St Matthew's Church of the Nazarene [9 photos] in NS48406364

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St Matthew's Church of the Nazarene

The church is located on what has become a traffic island between busy roads at the fork of Gordon Street and Lonend.

Built in 1907 as St George's Free Church, it is easy to understand why the building is often mistaken as the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the Art Nouveau styling and red sandstone construction bear some resemblance to Mackintosh's Queen's Cross Church in Glasgow NS5767 : Queens Cross Church. But Queen's Cross was Mackintosh's only church in Scotland - this building was in fact designed by Paisley's own William David McLennan Link

who was a contemporary of Mackintosh and who designed many buildings in the town and the surrounding area.

The building is category A Listed Link

. The listing text is reproduced below...

W D McLennan, architect, 1907. Art nouveau interpretation of perpendicular Gothic. Nave and aisles with halls and offices attached at rear (west). Snecked and stugged ashlar with polished dressings. 7-light traceried window to east front above low mullioned windows, flanked by the bold buttresses rising to clasp gables. Curved porch on south with door facing south and quadrant to north in re-entrant angle between nave and gables main porch with tiny angle turret. Segmentally arched doors. North elevation variously gabled with bold transept projecting similarly detailed to east window. Additional window to west similarly detailed set in very low gable with flattened segmentally arched bay between with recessed door and windows. 6-bay north elevation with end bays of aisle curved that to east with door and that to west angle turret. Between are 3-light mullioned windows. 4 light painted arch clerestory windows except to blind east bay. Buttressses rise through eaves to form pinnacles. South chancel wall blind above single-storey vestry which has door with segmentally-arched hood breaking through eaves. Slate roofs to church and half interior has 4-centred arches to aisles with clerestory to south. Galleried aisleless bay to east. Chancel arch flanked by 2 pointed arches that to left blind. Organ housed in side arch of chancel. Gallery to north transept. Complex queen post and collar beam roof. Outstanding furnishings mostly designed by McLennan, including organ case, font and pulpit. Very fine stalls. Windows have small patterns of coloured glass except for stained west window. Vestry has fine tiled fireplace and built in cupboards.

Boundary railings and notice board also by McLennan.

by Thomas Nugent

Created: Sat, 19 Sep 2015, Updated: Sat, 19 Sep 2015

9 images use this description:

NS4863 : St Matthew's Church by Thomas Nugent

NS4863 : St Matthew's Church of The Nazarene by Thomas Nugent

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