Kerse Church

(SMR 884)

NS 9286 8167

TIMELINE

1897    Kerse Established Church

Grangemouth Kerse

2006    Abbotsgrange Parish Church

1891: First sign of a split from the Established Church.   Meetings held in the Town Hall.

1897:  Petition to the presbytery for a new church to be created as a chapel of ease.  First minister ordained.  Plans for the church building by JP Goodsir submitted to presbytery in June.

1898:  Memorial stone laid on 30th September for a new church on Abbots Road, opened in February of the following year.   Designed in the Gothic style it consists of nave and transepts, with a semi-octagonal recess or choir platform at the west end, making the building cruciform in plan.   The entrance porch with a deeply recessed doorway is situated on the north side of the church, and exit doors were provided in the gables of the transepts underneath central windows.   A moulded stone arch divides the choir from the nave, while on each side an arched doorway gave access to the vestry and hall.    The extreme length inside was 100ft, the nave being 40ft wide or 70ft over the transepts.  The interior was lit by large gasoliers and heated by a coal fired boiler.  It was designed to seat 700.  J P Goodsir, Falkirk, was the architect.  The building cost c£4,500.  Completed and dedicated on 24 February 1899.

1906: Kerse Church disjoined from Polmont and erected a parish quad sacra by decreet of Court of Teinds on 13th July.  The congregation had been asked to raise £1,250 for the endowment of the new parish, and in the autumn of 1905 had actually raised £1,600 from a bazaar held in the Town Hall.

1915: Electric light introduced.

1928-30: Larger halls heated by a coal fired boiler built to the north and joined to the church by the north transept.  Henry Wilson of Wilson and Tait was the architect of these which opened on 1st March 1930.

1940-44: Church hall requisitioned by the army.

1947: Early deaf-aid system installed as an anonymous gift.  This was replaced by an induction loop in 1995.

2006: United with the Dundas Church to become Abbotsgrange Parish Church, based at Kerse Church.  The first joint service was on 4 June.

MANSE

1929: Large two-storey house at 142 Bo’ness Road purchased for use as a manse.

1991: Manse sold to adjacent hotel due to increased maintenance costs.  Money used to build a modern house at 8 Naismith Court, off Grangeburn Road.

FITTINGS

1897: Solid silver set of communion plate presented by Mr & Mrs James McGrouther, consisting of 2 cups, 2 platens, a 3-pint flagon.  Organ gifted by Mrs Wood.

1921: A new carved oak communion table and a memorial tablet dedicated to the dead of the First World War.

1949: Two oak panels and three carved oak communion chairs unveiled as a tribute to those who fought in the Second World War.

1991: Ornate table gifted by the Old Parish Church when they united with Grange.

ORGAN

1915: Electric organ installed by James Binns of Leeds at a cost of £750.

WINDOW

See separate entry for stained glass.

WAR MEMORIAL

See separate entry for war memorial

SEATING

1899: Total of 734 people.

MINISTERS OF KERSE CHURCH

Sep 1897Knowles, William Andrew DuncanOct 1909
Feb 1909 Lacey, Walter RolandFeb 1914
May 1914 Brown, William RobertsonDec 1926
May 1927 Davie, John BarclayFeb 1935
May 1935 Murray, James Alan CameronOct 1943
Jun 1944 Balls, Earnest GeorgeJun 1954
1955 Hilton, Paul BasilAug 1972
Feb 1973 Simpson, Ean MacGregor1992
1992 Donald, Andrew C 
 Sherry, George 

G.B. Bailey (2019)