Cumnock Parish Church was erected between 1864 and 1866 in the Gothic style to the plans of James Maitland Wardrop of Edinburgh and opened on 17th November 1866. Yellow sandstone from Coalburn, near New Cumnock, was used. The cost of construction was £6,227 14s 8d though the proposed spire was not built, its intended location over the clock was capped off instead.

On the north side of the church is a Bute vault, with a gallery for the Marquis’s use inside the nave. There are some good examples of stained glasswork, some by Ballantyne from 1867, one window signed A L Moore, London.

A Brief Historical Sketch
It is believed that a place of worship has existed in the Square of Cumnock, which until recently was the commercial heart of the town, for over 100 years. However, the earliest historical record dates to 1275 when a tax of £16 Scots, was laid upon the Rectory of Cumnock. This sum was one tenth of the whole ecclesiastical revenue of the parish, for one year, and was to aid Henry III’s troops going on Crusade with Pope Innocent IV in 1254, but Cumnock didn’t pay until 1275.

The earliest recorded patrons of the church in Cumnock were the Earls of March. Existing with a rector, the rectory of Cumnock was converted into a prebend of the Cathedral of Glasgow in the 15th century, with the consent of the patron. The prebendary or canon of Glasgow Cathedral did not live in Cumnock and placed a vicar in situ to represent him.

As had other parishes in Scotland, Cumnock claimed a patron Saint; theirs being St. Conval, the son of an Irish Prince and disciple of St. Kentigern, popularly known as St. Mungo, after whom Glasgow Cathedral is named. It was to St. Conval that the church in Cumnock was dedicated. It may have been that as Cumnock was a prebend of Glasgow Cathedral its church was dedicated to a disciple of the Cathedral’s Saint. The connection remained until the reformation

At the Reformation John Dunbar, the priest in Cumnock, attached himself to the Reformed faith and became the first protestant minister of the parish, only to be succeeded by a formidable list of experienced and notable clergy.

The Rev. Ninian Bannatyne was presented to the parish of Cumnock by the Marquess of Bute on 10th February 1830 and ordained to the pastorate in September of that year. The Church of Scotland’s conflict with the State for freedom of the Church, resulted in the Disruption of 1843 when the minister of the parish, in conscience, resigned his position and emoluments as minister of the Church Established, and became minister of the Free Church in Old Cumnock. He also resigned the office of chaplain to the Marquess of Bute, the Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly.

The vacancy was filled by Rev. James Murray, an assistant from Kirkconnel, in whose ministry the present building was erected as designed by James Maitland Wardrop of Edinburgh, and completed through the patronage of the Marquess of Bute in 1866. The Bute Gallery, or church loft, to seat the Butes, was never used as the family converted to the Roman Catholic faith.

The German designer Schultz executed small jobs for Lord Bute in and around Cumnock, including work in Dumfries House. In 1896 he prepared designs and working drawings for new chairs for the loft of the parish church and, in the same year, he designed shrines, which were made at Cardiff in consultation with Burges, for St. John’s Roman Catholic Church in Cumnock. The two chairs now sit in the Memorial Chapel of Old Cumnock Church.

The present church bell is not the original, but the bell in the vestibule of the church has an interesting history. It was cast by Quirinius de Vesscher of Rotterdam in 1697 and served in the two churches preceding the present Parish Church. During the 1860s, as a result of the demolition of the church built in 1754, the bell was hung on a tree at the foot of the Strand. Here it continued as Church and Town bell until the present bell was installed in the church. When the school was built in the 1870s, the bell transferred to it and was in position until fairly recently. De Vesscher bells are rare even in Holland and, as far as can be ascertained, only three definitely exist in Scotland: in Kirkcudbright, Kells and Cumnock. There is probably also an example in Kirkoswald. Expert opinion suggests that the casting is of the highest order and the hunting scene portrayed on the lower border is a masterpiece.

The first minister to be “called” to the parish church of Old Cumnock, by the congregation, was the Rev. J. Spence Robertson in 1875.

