St Paul's Church is a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

of the

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

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 ...

in the

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

town of

Milngavie Milngavie ( ; ) is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland and a suburb of Glasgow. It is on the Allander Water, at the northwestern edge of Greater Glasgow, and about from Glasgow city centre. It neighbours Bearsden. Milngavie is a commuter t ...

East Dunbartonshire East Dunbartonshire (; , ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders Glasgow City Council Area to the south, North Lanarkshire to the east, Stirling (council area), Stirling to the north, and West Dunbartonshire to the west. East ...

, near

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 ...

. It is at the junction of Glasgow Road which carries the A81 through the city, and Baldernock Road. In 1978, St Paul's Church was listed as a Category C monument in Scotland. The church is in active use as of January 2025.

History

In 1787 members of the

New Kilpatrick New Kilpatrick, (also known as East Kilpatrick or Easter Kilpatrick) is an ecclesiastical Parish and former Civil Parish in Dunbartonshire. It was formed in 1649 from the eastern half of the parish of Kilpatrick (also known as Kirkpatrick), the ...

Parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

Church in

Bearsden Bearsden ( ) is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the northwestern fringe of Greater Glasgow, approximately from the Glasgow city centre, city centre. The Roman Empire, Roman Antonine Wall runs through the town, and the remains of ...

(then known as Newkirk) broke from the Established Church. Permission was sought from the

Relief Church The Relief Church (or Presbytery of Relief) was a Scottish Presbyterian denomination founded in 1761. In 1847 it united with the United Secession Church to form the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland. In relation to the history of the Chur ...

. Thus, in 1788, the Kilpatrick Relief Church was established. Initially open-air services were held on Barloch Moor in a hollow beside the Tannoch Burn known as the "preaching braes". A church was finally built on the Barloch Estate, finished in 1799 at a cost of £500. After several mergers within the church and the constantly growing congregation, the construction of new church buildings became necessary at the end of the 19th century. First, in 1903, the Cairns Church (named after John Cairns) was completed. Soon after, a competition was held for the design of the new church building for St Paul's Church; a design by the

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

architectural practice Leadbetter & Fairley won the competition. The original plans for the building included a bell tower, but this was never completed.

Violet Graham, Duchess of Montrose Violet Hermione Graham, Duchess of Montrose, (10 September 1854 – 21 November 1940) was a British philanthropist and anti-suffragist. She served as president of the Scottish branch of the Women's National Anti-Suffrage League. Her husband was ...

laid the memorial stone on 20 May 1905. The church was opened on 12 January 1906. With the reintegration of most of the

United Free Church of Scotland The United Free Church of Scotland (UF Church; , ) is a Scottish Presbyterian denomination formed in 1900 by the union of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland (or UP) and the Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900), majority of the 19th-cen ...

into the

in 1929, the parish of

was divided into three parishes. Although St Paul's Church was the largest building, it became the parish church of the smallest and most sparsely populated parish. Over the decades, the building has been constantly renovated.

Building description

When completed, the building was considered the finest church building in the Dumbarton area. The structure is made of roughly hewn red sandstone. The transept has, unusually, two gables on each side. The window design is based on late Gothic architecture. Only the base of the planned bell tower was constructed.

References

External links

* {{Historic Environment Scotland, cat=PLA , num=197645, num2=NS57SE 86 , desc=Milngavie, Strathblane Road, St Paul's Church Milngavie Category C listed buildings in East Dunbartonshire Churches completed in 1906 Listed churches in Scotland