Types of Church Building

There are at least 2000 church buildings in Scotland currently used for worship.
The Church of Scotland alone maintains about 1400 of them. No two are identical, but common factors in their design and construction allow them to be grouped into families, and common problems identified. Some are very simple, little more than sheds, and others extremely complex. Often the complexity of a building is more apparent than actual, this is typically seen when extensive decorative features are applied to a simple structure. Even where there is real complexity, the building is usually made up of a conglomeration of simple units. This module will later show how a simple building can be dressed up in different ways, and then how more complex buildings can be built up from simpler units. Before that, however, this article will describe, briefly the types of construction which are characteristic of Scottish churches, and which are common to a number of types.
Most Scottish churches are stone-built.
There are several techniques for building in stone. In almost all the wall is solid, with inner and outer faces brought to a ‘fair face’, that is to a vertical or near-vertical flat face (omitting details). There is usually a space between the inner and outer faces (the ‘core’) which is filled with less-well finished stone. In such buildings the walls are commonly fairly thick, and may be supported externally by buttresses, which serve to keep the walls vertical, and also, in some cases, to resist the outward pressure imposed by a roof.
The degree to which the stonework is cut to a regular shape varies widely.
In very early churches the stone was often cut into almost cubic blocks, used on both the inside and outside faces of the building. Subsequently dressed stone was often confined to the outer walls of the building, less regularly cut stone being used on the inside walls, which were usually plastered. In many churches built from the 17th to the early 19th centuries the outside walls were also built of less regular stone, covered with a layer of harl to keep water out. In such buildings the margins of windows and doors, and the wall-heads, were usually made of dressed stone. Sometimes dressed stone was used in this way with an exposed skin of less-regularly dressed stone. In the later 19th century there was a revival of the use of dressed stone for internal walls, and where this was not the case brickwork was sometimes substituted for stone for the internal skin and core of the wall.
After stone, brick is the commonest material for church construction.
Brick can be used in the same manner as stone, to make a solid wall, but in the 20th and 21st centuries it has often been used in two other ways. In walls intended to support a roof, the so-called cavity-wall is often used, with inner and outer skins separated by an air gap, bridged by metal ties. In other cases the roof is supported by steel, concrete or laminated timber frames, and the brickwork has only its own weight to support. In that case a single-brick wall may suffice. Concrete blockwork (breeze blocks) may also be substituted for brick for internal walls. In a few instances the external walls are built of concrete blocks. In some late-20th century buildings the walls are almost eliminated, and the roof carried down almost to ground level, in what are called A-frame buildings.
Of the other materials used for wall construction the most important are timber and corrugated-iron.
Some buildings, or parts of buildings, were built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with timber frames, with the spaces between the timbers probably infilled with rendered brick. Sometimes thin pieces of wood were applied to the exterior of a building to give the impression that it was timber-framed. Much commoner was the use of corrugated iron (usually in practice galvanised steel) to form walls, on a timber or steel frame. In these cases the corrugated iron was used both as a skin and as a load-bearing material.

This section illustrates forms of building in outline, and then uses specific churches to show how these simple forms are expressed in real buildings. Buildings of modern form and construction are discussed at the end.

The Gabled Rectangle

The simplest type of traditional church building is rectangular on plan, with a pitched roof and end gables. In most examples the edges of the gables extend above the roofing material to form exposed skews. In a few the roofing material is carried up to the outer edge of the gable, and in some late examples is carried over the gable end to form eaves.
Most churches of this type have a belfry (bellcote) at the top of one of the gables, and that gable may be thickened to provide support for it. There may well be a decorative feature, a finial, on the other gable (sometimes on both). The commonest form of finial is a ball.
Innerwick Parish Church East Lothian
Innerwick Parish Church, East Lothian

Sometimes a tower is wholly or partly inset into the gable. This may have a steeple.
Old High Parish Church, Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire
Old High Parish Church,
Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire

The Piended Rectangle

In the later 18th century the greater availability of good-quality building timber, and improvement in joinery skills, led to the adoption of piended (hipped) roofs, with sloping ends as well as sides. These were particularly favoured by the Secession churches, which did not have bellcotes. Where a bellcote was placed on the wallhead of a piended building it was common to have a small sub-roof to avoid having a valley gutter between the bellcote and the roof.
Craignish Parish Church
Craignish Parish Church,
Argyll and Bute

