Religion - Kirk New Street
St. Ninian's Old Parish Church (New Street)
The Condition of the Parish Church,
Stonehouse
St. Ninian's Pewter
Communion Tokens
St. Ninian's Old Parish Church (New Street)
In 1894 the poor condition of the Parish
Church resulted in a survey being requested to investigate whether the
church could be adapted to accommodate a congregation of 900. John
Wilson (112 Bath Street, Glasgow) was commissioned to survey the church
and report his findings.
Prior to his investigation concerns had already been expressed regards
the suitability and safety of the church. Having served the
congregation as the Parish Church for over a century, it was clearly
apparent that the building would not sustain the needs of the
congregation.
The following extract is the report submitted by John Wilson to the
management committee for their consideration and provides a valuable
resource, enlightening the reader as to the interior of the former
church.
The Condition of the Parish Church,
Stonehouse
“Plan: The Church is a plain
rectangular building of the old square box
type, with no architectural pretensions, and is situated near the
centre of the town, with streets on all four sites. It is entered from
two ends, and at each entrance stairs lead up to the galleries. The
pulpit is placed in the centre of one of the long sides, and a very
deep gallery surrounds the Church on the other three sides.
Seating: The
seating is of a very primitive and uncomfortable form,
with upright backs and narrow seat boards, and is much too narrowly
spaced throughout. The front seat of the gallery of the only one with
reasonable space, being 3 ft 11 in. wide, a few are 3 ft 5 in. wide,
but the other average from 3 ft 4 in. to 3 ft 2 in. from back to back.
The minimum space allowed in modern churches is 3 ft 8 in. from back to
back. It is difficult to accurately compute the number of sittings, as
they do not appear to have been planned with any regard to a fixed
seating place. Taken upon the basis of 20 inches to each sitter, I
reckon the number of sittings at 604 in all, inclusive of Choir; or at
18 inches per sitting, the number would be about 716. If the Church was
seated in accordance with modern requirements, at the minimum space of
36 inches by 20 inches to each sitter, the number of sittings would be
under 550.
Vestry, etc.: There
is no ministry accommodation of any kind attached
to the Church, neither Hall, Session House, nor Vestry. Rooms on the
other side of the road are used as Vestry and Session House, from which
the Minister has to cross the street in going to and returning from the
Pulpit.
Heating and Ventilation:
Two iron stoves have been at one time in use
for heating the Church, but they are worn out and disused, and the fire
pipes for them, which are carried through the wall to the outside of
the Church, have partly disappeared. There are no appliances or
arrangement of any kind for ventilating the building, and the damp and
unhealthy atmosphere was very apparent on the day of my visit.
Structure:
Structurally I consider the building to be in a very
dilapidated, if not dangerous condition. The walls have been erected
and repaired in several places and are also off plumb at ends and back.
Upon examination of galleries I find that at each end there are plain
stairs of movement, the gallery joists having been drawn about 11/2
inches from their rests on the walls, and the linings also separated
from the walls. The gallery facing pulpit has also moved from the wall,
though to a lesser degree. On lifting a portion of the floor the ends
of some of the beams and joists were found to be rotten, to what extent
this prevails could not be ascertained without further opening up of
the gallery floor. From what I saw, however, I consider that the
galleries would be very dangerous with a crowded congregation.
Stairs: The stairs
from the gallery on each side I consider to be
highly dangerous in their construction having long and narrow straight
flights of steps, with insufficient egress at the foot, and would, in
event of any panic or rush, were veritable death-traps.
Roof: The roof has
been from the first of light and insufficient
construction. The main couples, of which there are only three
completely framed, are too light in scantiling and of improper form for
the span they have to cover, though they appear to be still in good
condition and of fairly sound and good material. The end couples are
not fully framed, and have sunk considerably, cracking the ceiling
underneath. The rafters and ceiling joists seem to have been composed
of indifferent material and are of varied and random sizes, and in many
places are badly rotted away, and at the eastern end and the roof has
sunk considerably. There is also leakage in several places, but this
would I think, be capable of repair.
General: As a
result of my examinations, I am clearly of opinion that
the building is quite unsuitable for the requirements of a Parish
Church in almost every respect. Apart from the uncomfortable nature of
the pews, the space is too small, and to reseat the Church, even at the
minimum seating allowance, would still further reduce the
accommodation. There is also the need of Hall, Vestry, Session House,
as well as the essentials of Heating and Ventilation, all required to
properly carry on the work of the Church. Unfortunately the situation
of the building surrounded by streets, and with no available spare
ground, precludes the idea of extension or enlargement and even if this
were not so the condition of the structure would make rebuilding the
only alternative.
The question of cost of enlargement to seat 900 persons which has been
put, I have not gone into, as I have already pointed out that there is
no place for extension. The only possible way of enlargement to that
size would be by two tiers of galleries, which would mean practically a
new building, and even for that plan the site is too limited. On the
whole, I am unable to advise any scheme of alteration or rebuilding as
either advisable or practicable, and am of opinion that the
requirements can only be met by the erection of a new Church upon
another site. I am, gentlemen, your obedient servant, John Wilson.”
After a great deal of debate and disagreement over the future of the
Parish Church, it was decided to establish a fund to raise the
necessary finance to construct a new Parish Church and identify land
for its erection. Much has already been written within previous
publications on the history of this church, but only through the
uncovering of this survey have I been able to reconstruct the interior
of this historical piece of architecture.
St. Ninian’s Pewter
Pewter was once common place but now turns up in many antique shops,
with the finest specimens fetching large sums. Most Scottish pewter,
however, has emigrated. Scottish pewter was generally of better than
average quality in the workmanship and metal, but comparatively scarce.
