Basic Site Details

Name: St Mary's Parish Church
Town, district or village: Banff
City or county: Banffshire
Country: Scotland
Parish:  
Status: B listed
Grid ref:
Notes: Extract from Banff Kirk Sessions minutes 1918-1938 CH2/1109/10:

25 July 1929
Report of the Committee appointed by the congregation on 8th October 1926 to carry out the scheme of Renovation of Banff Parish Church
…plans and specifications prepared by Messrs Jeffrey Waddell & Young, Architects, Glasgow, the estimated cost being £7,900. To encourage the congregation the Misses Martin, St Catherine, Banff generously agreed to give the chancel, apse, organ chamber, vestry and rebuild the organ…

The Misses Martin in addition to the gift already referred to gave three stained glass windows placed in the apse, the Pulpit, Communion Table, Baptismal Font, several new stops for the organ thereby greatly enhancing its tone and power, pew bookshelves and £50 towards renovating the windows, and Mr and Mrs George Cumming, Cliffdale gave a stained glass window in memory of their parents which was placed in the north wall of the chancel…

Included in the list of expenditure was £500 to Messrs Stephen Adam, Glasgow for windows.

The Scotsman 7 Jan, 1929 p11 which concludes with the following information:
The apse is enriched with three stained glass windows from the Stephen Adam Studios. The organ is a fine re-construction by Mr H Hilsdon. The works have been carried out to the design of Jeffrey Waddell & Young, architects, Glasgow.

The Scotsman also comments on the gift of the communion table, font and pulpit. There is no indication either in the Kirk Sessions minutes or the newspaper article that these were in fact given some 20 years earlier. It sounds to me as if the whole lot may well have been given at the same, later date, unless you have contemporary evidence of the earlier date.

Building Type Classification

The building is classified under the following categories:
 ClassificationOriginal classification?Notes
Item 1 of 1Parish Church  

Street Addresses

The following street addresses are associated with this building:
 AddressMain entrance?Notes
Item 1 of 1High Street  

Events

The following date-based events are associated with this building:
 FromToEvent typeNotes
Item 1 of 91778 Build/construction 
Item 2 of 917891790Build/constructionChurch and first stage of tower built to Wilson's designs
Item 3 of 91829 AdditionNew plans for completion of tower - not executed until 1849
Item 4 of 91849  Spire added
Item 5 of 91877 ReconstructionRenovations including interior work
Item 6 of 919261928Alterations and additionsChurch re-ordered and new apse
Item 7 of 91929 Design exhibitedApsed chancel added and furnishings
Item 8 of 91996 AdditionKitchen extension
Item 9 of 92004 Alteration/conversionAlterations for the disabled

People

Design 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.
 NameRolePartnership GroupFromToNotes
Item 1 of 20Andrew Wilson E1778 Plans drawn up
Item 2 of 20Andrew Wilson D17891790Wilson's plans of church executed with first stage of tower.
Item 3 of 20William Robertson H1829 New plans for completion of tower - not executed until 1849
Item 4 of 20James Matthews A1849 Tower completed to Robertson's plans under supervision of Thomas Mackenzie. Matthews perhaps not involved.
Item 5 of 20Mackenzie & Matthews A1849 Tower completed to Robertson's plans under supervision of Thomas Mackenzie
Item 6 of 20Thomas Mackenzie A1849 Tower completed to Robertson's plans under supervision of Thomas Mackenzie
Item 7 of 20Alexander Ellis C1877 Renovations including interior work
Item 8 of 20Ellis & Wilson C1877 Renovations including interior work
Item 9 of 20Robert Gordon Wilson (senior) C1877 Renovations including interior work
Item 10 of 20Alexander Ross L1906 Renovations
Item 11 of 20Robert John Macbeth L1906 Renovations
Item 12 of 20Ross & Macbeth L1906 Renovations
Item 13 of 20John Jeffrey Waddell B19261928Apsed chancel and furnishings added.
Item 14 of 20Thomas Peach Weir Young B19261928Apsed chancel and furnishings added.
Item 15 of 20Waddell & Young B19261928Apsed chancel and furnishings added.
Item 16 of 20George Bennett Mitchell K19271928Conflict of information: Heritors Records show that Waddell & Young were responsible for the work at this date. The HS listed building record gives George Bennett Mitchell - it is not clear if he draw up plans at this time or there is confusion between this and the fact that de designed the hall in the 1930s.
Item 17 of 20Henry ('Harry') James Lyall Mantell F1996 Kitchen extension
Item 18 of 20Meldrum & Mantell F1996 Kitchen extension
Item 19 of 20Henry ('Harry') James Lyall Mantell G2004 Alterations for the disabled
Item 20 of 20Meldrum & Mantell G2004 Alterations for the disabled

Related Buildings, Structures and Designs

Child Structures

This structure or site has the following component or child structures (click on an item to view details):
 Building NameNotes
Item 1 of 1St Mary's Parish Church hall 

References

Bibliographic References

The following books contain references to this building:
 Author(s)DateTitlePartPublisherNotes
Item 1 of 10Banff Preservation and Heritage Society2012Banff Through Time Stroud: Amberley Publishingp21 Good photo
Item 2 of 10Colvin, Howard2008A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840 London: YUP. 4th edition 
Item 3 of 10Cramond, William1893Annals of Banff  pp30, 156, 205, 219, (and volukme 2 344, 398)
Item 4 of 10Hay, George1957The Architecture of Scottish Post-Reformation Churches 1560-1843 Oxford: Clarendon Presspp.30, 156, 205 and 219.
Item 5 of 10McKean, Charles1990Banff and Buchan: an illustrated guide  p19
Item 6 of 10New Statistical Account of Scotland New Statistical Account of Scotland  xiii, p34
Item 7 of 10Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts1929   190
Item 8 of 10RSA1929   603
Item 9 of 10Statistical Account of Scotland Statistical Account of Scotland   
Item 10 of 10Walker, David W and Woodworth, Matthew2015The Buildings of Scotland: Aberdeenshire North and Moray Yale University Presspp28, 80, 81

Periodical References

The following periodicals contain references to this building:
 Periodical NameDateEditionPublisherNotes
Item 1 of 1Scotsman7 January 1929  p11

Archive References

The following archives hold material relating to this building:
 SourceArchive nameSource catalogue no.Notes
Item 1 of 6Courtesy of David W WalkerInformation sent to Dictionary Sent November 2013.
Item 2 of 6Courtesy of Harry MantellInformation sent via'Contact Us' on DSA website Sent October 2009
Item 3 of 6Historic Environment ScotlandListed Buildings Register22029 
Item 4 of 6Moray Heritage LibraryMoray Archives DAW P303/3 (For drawings of tower and spire)
Item 5 of 6National Archives of ScotlandBanff Parish Church Kirk Session MInutesCH2/1109/10Banff Kirk Sessions minutes 1918-1938. 25 July 1929.
Item 6 of 6National Archives of Scotland (formerly SRO)Heritors RecordsHR 721/1