In a few instances churches were built with eight sides (octagonal), with eight sloping roof faces.
Former Glasite Meeting Place – Dundee
Former Glasite Meeting House,
Dundee
T-plan Churches
Early rectangular churches were quite narrow, largely because of the scarcity of long pieces of timber. To increase capacity the first option was to build internal galleries above the ends, leaving the centre of the building open to its full height. Further increase in accommodation was then provided by building a full-height wing on to the side opposite the pulpit, forming a T-plan building.
Former Nigg Old Parish Church
Former Nigg Old Parish Church,
Highlands

This became a standard layout for churches until the later 18th century. The wing often contained a gallery for the local landowner (laird), whose responsibility it was to provide the church. Many churches which seem at first sight to be simple rectangular buildings have a wing to the rear. Some piend-roofed churches are also on a T-plan. There is considerable variety in the placing of bellcotes on T-plan buildings. Sometimes the bellcote is at one end of the ‘cross-stroke’ of the T, and sometimes at the end of the down-stroke.

Carmunnock Parish Church,
Glasgow
Cruciform churches

Churches on a cross plan were common before the Reformation. The typical cross plan at that time was the Latin cross, in which one arm of the cross is significantly longer than the other three. The side arms – transepts – were probably introduced to allow east end altars to be added to complement the high altar, at the east end of the main body of the church. After the Reformation the Latin-cross plan became irrelevant, and the larger churches were divided up, or partly abandoned.
It was not until the 19th century that most of the surviving mediaeval cross-plan churches were restored to their original configuration. In the 17th century, however, a number of new cross-plan churches were built, or converted from earlier buildings. These were on the Greek, or equal-armed cross plan. The fourth arm (as compared to the T-plan church) was, apparently, used as a communion aisle. Greek-cross-plan churches continued to be built into the early 18th century, but thereafter this layout was abandoned.
St Andrew’s Parish Church Golspie
St Andrew’s Parish Church,
Golspie, Highlands
Side projections
Projections from the sides of rectangular or T-plan churches are very common. Often these are in essence porches, sheltering doorways. Such projections sometimes also contain one or more small rooms, used as session houses, vestries, or more recently as Sunday School rooms. Others were built as burial aisles, to conform to the post-Reformation prohibition of burials within churches. In several instances the burial vault was in the lower part of the projection, with a ‘laird’s loft’ above. Such projections have sometimes been converted into additions to the worship space
Spott Parish Church
Spott Parish Church, East Lothian,
burial aisle on side of church

Abercorn Parish Church
Abercorn Parish Church, West Lothian, two burials aisles, and a grave enclosure on side of church
End projections
End projections are very common. Some are porches or burial aisles, as mentioned above, but at the ‘east end’ the projections are usually extensions of the worship space. In Scottish Episcopal or Catholic churches, and in surviving mediaeval churches, these are usually chancels or choirs, designed to house altars, choirs (singers) and clergy. Sometimes the end projection is very slight, and perhaps round-ended, in which case it is called an apse. In churches of the late Victorian period and later, end extensions are commonly organ chambers. Vestigial projecting chancels were still being built in the 1990s.
Strathnaver Church – Syre – Highlands

Strathnaver Church, Syre, Highlands,
with a porch on the front end

Scottish Episcopal Church – Largs – North Ayrshire
Scottish Episcopal Church, Largs, North Ayrshire,
with a large side porch, and a chancel to the right

Towers are features of many churches, especially of surviving mediaeval buildings, and of 19th and early 20th century churches. Often such features are surmounted by steeples, but for clarity steeples are being omitted at this stage. Sometimes towers are completely integrated into the body of the church (see Traditional Buildings – Gables and Plans).

End towers
End towers are features of some 18th century churches, but become much commoner in the early 19th century, when the Gothic Revival (see below) began to be popular. Such towers often have, or were designed to have, clocks, and bells. In most instances, the ground floor serves as a porch.
Collace Parish Church, Perth and Kinross
Collace Parish Church, Perth and Kinross,
An early and good example of a Gothic Revival church with an end tower

The two churches with towers illustrated above have the tower next to the body of the building. In some instances, however, the tower is partly set into the body.
Auchterhouse Parish Church – Angus
Auchterhouse Parish Church, Angus.
Here the tower is inset into the body, and has an external stairway to the gallery.