Dented, worn or leaky pieces were valuable as scrap and were melted
down to make new as the country did not have plentiful supplies of tin,
one of the main ingredients in pewter.
The most famous and highly prized Scottish pewter items are tappit
hens; vessels of elegant design. Most tappit hens hold one Scottish
pint, which was the equivalent of three Imperial pints. The earliest
known to have survived dates from about 1669 but most date from between
1750 and 1850. Scottish pewter plates may be unrecognised, masquerading
as English because they lack the marks that should distinguish them.
Many Congregations used pewter communion cups, wine flagons, bread
plates and offering plates with the name of the church sometimes
engraved on them. Church pewter has survived in greater quantity than
household pewter due to its limited and careful use.
Pewter tarnishes with time and with exposure to air becomes scaly. Its
surface may become blemished with pock marks and small bubbling
eruptions which can never be cured. Newly made and highly polished
pewter looks like silver, especially at a distance with indoor light.
This was one reason why people bought it. Sometimes the makers helped
along the deception by putting on their products marks which looked
like the hallmarks on silver ware.
Pewter declined as better materials were devised. Iron with a coating
of tin, called white iron, was a strong competitor from about 1725. A
better imitation of silver was invented in the 1740’s - Sheffield
plate, which is copper between two thin sheets of silver. Tea ousted
beer as the people’s everyday drink from the beginning of the
nineteenth century onwards; and tea does not taste right in pewter.
Pottery and porcelain became comparatively cheap in the second half of
the 18th century and hit the pewter traders badly.
Within an old chest at St.Ninian’s Church were found two pewter
communion plates, three pewter flagons and several hundred communion
coins. The largest flagon was made by partners Robert Graham and James
Wardrope from Glasgow around the year 1790 only seven years after the
end of the American wars of Independence. Both Robert and James were
obviously in favour of American freedom as their makers mark shows a
sailing ship with the words “SUCCESS TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA”
inscribed around the ship. Another of the pewter flagons was made by
J.Wylie of Glasgow around the year 1840. Both these vessels are prized
‘tappit hens’. The third flagon is highly ornamented with the makers
mark PA & S inscribed, but nothing is known of its origins.
The two pewter plates are some eighteen inches in diameter, one of
which has the words ‘STAN HOWSE KERK’, with Stonehouse inscribed
clearly in two separate words. Further round the rim IM is inscribed
above the letters AD. Initially it was believed that this represented a
date (999AD) but after the plates were analysed by Kelvingrove Museum
it was thought that this marking was either a makers mark or a
ministers initials. Pewter was not in use in Scotland as early as our
first assumptions, though the Romans were known to use pewter earlier
than this but to a far greater standard of material and quality of
craftsmanship. I initially disregarded the idea that the mark was a
minister’s initials as there were no ministers with the initials IM as
far back as 1560. After researching the pewter flagons, which I was
able to date fairly accurately, I found no mention of the makers mark
in connection with the plates. What I did find however was that a ‘J’
shown on a makers mark in the 18th century and earlier was shown as an
‘I’. Just as Indiana Jones tried to cross the stone tablet causeway in
‘The Last Crusade’ trying to step on the tablets to spell Jehovah, I
was faced with the same problem. Like him, I tried to spell it as it
sounded with a ‘J’, but to no avail. With the new information I again
traced previous ministers to find ‘James Muirhead’ who was ordained on
“25th Sept. Anno Domini 1760”. This date not only coincided with the
flagons, but also with the communion coins dating to 1767, all of which
were found in the chest. James Muirhead
ministered in the old kirk and
may have been the first minister in the parish church built in New
Street in 1771-2. The plates are almost certainly communion plates but
through time have decayed considerably. Unfortunately pewter is
difficult to preserve and nearly impossible to repair; such is the
condition of the Stonehouse plates.
Communion Tokens
Churches in Scotland used to issue worthy and godly folk with tokens to
allow them to take communion. These communion tokens are inexpensive to
collect and give an insight into long-dead customs.
Tokens are small discs, up to one and a half inches across and
generally made of lead, though some were made of brass, tin, copper,
iron and even leather. They are square, oblong, round, triangular, or
in various other shapes. Each coin had to be unmistakably designed or
imprinted for a particular parish or congregation to prevent imposters
from getting to the communion table. Tokens thus, had the initial
letters of the parish, or its full name, or the minister’s initials or
a picture of the church inscribed.
Communion was usually held once a year, but in some places only once in
seven or nine years during the end of the seventeenth century until
about 1750. The people and the churches wanted to be sure they were
ready for the sacrament. Tokens got worn out or lost, or if they had
the minister’s name, became obsolete when a minister moved. They were
treated with almost superstitious reverence because of their connection
with the sacrament. Old tokens were occasionally buried beneath the
pulpit; or melted to make new.
The makers were local blacksmiths, plumbers or pewterers. Punches or
dyes were used to imprint the design; or molten metal was poured into
stone moulds; or a copper coin was hammered out and the metal was
crudely engraved by hand. Sadly, this tradition died out towards the
end of the Victorian period when printed cards came into use.
Stonehouse was no exception in producing communion tokens. The earliest
recorded token is from the year 1736 when John Scott was the parish
minister. The next coin is very similar in design from the year 1767
when James Muirhead ministered until 1780. The coins of 1824 and 1835
date to a time when the coins were slowly going out of circulation.
From 1821 to 1829 David Wilkie was ministering in Stonehouse as was
Hugh Dewar from 1820 until 1860. The United Secession Church which is
inscribed on the 1835 communion coin, later joined the Church of
Scotland in 1956.
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