For the centenary celebrations of the “New” Church in 1966 the stonework was cleaned in and out; the pipe organ replaced by an electric one; the organ screen removed from the centre of the church, and re-sited to the side of the chancel. The screen was replaced by a mosaic commissioned by the Marquess of Bute, and designed by James Harrigan. It is based on Celtic manuscript figures, to retain a Scottish flavour to the work, and is a typical mosaic of the early Christian church.

On 20th November 1966 the early links of Cumnock parish with Glasgow Cathedral were renewed when Dr. Davidson of Glasgow Cathedral was invited by Dr. McClymont, the minister of the parish church of Cumnock, to dedicate the centenary memorial gifts “as a thanks offering by the congregation to Almighty God for a century of blessing and peace within these walls”.

Further links have been renewed since. One minister of the Old Church, Rev. George Muir, a Covenanter, was imprisoned due to his association with the covenanting movement, only to escape some time later. In acknowledgement of his steadfastness and his loyalty to the Kirk, Princeton University awarded him an honorary Doctorate Degree. In 1996 the Old Church re-established its link with Princeton Theological Seminary, in agreeing to accept seminarians in training for the Presbyterian ministry, over the summer months of each year, as part of their training in ministry.

In 1998 a Memorial Chapel was established in the Old Church in memory of those who, from within the parish and beyond, have had links and connections with the Old Church through the generations. A memorial book of names lies on the communion table of the Chapel. The Bute Hall in the church was one the burial crypt of the Bute family. The plaques around the wall identify the particular family members.

Old Cumnock Old Church was linked with Lugar Parish Church on 2nd April 1989. The first minister to be “called” to the linked charge is the present incumbent, Rev. John W. Paterson, inducted to the charge on 15th June 1994.

On 17th November 1995 Words of Wisdom, a shop and cafe, purchased by the Old Church, and converted by the hard work and dedication of men and women of the congregation, was opened. Situated in the Square, directly opposite the main entrance of the church, the shop serves tea/coffee and home baking, as well as being a source of Christian literature.

For information on the Clergy who served the church please go HERE

Cumnock Old Church stands proudly in the centre of the town, a focal point for its parishioners. Its predecessor, built in 1754, was in such a state of disrepair that the local landowner, the Marquess of Bute, was petitioned and a decision was made to rebuild. In 1864 demolition of the old building began. The weathercock was removed, and is now in the Baird Institute in Lugar Street, and the church bell was hung on the Bell Tree at the foot of the Strand. It continued as Church and Town bell, to be rung twice daily, until the tree became unsafe and had to be cut down. Eventually the bell was installed in the belfry of the school which was built in 1870. That same bell now occupies pride of place in the vestibule of the present church and is well worth inspecting. It was cast in Rotterdam in 1697, decorated with geometric designs and has a hunting scene around its border. De Vesscher bells are very rare, even in Holland, and only three exist in Scotland, the other two in Kirkcudbright and Kells. A plaque in the church tells the bell’s history.

On 23rd August 1864, the foundation stone of the present church was laid. The building cost £6,227 and opened its doors on 15th November 1866 with seating for 1100 parishioners. It features gallery for the Marquess of Bute and family as patron of the parish. The Bute family never used the gallery as they converted to the Roman Catholic faith.

On entering the main door, there are two round blue glass windows, one on either side. These windows were presented by the Women’s Guild in their centenary year – 1987. Access to the church knave is through two glass-panelled doors – the Faith door and the Love door, which depict the sacrament of Holy Baptism and the constancy of God’s love.

Unusually, the pews face the visitor. Right at the far end of the church, looking down from above is the Bute Gallery with the WWI and WWII memorials underneath. On the wall of the Bute Gallery there is a cloth embroidered with the names of all the members of the church from 100 years earlier. Through the back door is the Bute Hall which was once the burial crypt of the Bute family. Around the walls are plaques commemorating those members of the Bute family buried there. There is also a photograph of the church as it once looked before the railings around it were sacrificed for the war effort.

