The Old West Kirk - A Building at Risk?
The Church of Scotland has decided to sell this Grade A listed Church and the Grade C listed Pirrie Hall, which sit on the banks of the River Clyde on the Esplanade of Greenock
This site is at risk of being redeveloped into - according to the grapevine - a restaurant, a housing development, a gym - and is therefore at risk of being lost to the community, lost to our local history and heritage, lost to the many vibrant community programmes others are proposing, lost as a potential source of income to the area of day visitors and cruise ship tourists.
Why is the OWK building so important?
The Old West Kirk was the first Presbyterian Church to be built (1591) as a direct result of the granting of a Royal Charter in 1589 after the Scottish Reformation (1560) and no matter what religion is followed, the aftermath of the Scottish Reformation has been a massive contributory factor in developing the collective Scottish psyche - how we define ourselves as Scots.
At the time of its founding, Greenock was a fishing village centred around Rue End Street and James VI, Mary Queen of Scots’ son, was king. The current church building has of necessity - and some previous neglect - changed from a solitary rectangle built near the shores of the Clyde and the West Burn (now culverted under West Burn Street) to a cruciform plan constructed at the corner of The Esplanade.
In the 1920s, the building undertook a remarkable journey: it was moved stone by stone from the West Burn site its current site. This in itself is an amazing achievement for the stonemasons, wood workers and other craft workers who undertook this incredible and historic task. The Pirrie Hall was constructed on the new site to provide a place of worship during the removal and reconstruction process.
The OWK remains an incredibly important building - for the history of Greenock and subsequently the Inverclyde area; the history and development of the building’s architecture; and its role in the history of Scotland. It has witnessed the many achievements - good and not so good - that took Greenock from a small village to an important contributor in our Scottish history to part of the wider community of Inverclyde. And still it remains. For now.
As such, it must be saved from potentially unsympathetic redevelopment to its history, environment and community. Even its demolition.
IHN is one of many groups trying to develop proposals which will keep the church as part of the community and which in turn aims to support the community. One of the current proposals would convert the church and hall into a heritage and arts venue that would be available for the local community to enjoy and encourage the growth of the tourism industry across Inverclyde.
To be able to apply for Community Buyout, support by the community needs to be demonstrated.
There is little time left to bring these buildings into the ownership of the community: a closing date for bids has now been set for Noon on 6th September.
Save the Old West Kirk
If you would like to encourage the working groups’ development a community-led space and register your support, please visit ‘Save the Old West Kirk’ on FaceBook and Twitter. If social media is not for you, drop a note of support in the comments box below.