East Kilbride Old Parish Church

A distinctive landmark in the old village of East Kilbride, the Old Parish Church lies on Montgomery Street and features a square clock-tower with an unusual crown spire. The church dates from 1774 but was built on a site which had been used for worship since ancient times. Pope Alexander III issued a bull in 1178 confirming a church here as the property of the Bishops of Glasgow. Erected at a cost £570, the current building was the work of James Pollock and was modelled on Shettleston Parish Kirk. In 1819, Robert Pollock, a local mason, was retained at the cost of a further £250 to heighten the tower and add the crown. The church has been B-listed since 1963.

At the rear of the church is its kirkyard with memorials which date from the early 18th century and include that of the parents of the famous surgeons William and John Hunter (1718-83 and 1728-93); Rev. James French, who was minister of the church between 1791 and 1835, and also tutor to the young Walter Scott (1771 - 1832), together with the 18th C. mausoleum of the Stuarts of Torrance.


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