Re-entering the church, facing us on high are the two magnificent stained glass windows over the main door. These were presented by the Marquess of Bute when the church was built. Underneath are the pulpit, the communion table and chairs, the baptismal font and the eye-catching mosaic mural depicting the story told in Matthew Chapter 14 verses 22-32 of Jesus walking on the water and reaching out to rescue Peter. The figure of Jesus with the eleven disciples safely held in the shape of his cloak represents the safety of a boat.

To the left of the pulpit is the library with a large glass-topped table. Under the glass is a table cover on which the church members signed their names which were then outlined in delicate embroidery. This was completed as a Millennium Project.

In the four corners of the table cover are the name and dates of the four previous serving ministers.
Rev. J. Spence Robertson 1875-1927.
Rev. Douglas McClymont 1927-1971.
Rev. James Ferguson 1972-1984.
Rev. Martin McKean 1984-1993.

The present charismatic minister is Rev. John Paterson, a popular figure in the church and within the wider community.

Resting on the table top are photos of the two Indian children currently sponsored by the church – Sandra McFarlane and Abinash. On the side wall are the Skares WWI Memorial and the bell for Skares School.

On the opposite side of the church is the small Memorial Chapel with its communion table on which rests a book commemorating friends and members of the Old Church who have died. In the chapel are two chairs, each with the Bute crest, brought down from the Bute Gallery. Before each chair is a kneeler covered in beautiful tapestry.

Access to the upstairs pews is by staircases on either side of the entrance hall. From there, is a fine view of the knave and also the beautiful commemorative stained glass windows gifted by families in memory of loved ones

Archibald Breckenridge, solicitor, for his wife.
Herbert Morton, former owner of the picture house, for his wife.
The Kerr family window with its exquisite detail.
The Boswell crest in memory of Patrick Boswell of Garallan.

From upstairs, a closer view of the Bute Gallery can be seen, and another view of the stained glass windows above the main door.

On the way downstairs, the intrepid visitor might be tempted to climb the vertical wooden ladder leading to the clock tower, where the clock is wound weekly so that citizens of Cumnock may know the time. The original clock was presented in 1872 by Captain William Allason Cunningham of Logan and Afton and cost 100 guineas.

Cumnock Old Church is steeped in history yet is living testimony to the many people who have worshipped there and have left their mark in the legacies they have bequeathed to the generations still to come.

All Saints Church was situated across the road from Glaisnock House. It was originally of the Episcopal denomination – but later its services were conducted by the minister of the Congregational Church. The Church has long been demolished.

In 1876 two members of Kilmarnock`s Baptist Church came to reside in Gasswater – not far from Cumnock – and the first meetings were held there. The village meetings continued for six months and then the meeting place was changed to Cumnock – thus Cumnock`s Baptist Church came into being.

After meetings in a variety of halls for a number of years, a decision was taken to erect a church building, and the present church in Barrhill Road was built in c1886 with seating for 200. The manse was purchased in 1919 and in the early 1930s the church was extended by the addition of a hall, vestry, and ladies` room all of which are in constant use at the present day. The front porch dates from the 1970s.

The Congregationalists first met in 1838 in a hall in the Black Bull Hotel, later moving in 1847 to a Chapel in the Square converted from the Old Parish School.

It was not until 1882 that the Congregationalists had their own church built across the Lugar Bridge in what was then still part of Auchinleck Parish. The Congregational Church cost £2,100 and had seating for 350 people. The church was designed by John Murdoch of Ayr and opened on 18th February 1883, the church is situated at Stepends on the north side of Stepends Bridge.

A noteworthy member of early congregation of this Church was James Keir Hardie but his association was short lived. In March 1884, together with the pastor and 37 members, he resigned and set up a separate congregation attached to the Evangelical Union.

At the Disruption in 1843, the Rev. Ninian Bannatyne and many of his congregation left the Parish Church and formed the Free Church. Within a short period they built the Free Church in Ayr Road, complete with school and manse, which opened for worship in October 1843. It remained in use until the summer of 1896 when it was demolished and work began to build the Crichton Church

Ninian Bannatyne died in 1874, he was followed as minister by Rev. Alexander Adamson and Rev. John Warrick who was ordained on 22nd February 1883. Rev. Warrick wrote History of Old Cumnock published in 1899.