Listed Building

The only legal part of the listing under the Planning (Listing Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 is the address/name of site. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing – see 'About Listed Buildings' below for more information. The further details below the 'Address/Name of Site' are provided for information purposes only.

Address/Name of Site

MARSHALL PLACE, ST LEONARD'S-IN-THE-FIELDS CHURCH AND HALLS (CHURCH OF SCOTLAND), INCLUDING BOUNDARY WALL AND GATEPIERSLB39310

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
A
Date Added
20/05/1965
Local Authority
Perth And Kinross
Planning Authority
Perth And Kinross
Burgh
Perth
NGR
NO 11627 23166
Coordinates
311627, 723166

Description

1885, J J Stevenson. Prominently sited, monumental, 6-bay, nave and aisle, Scots Gothic Revival church with square-plan tower to E surmounted by crown spire and with adjoining gabled hall and offices to North. Hammer-dressed coursed rubble with ashlar margins. String courses, battlements with broad merlons. Staged buttresses. 2-and 3-light, pointed-arch windows with curvilinear tracery. W gable with projecting polygonal apse.

FURTHER DESCRIPTION: PRINCIPAL ELEVATION (S): 4-stage angle-buttressed tower to E, with 2-leaf timber entrance door set in pointed-arched, hood-moulded doorpiece with engaged colonettes. Simple carved tracery to tympanum. Crown spire to tower comprises 4-flying buttresses supporting 4-stage tapered spire, topped by finial.

Predominantly lead-pane fixed glazing to windows. Some stained glass. Grey Westmorland slates.

INTERIOR: plan form largely intact. Decorative open timber roof with some carved corbels. Timber pews with pulpit at W. Pointed-arch arcades separate aisles and naves. Panelled timber gallery to N, S and E, supported on slim cast-iron bundle-shafted columns. Panelled timber dado to walls. 1881 organ to E. (see Notes). Neo-Jacobean stone fire-surround to entrance vestibule.

Pair of part-glazed timber swing doors set in segmental arch leads to halls. Other stone fire surrounds.

CHURCH HALL AND OFFICES: adjoining to N. En-suite 2-storey offices with 2-and 4-light rectangular windows with stone mullions. Single-storey entrance porch and office to W. Church hall with angle buttresses and central, timber and slated polygonal flèche.

BOUNDARY WALL AND GATEPIERS: very low with pair of square-plan gatepiers to W with saddleback coping.

Statement of Special Interest

Part of an A-Group comprising: '1-3 (Inclusive Nos) King's Place and 1-3 (Inclusive Nos) King James Place and 55 and 57 King Street and Boundary Wall'; '4 and 5 King's Place'; '6 King's Place, Pedigree House'; 'Marshall Place, St Leonard's-in-the-Fields Church and Halls (Church of Scotland), Including Boundary Wall and Gatepiers'; '1-14 (Inclusive Nos) Marshall Place and 2 and 4 Nelson Street Including Boundary Walls And Railings'; '15-28 (Inclusive Nos) Marshall Place, 1 and 3 Nelson Street and 110 Scott Street Including Boundary Walls and Railings' and 'South Inch at Foot of King Street, Statue to Sir Walter Scott' (see separate listings).

Place of worship in use as such.

This impressive church is an outstanding example of the Scots Gothic Revival style and one of J J Stevenson's finest buildings. Its crown spire being a particularly noteworthy example of its form. Sitting in a prominent position overlooking the South Inch Park, it is a important landscape feature in the city. The interior retains its original decorative cohesion and has a fine, open timber roof. The halls were built together with the church and they are an important part of the group.

The church was originally built as the St Leonard's Free Church. The Free Church congregation, worshipping in a building in Victoria Street, wanted a larger, more architecturally interesting church. A site was agreed in 1882. The London-based architect J J Stevenson was chosen, probably because he had designed other Free Churches in Scotland. The church was begun in 1883 and the memorial stone laid in 1884. There were some initial construction problems as part of the city's lade lay underneath the site, but these were overcome. The stone came from quarries at Polmaise, near Stirling and the slates were from Westmorland. There was some disagreement between the architect and the building committee over the colour for the pews, as Stevenson wanted dark stained timber, and the committee wanted plain varnish - the architect got his way. The canopy over the pulpit was designed in 1971.

The organ, by Bryceson Brothers & Ellis, of London was originally in the Morningside United Presbyterian Church in Edinburgh (see separate listing), and was moved to this location in 1985.

John James Stevenson (1831-1908) was a London-based architect who came originally from Glasgow. He had once considered being a Free Church minister and he built a number of Free Churches in Scotland, including the South Church in Crieff (see separate listing). He was one of the founders of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings and he took a scholarly approach to the Scots Gothic style, which is apparent in this church.

List description updated at resurvey (2009).

References

Bibliography

2nd Edition Ordnance Survey Map, 1900. John Gifford, The Buildings of Scotland, Perth and Kinross, 2007 pf586. N Haynes, Perth and Kinross, An Illustrated Architectural Guide, 2001 pf27. Other information from St Leonard's-in-the-Fields booklet, produced by the church and from members of the congregation.

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.

If part of a building is not listed, it will say that it is excluded in the statutory address and in the statement of special interest in the listed building record. The statement will use the word 'excluding' and quote the relevant section of the 1997 Act. Some earlier listed building records may use the word 'excluding', but if the Act is not quoted, the record has not been revised to reflect subsequent legislation.

Listed building consent is required for changes to a listed building which affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest. The relevant planning authority is the point of contact for applications for listed building consent.

Find out more about listing and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.

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