Greyfriars Church, Dumfries, is a

Category A listed Category, plural categories, may refer to: General uses *Classification, the general act of allocating things to classes/categories Philosophy * Category of being * ''Categories'' (Aristotle) * Category (Kant) * Categories (Peirce) * Category ( ...

building in

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...

, in southwest

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. The current Greyfriars Church building was built from 1866 to 1868 in the

Victorian Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style, designed by architect John Starforth. It is situated in a prominent position at the top of the High Street, and is constructed of local red

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

taken from Locharbriggs Quarry. The building has an abundance of ornate decorative stonework, including impressive figures and foliage around the entrance doorway. These carvings are attributed to local stonemason and sculptor, William Flint. Greyfriars Church was where

Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (), was King of Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329. Robert led Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland during the First War of Scottish Independence against Kingdom of Eng ...

murdered

John Comyn John Comyn III of Badenoch, nicknamed the Red ( 1274 – 10 February 1306), was a leading Scottish baron and magnate who played an important role in the First War of Scottish Independence. He served as Guardian of Scotland after the forced ...

in 1306.

History (buildings)

The location of building is on or near some of the earliest known buildings in that area of Dumfries: * Greyfriars' Convent (nearby) * Maxwell of Nithsdale Castle * New Kirk * Current Church Building

Current Greyfriars Church building

The current Greyfriars’ Church was built from 1866 on the site of the New Kirk. The New Kirk was built in the 1720s on or adjoining the site of Maxwell of Nithsdale’s Castle. When the walls of the New Kirk were being demolished, several moulded and decorated stones were uncovered.

Building the current church

Dumfries Town Council, Heritors of the New Kirk, considered over 30 plans for the proposed new church to be named Greyfriars’. The plans were exhibited for public view at the Market Hall on 10 May 1865. The final decision was between designs by the following architects: * Mr James Barbour, Dumfries. * Mr Edgar, London. * Mr John Starforth, Edinburgh.

Greyfriars Church today

Since 2008, Saint Bride’s Anglican Church has worshipped in the building. In June 2019 possible plans were announced which propose to reduce the size of the church and convert a portion of the building to residential flats. On 9 December 2021 St Bride's Anglican Church sold the church and moved to another site in Dumfries. Greyfriars was bought by the Orthodox Diocese of Whithorn.

Images of stonework

File:Grayfriars 1.jpg, alt=Ornate decorative stonework around front doors of Greyfriars Church, Dumfries, Ornate decorative stonework around front doors of Greyfriars Church, Dumfries File:Grayfriars church 16.jpg, alt=Detail of flowers carved in red sandstone, Detail of carved flowers File:Grayfriars chruch 15.jpg, alt=Female statue carved from red sandstone on Grayfriars Church, Dumfries, Carved female statue on Grayfriars Church, Dumfries File:Grayfriars church 13.jpg, alt=Statue carved from red sandstone on Grayfriars Church, Dumfries, Carved statue on Grayfriars Church, Dumfries

References

External links

{{coord, 55.0704, -3.6126, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Churches in Dumfries and Galloway Buildings and structures in Dumfries