Queen's Cross Church, Glasgow on:
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Queen's Cross Church is a former
Although the stained glass windows are not 'spectacular' compared to other churches and cathedrals, they are distinctly Mackintosh in design. The style is still used on many Mackintosh-style windows and stained glass souvenirs available today.
The roof is made up by a striking timber-lined
After the church was decommissioned in the 1970s, unlike many churches which were converted to theatres, apartments or demolished and because of the popularity of Mackintosh's work, the church became home of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society, which owns and operates the church as a tourist attraction.
The adjoining church hall provides tearoom facilities, and there is a display area under the balcony with many artifacts including replicas of the chairs he designed for the
Image:Queens Cross Church07c.jpg, west window
Image:Queens Cross Church07d.jpg, west window
Image:Queens Cross Church07e.jpg, pulpit
Image:Queens Cross Church07f.jpg, east window over main balcony
Image:Queens Cross Church07o.jpg, south aisle and west window
Image:Queens Cross Church07p.jpg, south aisle and balcony
Image:Queens Cross Church07q.jpg, south aisle
Image:Queens Cross Church07h.jpg, west stair
Image:Queens Cross Church07i.jpg, east stair
Image:Queens Cross Church07k.jpg, hall roof
Image:Queens Cross Church07l.jpg, keyboard in hall
Image:Queens Cross Church07m.jpg, hall detail
Charles Rennie Mackintosh SocietyThe Mackintosh Church
{{Charles Rennie Mackintosh Churches completed in 1899 19th-century Church of Scotland church buildings Category A listed buildings in Glasgow Listed churches in Glasgow Former churches in Scotland Charles Rennie Mackintosh buildings Art Nouveau architecture in Glasgow Art Nouveau church buildings in the United Kingdom Maryhill
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...
parish church in Glasgow
Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
, 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 ...
. It is the only church designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh
Charles Rennie Mackintosh (7 June 1868 – 10 December 1928) was a Scottish architect, designer, water colourist and artist. His artistic approach had much in common with European Symbolism. His work, alongside that of his wife Margaret Macd ...
to have been built; hence, it is also known as The Mackintosh Church.
History
In 1896, the Free Church of St Matthew, Glasgow, commissioned a new church and hall from the experienced Glasgow architectural practice of Honeyman and Keppie, to be located within the developing area of Springbank, near Maryhill. John Honeyman allocated the job to his young, talented, trainee architect, Charles Rennie Mackintosh. The site was an awkward one, being on a corner plot and butted by tenements and a large warehouse. In keeping with their beliefs, the Free Church required simplicity in design. A memorial stone was laid on 23 June 1898 and the church held its first service on 10 September 1899. Although he designed an Anglican Cathedral for Liverpool, as part of a competition, it was never built, so Queen's Cross was the only Mackintosh church to be completed. Building started shortly after Mackintosh finished his competition design for theGlasgow School of Art
The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; ) is a higher education art school based in Glasgow, Scotland, offering undergraduate degrees, post-graduate awards (both taught and research-led), and PhDs in architecture, fine art, and design. These are all awa ...
. It is built at Queen's Cross, at the junction of Garscube Road and Maryhill Road in Glasgow's Maryhill
Maryhill () is an area in the north-west of Glasgow in Scotland. A former independent burgh and the heart of an eponymous local authority ward, its territory is bisected by Maryhill Road, part of the A81 road which runs for a distance of ro ...
area.
Mackintosh Design
Exterior
Unlike many churches in Glasgow, Mackintosh's church doesn't have a huge towering spire, and is rather squat and more like a Norman Castle, called 'Modern gothic' by other architects. The main south-west tower was modelled on one at Merriot in Somerset which Mackintosh visited in 1895.Interior
Although the stained glass windows are not 'spectacular' compared to other churches and cathedrals, they are distinctly Mackintosh in design. The style is still used on many Mackintosh-style windows and stained glass souvenirs available today.
The roof is made up by a striking timber-lined barrel-vault
A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...
ed roof, which spans the entire forty feet of the nave.
The pulpit is carved in Mackintosh designs, which repeat five times around the curved front. It has been suggested that it represents the wings of a bird protecting young shoots - sown on fertile ground.
The design contains gothic influences, such as the magnificent stained glass blue-heart window, and pre-Reformation style elements, such as the replica of the original rood beam, which is unique in Scotland. It is even possible to find Japanese influences in the double beams and pendants inside the church.
Home of Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society
After the church was decommissioned in the 1970s, unlike many churches which were converted to theatres, apartments or demolished and because of the popularity of Mackintosh's work, the church became home of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society, which owns and operates the church as a tourist attraction.
The adjoining church hall provides tearoom facilities, and there is a display area under the balcony with many artifacts including replicas of the chairs he designed for the Willow Tearooms
The Willow Tearooms are tearooms at 217 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, Scotland, designed by internationally renowned architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh, which opened for business in October 1903. They quickly gained enormous popularity, and are ...
.
Controversy arose in 2025, when pews and modesty screens designed by Mackintosh, that had been removed from the church to create additional space for meetings around a decade earlier, were sawn up.
See also
*Culture in Glasgow
The city of Glasgow, Scotland, has many amenities for a wide range of cultural activities, from curling to opera and from football to art appreciation; it also has a large selection of museums that include those devoted to transport, religion ...
*List of Church of Scotland parishes
The Church of Scotland, the national church of Scotland, divides the country into Presbyteries, which in turn are subdivided into Parishes, each served by a parish church, usually with its own minister. Unions and readjustments may however res ...
Notes
Gallery
External links
Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society
{{Charles Rennie Mackintosh Churches completed in 1899 19th-century Church of Scotland church buildings Category A listed buildings in Glasgow Listed churches in Glasgow Former churches in Scotland Charles Rennie Mackintosh buildings Art Nouveau architecture in Glasgow Art Nouveau church buildings in the United Kingdom Maryhill