Side towers
The end tower is appropriate to a church with the pulpit at the end of one of the short walls. Side towers are better suited to churches with the pulpit on one of the long walls. Some churches with such towers are on a T-plan, with a wing on the long side opposite to the tower.
Glencairn Parish Church – Dumfries and Galloway
Glencairn Parish Church, Dumfries and Galloway.
The tower on the side is matched by a wing on the opposite side, not visible in this view.
Towers at a corner

Towers to one side of a front gable are common in urban churches. This drawing shows one adjacent to the body of the building, but often such a tower will be integrated into the building shell, often housing a porch, and sometimes a stairway to the gallery.
Central towers
Central towers were features of many mediaeval churches, such as Glasgow and Kirkwall cathedrals. Situated over the crossing between the east-west and north-south axes of the buildings, such towers housed bells, and may also have been used as landmarks, and as lookout positions. During the middle and later 19th century, and in the early-mid 20th century, some churches were built with such features.
Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church – Torry – Aberdeen
Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, Torry, Aberdeen,
an early 20th century church with a central tower.

Aisles
The term ‘aisle’ has three meanings in Scottish church practice. The sense in which it is used here is of parts of a church building to the side of the main spaces, and with the same floor level as those spaces, and separated from them by rows of columns. Sometimes there are aisles on both sides of the church, but often on only one. In large mediaeval buildings the choir sometimes had aisles, but more recently only the nave was aisled. Sometimes the existence of aisles is apparent from the outside of the building, but not always. [see Pugin and Pugin churches, below, for other examples of aisled churches]
Cardonald Parish Church Glasgow
Cardonald Parish Church, Glasgow.
This is an example of an aisled church with separate roofs for the aisles.
The central section is the main body of the church.

Aisles and transepts

In many late 19th and early 20th century churches there are both aisles and transepts. There may in addition be a shallow chancel or organ making the building cruciform in plan. Generally, however, the transepts have a different purpose from those in a mediaeval church, having seating on the ground floor, and often galleries. As described for aisles, there may only be a single aisle and transept, on one side of the building.
King’s Park Parish Church Glasgow

King’s Park Parish Church, Glasgow, a 1930s church
with lean-to aisles and full-height transepts.

After the Second World War there was a massive programme of building public housing, in new outer suburbs of the cities and large towns, and in ‘New Towns’. The building of churches was an integral part of the creation of these new housing areas.
Building materials of all kinds were rationed for some time after the war, and architects struggled to produce designs which provided large amounts of space with minimal quantities of materials.
Many churches of the period were ‘hall churches’, in which the worship space was used for secular purposes during the week.
Among the new approaches to design were the use of flat or curved roofs, covered with roofing felt, and the use of steel frames. Brick was very generally used for walls, either exposed or harled. For the first time, on any scale, cavity-wall construction was used. Reinforced-concrete construction, introduced before the War, became fairly common.
From the late 1950s design became significantly more adventurous, as architects and patrons embraced the ‘International Modernist’ style. This put a premium on clean, simple forms, and led to such visual devices as concealed roofs, and placing rainwater downpipes inside walls. ‘New’ materials, notably copper-cladding of roofs and fascias, were introduced, and the use of unorthodox positions for windows, to create special lighting effects, became common.
The variety of architectural expression in churches built from the late 1950s to the mid-1970s is such that only a few of the more common features are picked out on this website as illustration.
Because of economy in the use of materials, the use of relatively untried methods of construction, and difficulty of maintenance, many churches of this period have had structural problems, and some have had to be demolished.

Low-pitched roofs

A low pitched roof has a little pitch or slope in the angle of the roof.
Drumry St Mary’s Parish Church Glasgow
Drumry St Mary’s Parish Church, Glasgow,
A good example of a building with a low-pitched roof.
Concealed flat and low-pitched roofs

The walls of the church extend to hide either a flat or low-pitched roof.
St Bride’s East Kilbride
St Bride’s Roman Catholic Church, East Kilbride,
South Lanarkshire,
a building with a concealed flat roof.

Deep timber or copper-faced fascias

A roof that is clad in a thick layer of timber or copper as opposed to slates, pan-tiles or shingles.
St Mungo’s Parish Church, Cumbernauld.
St Mungo’s Parish Church, Cumbernauld.
There is a deep copper-clad fascia on the link block on the left. The church roof is also clad in copper.

