Queen's Park Govanhill Parish Church is a 19th-century

Parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

of the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

located in the south side of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, near Queen's Park, from which the church's name derives.

Foundation and construction

The church was founded as the ''Queen's Park Free Church'', as a congregation of the

Free Church of Scotland Free Church of Scotland may refer to: * Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900), seceded in 1843 from the Church of Scotland. The majority merged in 1900 into the United Free Church of Scotland; historical * Free Church of Scotland (since 1900), rema ...

. The congregation was formed in December 1866. The current church building was designed by James Thomson and was built between 1874 and 1875. The foundation stone was laid on 28 February 1874 by Patrick Playfair, Lord Dean of Guild, and the church building was completed in a little over a year. It was dedicated and opened for use on 16 May 1875. The church was built in the Neo-Gothic style, with a corner spire. The church halls were added in 1879.

Development of the congregation

In 1900, after the union between the

and the United Presbyterian Church to form the

United Free Church of Scotland The United Free Church of Scotland (UF Church; gd, An Eaglais Shaor Aonaichte, sco, The Unitit Free Kirk o Scotland) is a Scottish Presbyterian denomination formed in 1900 by the union of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland (or UP) and ...

, the church was renamed Queen's Park West United Free Church. The name was once more changed, this time to Queen's Park West Parish Church, after the merger of the

with the

in 1929. In 1979,

Strathbungo Parish Church Strathbungo Parish Church was a 19th-century Church of Scotland building located in the Strathbungo area of Glasgow. The church body was demolished and converted into flats in 2006, but retained the original facade and bell tower of the former chu ...

was closed and the congregation united with Queen's Park West to form the parish of Strathbungo Queen's Park, a change from Queen's Park West. In 1983, the Presbytery of Glasgow had agreed on a Basis of Association, an agreement between Strathbungo Queen's Park and Camphill Queen's Park (present-day

Camphill Queen's Park Baptist Church Camphill Queen's Park Baptist Church is a 19th-century church building in the south-side of Glasgow, immediately opposite Queen's Park. It was built in the French Gothic style, on designs by William Leiper. The church hall was built in 1873, w ...

), that upon the retirement or resignation of either church minister, the Strathbungo Queen's Park building would close and the congregation would move to the Camphill building. However, the agreement was amended in October 1990, deciding in favour of retaining the Strathbungo Queen's Park building instead of the Camphill building, the latter closing some years later and subsequently sold to the Baptist Church. In February 2000, Crosshill Queen's Park Parish (a union of the original Queen's Park High and Crosshill Victoria which united in 1972) united with Strathbungo Queen's Park, retaining the Strathbungo Queen's Park building, while the Crosshill Queen's Park was sold. The new name for the church and parish was Queen's Park Parish Church. The latest union and name change occurred in 2014, when the congregation of Govanhill Trinity Church united with Queen's Park, choosing the new name Queen's Park Govanhill Parish Church.

Works of art

The church has a galleried interior with two tiers of cast-iron columns and a barrel-vaulted roof. There are also a number of stained glass windows by

Daniel Cottier Daniel Cottier (1838–1891) was a British artist and designer born in Anderston, Glasgow, Scotland. His work was said to be influenced by the writing of John Ruskin, the paintings of the Dante Gabriel Rossetti and the work of William Morris. H ...

, including some wall decoration which was uncovered and restored in 2008. An additional window was installed after

WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

by Douglas Hamilton commemorating Jane Haining, a

missionary, who was arrested by the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

in April 1944, and imprisoned in

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

, where she died in July 1944. The church also contains a number of war memorials of the various parish churches that once existed, but which merged with Queen's Park Govanhill Parish Church through the years. These include memorials of the parishes of Queen's Park West (present-day Queen's Park Govanhill), Strathbungo (converted into flats), Queen's Park High (converted into flats) and Crosshill Victoria (present-day Al-Farooq Education and Community Centre)."CHURCH OVERVIEW"
''Scotland's Churches Trust''. Retrieved on 26 July 2020. The church was extensively renovated and restored between the late 1990s and 2006.

References

{{Reflist Churches completed in 1875 Church of Scotland churches in Glasgow Listed churches in Glasgow Category B listed buildings in Glasgow 1874 establishments in Scotland 19th-century Church of Scotland church buildings