Muiravonside Parish Church

SMR 203 / NS 9558 7696

Muiravonside was originally in the parish of Falkirk.  Haining Castle contained its own private chapel on the second floor.   The castle appears to date to the late fourteenth or  early  fifteenth  century and it is possible that at this  early  date  the Crawford  family’s  priest  ministered to some of the local people,  for  as  a result of a petition by Rankin de Crawford in 1454  a  papal  mandate  directed  the Bishop  of  Dunblane  to  grant  to  the inhabitants  of Manuel the right to elect a clerk-minister to help the chaplain and priest who celebrated divine offices in the church or chapel.   The church or chapel was said to have had cemetery, baptistery, chrism vase, burial place, and a priest from time immemorial.   Cemetery, or the right to burial, may indeed go back a long way because long cist inhumations were found near the castle in 1873 (SMR 2212).  The relative positions of the castle  and the  later church suggests that the building referred to in 1454 also lay close to  the  castle,  as  would be normal at that date,  and  is  not  therefore  a reference to the “Popish Chapel at Ballenbreich”.

In 1641 Lord Livingstone held patronage of Muiravonside Church, which was still a pendicle of Falkirk.  Then, on 10 June 1648 Muiravonside disjoined from Falkirk Parish, the Act stating that “albeit it has been distinctly and separately served by a Minister  above 60  years gone” it had been a pendicle of Falkirk.  This confusion appears to have been common and even the presbytery record of 1606 is said to have treated it as a distinct charge.   At some time in the seventeenth century the church became known as Almond Church, the Castle also passing under this name having taken the title from Lord Livingstone.  The old church building at Manuel Nunnery seems to have been adapted for use as a parish church.

Illus: Extract from a Map of Almond Estate dated 1796 (Falkirk Archives a932.7).

The 17th century church stood on the same spot as the existing one.  A plan of 1796 shows it before the construction of the Union Canal (which has been added to the plan in pencil) and indicates that it occupied much the same footprint.  The early churchyard was evidently oval in shape suggesting a much earlier origin for it.

Illus: Muiravonside Church from across the Union Canal, 1937.

Over the west gable is a large corbelled out bellcote with rectangular uprights and ball finials.  The pulpit was in the centre of the south wall facing a horse-shoe gallery wrapped around the other three walls.  The doors in the gables opened onto internal stairs to the gallery, and a door in the south wall, just to the west of the pulpit, was for the minister.

The present church and manse were built in 1804-6.  The church is a typical Hall-style building, rectangular in plan with a lofty ceiling.   There was a doorway in the centre of both the west and east gables with four tall pointed windows subdivided by wooden mullions and transoms and glazed with diamond panes in the long side walls.   The window margins are backset, and the rendered east and west end walls were at one time scored to resemble ashlar.  

Illus: The Pulpit against the South Wall.
Illus: Ground Floor Plan before 1955.
Illus: First floor Plan before 1955.

The session house was on the north side of the entrance gate to the churchyard. In 1822 the Union Canal was constructed immediately to the west of the church.  A bridge was provided a little to the north for those attending religious services and was called the Kirk Bridge

Illus: 1859/63 Ordnance Survey Map (National Library of Scotland).

Over the years a number of stained glass windows were inserted and information on these will be found under Stained Glass.

In 1947 it was found that woodworm and dry-rot had taken a hold in the building and fundraising efforts were begun to treat them.  The opportunity was taken to make internal alterations to re-orientate the layout.  The pulpit was moved from the south wall to the west wall, and a central aisle was placed along the west/east axis.  The west door was blocked and the chancel now occupied the west end.  The horseshoe lefts were removed and replaced by a broad loftd at the east end.  A new vestibule was added outside the east gable to contain the stair to the loft; with a vestry and a session house to either side of it.  It was 1951 before building work began and the end of 1955 before it was re-consecrated.  The work cost a little under £10,000.  The old session house was subsequently demolished and the cross that had been mounted on it was placed on the east gable of the church.

Illus: Muiravonside Church – exterior views.
MANSE

1806: Built to the south-east of the church.

1987: Manse sold and a new dwelling erected adjacent to Cairney Mount Church.

ORGAN

1912: Double manual Trayser harmonium gifted by Mrs Brown of Vellore.

1980: Omegan electronic organ.

BELL

The  bell  is  about  18  ins in diameter and  is  inscribed: “FOR  THE  KIRK  OF MUIRAVONSIDE IOHN MEIKLE ME FECIT/ EDINBIRGI 1699”.

A  hand bell  with  an  iron grip handle measuring 5 ins in  height,  6  ins  in diameter at the lip, is cracked and perforated.  It reads: “IOHN MEIKL FECIT EDR 1690”.

FITTINGS

1676: Silver communion cups presented by the Earl of Callendar and Lord Almond to the church of Almond and Rev. Andrew Urie.  “Hoc potulum as ecclesiam de Almond pertinent.”

1911: Two silver communion cups gifted by William Brown of Vellore, inscribed: “MUIRAVONSIDE PARISH CHURCH”.

WINDOWS

See separate entry for stained glass.

SEATING

1806:  Pulpit in the centre of the south wall with pews on three sides and a semi-circular gallery.

1947: Re-arranged due to woodworm and dry rot.  Main axis changed to east/west, with the chancel furnishings placed on a raised platform against the west gable.  Seating for 400.

CHURCHYARD

A cemetery and burial place are mentioned in the Papal communication of 1454.  The earliest stone in the present cemetery that surrounds the church is 1705.  An extension to the churchyard has been made to the east.

               MINISTERS OF MUIRAVONSIDE PARISH CHURCH

              1591       Kerr, William                     1597

              1598       Monipenny, Patrick           1610

              1612       Thomson, Robert               Oct 1615

              1616       Halley, Robert                    1626

          Apr 1627   Cornwall, Alexander         1641

          Aug 1642  Bruce, John                        1672

          Oct 1655    Blair, Hew {helper}           1661

          Jul 1667     Urie, Andrew                      1689

          Aug 1691  Campbell, Donald              Dec 1693

          May 1696  Bennet, Andrew                 Aug 1720

          Aug 1721  Boyd, Robert                      Jan 1768

          Jun 1768    Bertram, John                     Dec 1802

          Sep 1803   MacCall, William              Dec 1833

          May 1834  Macfarlan, James               Feb 1871

          Mar 1871   Keith, George                     Dec 1884

          Jun 1885    Bell, Oswald                       Jul 1896

          Feb 1897   Bayne, David                     Jan 1940

          Dec 1940   Hamilton, James                Feb 1952

          Dec 1952   Downie, James Calder       1966

               1967      McPherson, Duncan G       Jun 1975

               1976      Goodman, Richard A        

              1984       Hill, Stanley                       1998

               1999      Ross, J                                 present

Bibliography

G.B. Bailey, 2026