Continuous eaves glazing
This style of glazing was fashionable in the 50s and 60s. Sometimes it was applied to flat-roofed blocks, but it was also used in other types of building, for instance St Mungo’s, Cumbernauld (above), and St. Mary Magdalene’s in Edinburgh.
St Mary Magdalene Roman Catholic Church, Bingham, Edinburgh,
St Mary Magdalene Roman Catholic Church, Bingham, Edinburgh,
Showing eaves glazing.
Set-back plinths
It is quite common in post-War churches to have the body of the church set on a plinth. Often the plinth is of exposed brickwork, the upper part of the walls being rendered. Sometimes, as seen below, the upper part of the building projects significantly over the plinth.
Craigsbank Parish Church, Corstorphine, Edinburgh
Craigsbank Parish Church, Corstorphine, Edinburgh
Monitor roof-lights
Rooflights with vertical glazing, projecting above flat or inclined roofs, seem to have been introduced into Scotland by Gillespie, Kidd and Coia in their St Paul’s’ Roman Catholic Church, Glenrothes. The purpose of such features is to shed light from above on to particular parts of interiors, for instance on chancels.
St Gregory’s Roman Catholic Church, Wyndford, Glasgow,
St Gregory’s Roman Catholic Church, Wyndford, Glasgow,
with a large rooflight, designed for the same purpose as the Glenrothes one.
Note also the eaves glazing strip.
Monopitch roofs

A monopitch roof is, as the name suggests, a roof with a single slope, as opposed to the more usual two (gabled) or four (piended) slopes. Such roofs were popular in the 1950s and 60s for domestic buildings, and were also used in several contemporary churches.
St Andrew’s Roman Catholic Church, Bearsden, East Dunbartonshire,
St Andrew’s Roman Catholic Church, Bearsden, East Dunbartonshire,
Showing two monopitch roofs abutting each other.
Curved roofs

An early example of a curved roof can be found at Roslin Chapel, but this appears to be unintentional; there is every reason to believe that the currently-exposed surface of the vault was intended to be protected by a pitched roof, as was normal in mediaeval and early modern vaulted buildings.
The intentional construction of churches with curved roofs (apart from domes, which are of great antiquity) is in Scotland a war-time and post-War phenomenon. Convex curves are to be found in the Nissen-hut-based Italian Chapel in Orkney, and in two Roman Catholic churches, in Edinburgh and Kilmarnock.
The most extreme examples of the type are the ‘parabolic-hyperbolic’ roof of Hamilton Bardrainney Church in Port Glasgow, and three Roman Catholic churches, in Penicuik, Renfrew and Johnstone. The two last-named have been replaced, after the Johnstone one’s roof failed in a storm.
The Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, Penicuik. Midlothian
The Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, Penicuik. Midlothian
A-frame buildings

One approach to the construction of framed buildings was to make the roof the building, by carrying it down almost to ground level. As in the case of curved roofs, such buildings were never common. The largest, a Roman Catholic church in Maryhill, Glasgow, has been demolished, but three survive, in Paisley, East Kilbride and Rosyth. Rosyth Methodist Church, Fife
Rosyth Methodist Church, Fife

Polygonal buildings
There was a vogue for centrally-planned churches in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, but with rare exceptions the fashion lapsed until the post-war period, when a fair number were built. Most were polygonal, but at least one was circular on plan. In most cases the roofs were covered with roofing felt or copper. St Teresa of Lisieux Roman Catholic Church, Craigmillar, Edinburgh
St Teresa of Lisieux Roman Catholic Church, Craigmillar, Edinburgh
St Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church, Carfin, North Lanarkshire
St Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church, Carfin, North Lanarkshire

Detached bell towers

Church of Scotland churches were expected to have bells from soon after the Reformation, and most did. In post-war buildings it became fashionable to place bells in detached towers, part of modernist design of church complexes. Often such bell-towers were made of steel, another modernist concept. St John’s Parish Church, Oxgangs, Edinburgh
St John’s Parish Church, Oxgangs, Edinburgh
St Andrew’s Clermiston Parish Church, Edinburgh
St Andrew’s Clermiston Parish Church, Edinburgh

Laminated Timber Frame

The heroic period of post-War church building ended in the early 1970s. Many of the more architecturally-advanced buildings of that period had proved defective in keeping out water, and a few have had to be demolished. In the 1980s and 90s, therefore, a more conservative approach was taken to church design. A fair number of church buildings have been constructed with frames made of laminated timber, with minimally-load-bearing walls, of facing brick, or harled common brick. More attention has been paid to rainwater disposal than was common in the heroic period. Buildings of this character usually have concrete-tile roofs.
Partick South Parish Church, Glasgow
Partick South Parish Church, Glasgow,
yet another variant, with a gabled frontage.

