United Free Church (Former), Patna
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South Lodge has a Grand Grade score of 0.72
Grand Bequest calculates the suitability, or ‘Grand Grade,’ that can be used to sort projects by viability and strengthens objective communication, supports decision-making, and promotes resource allocation to the most ideal projects for conservation taking into account aspects such as cultural significance, social benefit, financial sustainability and adaptability.
Learn more about Grand Grades here.
Cultural Significance
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Financial Sustainability
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Social Benefit
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Adaptability
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More about the building
HISTORY
General Background
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Glasgow architect John Bennie Wilson designed the church before the construction of the building in 1901. This building was one of the first churches built under the newly created United Free Church.
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During the 1929 church reorganisation, the Church of Patna and the United Free Church (Patna East) united, but they separated quickly.
History of Patna
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In 1802 the village of Patna was founded by William Fullerton. The area was rich in limestone and coal deposits, and the village was created to house the miners who worked there. The name Patna is taken from the City of Patna, in India, where William Fullerton was born. His father, John Fullarton, was a major general in the British Army, posted in Bihar, where he worked with the East India Company. William Fullerton played a large part in the growth and development of the town, paying to build local schools and the Auld Brig o’Doon.
The town grew enough through its mining that in 1856 the Patna Railway Station opened. During this same time, it was noted in the English Encyclopedia that the town was also known for the weaving of worsted tartans.
In 1964 the railway station shut down. Then in 1978, the last coal mine in Patna closed, and the town began to decline.
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History of the United Free Church
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The United Free Church is an Evangelical Presbyterian Church. The Reformed Church in Scotland was established in 1567, over thirty years after the Church of England was created in 1534 by Henry VIII. After this establishment, there were several disputes over leadership creating church break-offs. In the 1800s, the Church of Scotland had two vying factions—the Moderates and the Evangelicals. Moderates viewed the church on a social and cultural level instead of a political level. The Evangelicals chose to uphold the Westminster Confession (1647), which lost its official status in England in 1660. On May 18, 1843, the Free Church emerged in what is known as the Disruption. During the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, a group of Evangelicals left the hall and started the Free Church. When established, the Free Church took close to one-third of the laity and ministries from the Church of Scotland. The Free Church based their new organisation in voluntary funding and missionary work. Then in 1900, the Free Church and the United Presbyterian Church combined to form the United Free Church. 1929 the Church of Scotland disestablished, at which point they recombined with the United Free Church.
ARCHITECTURE
The Former United Free Church of Patna was constructed in 1901 in the Gothic Revival style using bull faced red sandstone. There is a prominent three-story hexagonal belltower with a conical roof. The bell tower also has a Plate Tracery Window with a colonette, respond, and a quatrefoil. There is a central buttress that turns into a decorative niche. Plinths ring the bottom exterior of the building, and there are several vertical buttresses. There are several fixed windows with pointed tops that originally held stained glass and Gothic glazing. The roofing is a dark grey fixed slate edged with coping and kneelers on the corners. There is a raised porch on the left-hand side which is the main entrance to the building. The porch is framed by a two-centered pointed archway with a painted red wrought iron gate across the bottom.
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Current Condition
The Building At Risk Register of Scotland (BARR) has deemed the Former United Free Church in Patna to be at risk due to its ongoing vacancy and depleting condition. Pictures from the BARR site visit confirm the situation and that the building is suffering primarily from water damage and dampness. Indicators of this include biological growth such as moss and other vegetation. The BARR says that “the guttering is blocked, and the timber louvres to the belfry appear to be in rotten condition.” Algae appear to be present around openings on the external walls, windowsills, and doors.
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