HELENSBURGH NEWS THURSDAY 7 AUGUST 1884
SHANDON
THE CHURCH – After undergoing considerable alteration and repair, the Free Church here is to be re-opened on Sabbath first by the Rev Dr Marcus Dods, from Glasgow.
The work was undertaken with a view to increase the accommodation, but the appearance internally and externally has been completely changed. To increase the sitting accommodation, transepts have been built at the east end of the building, and the whole Church has been seated anew. The pews which have been put in are in quite a new style. There is no book-board, but a receptacle lower down has been provided for the books, and a kneeling-board for prayer, similar to that in some of the London Churches, has been added. The pews are extremely comfortable and roomy, and are made entirely of pitch pine, the lining round the walls being also of the same stuff.
An ornamental screen at the entrance porch and a new pulpit add also to the internal appearance, and altogether the effect is very pleasing. Externally, the building has also been quite altered. Stone buttresses at the corners give it the necessary massiveness, and a stone porch takes away from its former bald appearance. The most prominent feature, however, is a spire which is being built at the right side of the building. Chaste in design, beautiful in proportion, and rising to a height of some eighty feet, it will prove quite a architectural feature in the district.
The whole work has been executed in fine style, and reflects great credit on the contractors and workmen, who are mostly local. The following is a list of those by whom the work has been executed:- Mason, James Spy, Row; joiner, William Jack, Helensburgh; slater, William Thom, Helensburgh; plasterer, William Thomson, Helensburgh; plumber, Robt. Shedden, Row; glazier, W Malloch, Glasgow; upholsterers, Cumming & Smith, Glasgow. The plans were provided and the whole work done under the superintendence of Mr Landless, architect, Glasgow.
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