Campsie Parish Church, Lennoxtown
Campsie Parish Church, Lennoxtown,
A more complex building, with a front block added to the main worship space.

What are the implications of the changes in church design for maintenance? One can distinguish certain features of all types of church that need constant vigilance. These include:
Maintain the integrity of the roof covering, whether this be the traditional slate, ceramic tiles, copper, lead, and stone slab, or more recent concrete tiles, asphalt, roofing felt and coated or uncoated metal. This involves regular checking for slipped and broken slates, slabs and tiles, and cracks in, or other deterioration of other materials. Particular attention should be paid to ridge protection, especially after storms
Ensure that rainwater disposal is effective. This means checking that gutters at the edges of roofs (rhones), and valley gutters (both inclined and horizontal) are clear of obstructions and free from cracking, perforation and breakages. Particular attention should be paid to features which cannot readily be inspected from ground level. Note that rainwater disposal does not end at ground level: where the water goes when it reaches the ground is also important.
Ensure that copes and upstands are fully waterproof. Open joints in these features are common sources of the ingress of water in church buildings.
Ensure that the junction of roofing materials and copes or upstands is well-maintained, and not cracked, perforated, or distorted.
Ensure that the pointing of masonry, brickwork and blockwork is in good condition. Open joints in walls, especially those facing the prevailing wind, can lead to serious ingress of water.
Maintain the integrity of rendering over masonry, brickwork and blockwork. The separation of render from the underlying structure can pose problems of public safety, and result in deterioration of the structure. Detached render can be detected by tapping it: it will return a dull, rather than a crisp sound.
Keep painted or varnished features (including timber fascias and bargeboards) in good condition. Wooden or metal features not properly protected by a sound paint or varnish film can speedily rot or rust. Post-war churches often have steel features, such as bell-towers. These should be kept well-painted to prevent structural deterioration. Painting should be seen as a structural as well as an aesthetic responsibility.
Ensure that window panes, of traditional construction, are kept properly puttied into their frames, and to ensure that the junction between frame and wall is adequately protected by mastic.
Make sure that stained glass windows are adequately supported by saddle bars, and that cracking of leadwork is not becoming serious.
Ensure that both the body of the church, and the space under the floor, is adequately ventilated. It is especially important that perforated ventilators below floor level are kept unobstructed. Failure to ventilate adequately can result in the spread of dry rot, in the growth of mould, and in condensation, which can affect interior fittings and furnishings.
Check for cracking of walls, and to observe if cracks are widening. If they are, the advice of a structural engineer should be sought..
In addition to the foregoing, which I should stress is not a comprehensive list, there are points which are specific to particular groups of churches.
Churches with towers or steeples:
The integrity of the fabric of the feature needs to be checked at regular intervals by an independent expert (that is, one with appropriate experience with no immediate interest in the value of contracts for works).
The points made above regarding open joints in masonry (especially copes), and the integrity of roof coverings apply to these features
The fastening of finials (including weather vanes) should be checked as part of the regular inspections.
Where there are louvres protecting belfry openings these should be well maintained. Defective louvres are a common cause of water ingress.
If there is a bell, or more than one, the integrity of the framework, or masonry, supporting the bell(s) should be checked. Rot or rust (or deterioration of masonry) can weaken supporting structures to a dangerous degree.
The junction between a tower or steeple and a roof can be a weak point, and particular emphasis in inspection should be given to the integrity of lead flashings at this junction.
Finally, one should bear in mind that access to church buildings is also important, and the safety of steps and paths should also be checked for undue wear, and for possible trip hazards.
These lists of points to be checked are not comprehensive. They cover, however, areas where failure to address what are basically ‘housekeeping’ issues can result in the need for expensive remedial works.