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ST.
COLUMBA CHURCH OF SCOTLAND, KILMACOLM
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Short History Of St Columba Church, Kilmacolm
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| Until about 1870 the village of Kilmacolm was purely a rural hamlet,consisting
of a handful of thatched cottages clustering round "Robbie" Laird's public
house and the Parish Church - the Old Kirk. There had been little change
over the centuries and the population could never have been more than
two or three hundred persons.
The construction of the railway line between Glasgow St Enoch and Greenock Princess Pier was the start of the transformation of the village over the next 30 years. In 1858 a number of the parish congregation broke away to form St James U.P. Church. For two years they worshiped in a building vacated by the Reformed Presbyterians. In 1862 they moved to a new Church St James on the site in St James Terrace where The Royal Bank of Scotland stands today. (Part of one wall of the old church building is incorporated within the bank. A photograph of the church is mounted in the customer area.) On 15th October 1900 it was resolved to build the present Church. The architect William Leiper was appointed with the remit to construct a church to accommodate 650 with a hall for 150. The Foundation Stone was laid by Lord Overtoun on 25th April 1902. Numerous local firms and tradesmen were employed, the main one being Wm Steel of Gourock. The building was opened on 31st May, 1903. (The organ was completed only a few days beforehand!) In the 1870s there were more dissenters from the Parish Church and they began to worship in a hall on the site of George Villa in Bridge of Weir Rd. They appointsd their first Minister in 1881. The precise date for the building of the St Columba Church between Bridge of Weir Rd and Duchal Rd is not recorded but its existence is noted in the Rev James Murray's History of Kilmacolm in 1907. (The hall-in Glebe Rd-remains to this day as the Masonic Hall.) By the Act of Union in 1900 the United Presbyterian Church and the Free Church joined to form the United Free Church. Thus there were now the two breakaway churches and the established Church of Scotland, The Old Kirk, in the village. The "old" St Columba Church and St James became part of the established Church following the 1929 Act of Union. In 1956, when the Minister Mr McMillan gave up the charge of St Columba, the two congregations were instructed to effect a union and in December of that year exploratory talks began. The union took place in 1957 during the ministry of the Rev A.S.Calder. The building known as "The New" or Large Hall was opened on 16th of September 1970. |
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