SMR 2327 / NS 8557 7336
A church hall at Slamannan was required for gatherings on social occasions but it was 1898 before money-raising began. A bazaar in August that year raised £740 towards the project. The minister, Rev Allan Reid, applied to the Presbytery to allow part of the glebe to be used but it had to be taken to the Court of Teinds. Building work began on the site opposite the church and adjacent to the Culloch Burn in May 1900 with the construction of concrete foundations, required due to the nature of the ground. At the beginning of March 1901 it was found that the joiner, Matthew McLintock of Slamannan, was causing considerable delay and the work was given to another contractor. He subsequently sued the kirk for £203 but was awarded only £45. The building opened in May 1901
At the beginning of the 21st century the hall was considered to be surplus to requirements and was sold to be converted into a house.
The architect was Mr Baird of Airdrie and the building cost £1,400. Its east gable faced onto the road and was made of bull-nosed masonry containing a tall three-light hood-moulded Jacobean window flanked by similar single-light windows to either side at a lower level. The gable is topped with a crowstepped skew surmounted by a large panelled finial. An inscription in an elliptical panel below this reads “1900/ PARISH/ CHURCH/ HALL/ ALLAN REID/// MINISTER.” The side walls are of random rubble and have four plain rectangular windows each, divided into two by protruding porches. A single storey kitchen and toilet block lay on the west end of the building.
In 1908 a low stone wall was built in front of the hall, surmounted by an iron railing.
Bibliography
| Waugh, J | 1977 | Slamannan Parish through the Changing Years. P.52. |
NEWSPAPERS
- Falkirk Herald, 27 August 1898, 5:
Slamannan Parish Church bazaar showed an income of £999 13s 11d, and expenditure of £175 5s 5d. Money to be devoted to the building of a church hall, minus £85 which will be laid aside for purposes other than hall building, the cleaning and repairing of the Parish and Limerigg Churches… - Falkirk Herald, 3 December 1898, 6:
Limerigg Church had already been improved… Presbytery could not give consent for the church hall to be built on the glebe if agreed by the heritors as that was a matter for the Court of Teinds. - Falkirk Herald 27 April 1901, 6:
The church hall, which has been in the course of erection during the past twelve months, is now nearing completion, the painters being engaged in giving the final touches, which work it is expected will be accomplished in a few days. The hall, which is a very commodious one, will without doubt prove an acquisition to the congregation and village. - Falkirk Herald 3 August 1901, 6:
A SLAMANNAN JOINER’S ACTION. In the Falkirk Sheriff Court on Thursday and yesterday before Sheriff Bell – proof was led in an action at the instance of Matthew M’Lintock, joiner, Slamannan against the Rev. Allan Reid, Slamannan, and the members of the Slamannan Parish Church hall Building Committee. The pursuer claimed a sum of £203 19d 9d, being the balance of the contract price of the joiner work of the Slamannan Parish Church hall. The pursuer alleged that he had been employed, as the successful contractor, to do the joiner work in connection with the hall, and that on the 4th march, while the work was in progress, he received intimation from the architect, Mr Baird, Airdrie, that he was to desist doing any more work, and that the contract had been given to another party. In consequence of this, he sued for the above sum as a penalty for breach of contract. For the defenders it was alleged that the pursuer had been delaying the work, and that he had not sufficient material and men on the ground to complete the contract… - Falkirk Herald 13 August 1902, 5:
THE SLAMANNAN CHURCH HALL BUILDING DISPUTE. THE JUDGMENT THE APPEAL TO SHERIFF LEES. Sheriff-Principal Lees was engaged the Sheriff Court recently hearing parties’ agents an appeal by the defenders against the decision Sheriff-Substitute Bell in the action at the instance of Matthew M’Lintock, the contractor for the joiner work of a hall built in connection with the parish Church at Slamannan, against the Rev. Allan Reid and others. The Sheriff-Substitute held that the defenders are due the pursuer a sum of £50 5s 3 ¼ d for work done under his contract, and he decided in his favour for that amount. Against this decision the defenders appealed to the Sheriff Principal, who, after hearing the agents state the case, made avizandum and found they owed £45 5s 3d… the contract price was £353 17s 9d but due to the joiner’s delays it was found necessary to have the hall completed by a different contractor.
Falkirk Local History Society 