Basic Site Details | Name: | St Mary's RC Church and Presbytery | | Town, district or village: | Greenock | | City or county: | Renfrewshire | | Country: | Scotland | | Parish: | | | Status: | | | Grid ref: | | | Notes: | Greenock.— For the erection of a new Catholic Church and Presbytery, to be built at Greenock. Plans, etc, at No. 20, East Shaw-street. Greenock; or at the Office of the architect, George Goldie, Esq, 9, King-street, Westminster, until April 10, on which day sealed tenders are to be forwarded to the architect. [Building News 5 April p297].
Mr. Goldie has a very good composition in the "Church of St. Mary's, Greenock" (716). The tower at the angle is plain and solid, and has a finer effect than many architects would produce, by covering it with carving. The upper portion is gabled and roofed, with an iron cresting on the ridge. The entrance is under a double arch in the centre of the front, with two windows and a central circular one over them. [Building News 31 May 1861 p 448 - Royal Academy Drawings]
Greenock. - St. Mary's, Catholic Church, Greenock, has recently been opened. The block of buildings consists of the church and a spacious presbytery. The church is of a central nave with aisles, the former terminating in an apse which contains the sanctuary and the altar. Ranges of cylindrical columns with lofty bases, annulets, and sculptured capitals, support the arcades of pointed arches, which, wrought in parti-coloured stone, separate the nave from the aisles, and support the upper or clearstory of the church. Both aisle and clear story walls are pierced with windows of a simple character. An arcade runs entirely round the clerestory wall, pierced with the windows at intervals, and, where blank, affording admirable spaces for paintings. The western end of the church is a fine composition of a wheel window and two long tracery windows, and below a double doorway of great breadth and solidity of character, enclosed within a gabled projection, and enriched with a central niche upon a granite shaft and sculptured foliage. The tower which flanks the gable of the nave is yet incomplete. The elegant organ gallery is sustained on shafts of red Dumbarton stone, and has a delicately pierced front, and a most exquisite spiral staircase in work. The nave and aisles are seated with commodious low open seats, which hardly obstruct the comprehensive view of the church. A font of handsome design stands below the tower. The altars and pulpit are evidently only temporary erections. Eight stained glass windows of great depth and richness of colour terminate the nave and aisles, representing various saints beneath canopies, and surround..! by elaborate ornamental borders. The sanctuary, side chapels, and space about the front are laid with beautiful floors of encaustic tiles. The presbytery, or clergy house, is approached from the church, through the sacristy or vestiary, and the confessionals are connected with this apartment and the house by a short cloister. The whole building, with its various details and ornamental fittings, was designed by and carried out under the directions of George Goldie, Esq, of London, architect. The plans have been carried out by Mr Simpson, the contractor, Tottenham Court Road, London. The stained glass is from the workshops of Mr. Wailes, of Newcastle; the tiles from Messrs. Maw's manufactory, in Salop; Mr. Earp, of London, has executed the sculpture ; and Messrs Peard & Jackson the gas fittings. The church measures 120 ft. long by 60 ft. wide, and 60 ft, high, internal dimensions; it will seat 760 persons, exclusive of standing space and the large organ gallery, and the total cost of the whole building is under £6,000. [Building News 29 August 1862 p164]
| Building Type Classification| The building is classified under the following categories: | | | Classification | Original classification? | Notes |  | Church | | |
Street Addresses| The following street addresses are associated with this building: | | | Address | Main entrance? | Notes | | 14, Patrick Street | Yes | |
Events| The following date-based events are associated with this building: | | | From | To | Event type | Notes | | 1861 | 1862 | Build/construction | Contracts advertised April 1861 | | 1861 | | Design exhibited | |
PeopleDesign and Construction| The following individuals or organisations have carried out design/construction work. Where architects or practices worked together, matching letters appear beside their names in the Partnership Group column. | | | Name | Role | Partnership Group | From | To | Notes | | George Goldie | | | 1861 | 1862 | |
ReferencesBibliographic References| The following books contain references to this building: | | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | | Graves, Algernon | 1905 | The Royal Academy of Arts: a complete dictionary of exhibitors and their works… | 1905-6 | London: Graves and Bell | 1861, no 716 | | Historic Scotland Lists | | | | | | | Walker, Frank Arneil | 1986 | South Clyde Estuary: An Illustrated Architectural Guide to Inverclyde and Renfrew | | | p136 |
Periodical References| The following periodicals contain references to this building: | | | Periodical Name | Date | Edition | Publisher | Notes | | Building News | 5 April 1861 | | | p297 - contracts open | | Building News | 31 May 1861 | | | p448 - Royal Academy Drawings | | Building News | 29 August 1862 | | | p164 |
Archive References| The following archives hold material relating to this building: | | | Source | Archive name | Source catalogue no. | Notes | | Historic Environment Scotland | Listed Buildings Register | 34142 | |
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