stanley Mills, by the mill-owners Dennistoun, Buchanan & co for a total cost of £1000. It possesses a bold landmark square clock tower, 85ft high with four pinnacles at each corner, housing a large bell and a singularly important “Alpha” clock that was purchased at the Great Exhibition of 1851. The only other example of its kind was sent from the same London trade fair to a customer in St Petersburg, Russia.

The buyer of the clock, intended to ensure that his workers and tenants always kept good time, was Samuel Howard, a Lancashire mill owner who bought Stanley Mills in the 1840s and lived in Stanley House. When Howard died in 1872, his widow arranged for him to be buried in a marble sarcophagus in the vestibule of the chapel, which was intended to become a family vault. After some negotiation, Mary Howard sold the chapel to the local presbytery of the Church of Scotland for £1250 in 1874, and it was raised to the status of a full parish church thereafter.

Significant local fundraising took place to raise the sum required to purchase the church and grants were given from philanthropic organisations such as the Baird Trust. Originally designed to seat around a thousand worshippers, in its pews and grand sweeping gallery, the church underwent significant repairs and alterations almost from the moment it came into the ownership of the local presbytery, requiring further regular bouts of fundraising from its congregation. It was substantially reordered in 1962, incorporating a new pew arrangement, and the halls below the sanctuary were refurbished in 1997. The vestibule also housed a marble war memorial, unveiled in 1922 to commemorate the local fallen of the Great War.

In 1929, following the nationwide union with the United Free Church of Scotland, the decision was taken to rename the building Stanley Tower Church. Following a union with Stanley St James Church in 1959, the former United Free Church building was converted into a church hall and many of its furnishings were moved into the Parish Church. The congregation linked with that of Redgorton Church in 1981.

In 2015, the church suffered substantial damage during Storm Frank and its future hung in the balance for several years until the likely costs were deemed beyond economic repair. The Church of Scotland took the decision to close and sell the church in 2019 and sought permission in 2020 to remove the war memorial and clock, which was refused by the local authority. The church was sold thereafter and subsequently resold at auction and has unfortunately suffered further considerable damage from persistent long-term weather ingress and vandalism.

After a period of negotiation over the detailed planning conditions, which included retention and restoration of the church clock, memorials, Rolls of Honour and the Howard Tomb, formal permission was granted by the local authority in February 2026 for the 200 year old kirk’s change of use to residential purposes and conversion into two dwellings.

Church is now closed, with conditional permission granted in 2026 to convert into two residential dwelling houses

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.