The First Church of St John (Auld Simon)

Of course those of you in the know appreciate that the title is inaccurate. “Auld Simon” is the bell tower, the actual church part is long gone. Click play on the video below to see inside the tower and hear a description of the clock. The name of the tower is believed to derive from the chap who, long ago, wound up the clock when only the bell tower remained . When the old church was to be demolished there were calls for the gable end with its clock to be retained as it was the only source of time keeping in the village. This was agreed to and one of the best landmarks in the village was retained.

In the article on Christianity it was concluded that Lochwinnoch had been in existence from at least 1150. In the intervening 657 years to 1807 when the chapel was finally knocked down it could have taken many forms. Early descriptions describe it as a barn like form (rectangular) with the church bell at the east gable and a clock on the west gable. Laterly, its footprint was changed to that of a cross. Could a chapel have existed on this site from shortly after St Mirin arrival in AD580 who established a church at Seedhill in Paisley? Our old Kirk has always been referred to as a “dependant chapel of Paisley”. When he arrived from Ireland he may well have travelled up the Lochwinnoch Gap to reach what would become Paisley. It is hard to image a more pleasant location to build a church than the rising ground of St John's hill overlooking the Loch. Furthermore, the 1857 map further down the page shows at least 8 wells in close proximity. A good supply of water is a prerequisite for the establishment of any settlement.

The Presbytery was invited to visit the Kirk on 18^th March 1729 to assess the condition of the Kirk. James Baird (Mason), John Hart (Mason) and James Orr (Wright) inspected the Kirk and agreed that it was in a ruinous state. It was suggested the roof is removed to allow the height of the new isles to be raised by 3ft. Furthermore, that the old isles lying East to West are completely demolished and widened to 26ft requiring new foundations. This provided the opportunity to add a new clock and bell tower at the west end (Auld Simon). Finally, that a new slate roof is installed and all windows and doors replaced. This was substantially a re-build of the Kirk. The expense to the heritors was considerable - 3000 merks. They also agreed to source the materials. The minister, Mr John Pinkerton, Mr Robert Orr, of Brannockshill, and John Caldwell, of Lochside, were appointed to superintend and manage the work. John Spier was "workman to the said kirk” which presumably means foreman of the building site. The share of the 3000 merks from the south side of the Loch was collected by Henry Wilson - Bowfield, and John Clerk of Little Broadfleld; the share from the north side was collected by Robert Orr and John Orr of Lochhead. The work was completed in 1729 with the date inscribed on the lintel of Auld Simon’s doorway.

The reference to new and old Isles confirm that an earlier structure was indeed rectangular and at some point earlier renovation work added the north and south isles changing the structure to a cross footprint. These new isles were known as the Semple and Barr Isles. This suggests they were added when these families were the pre-eminent ones in the district, perhaps the 1500’s. An outline of the church is shown in the 1857 map below.

The north transept was known as the Barr aisle, the south one was the Castle Semple aisle. These names suggest the change to a cross footprint occurred when these families became prominent in the area. Each of these aisles had a gallery; there was also a gallery at the west end for feuars from the Barony of Glen and one at the east for those residing in the baronies of Auchenbathie Blair, and of Gavan and Risk. Those from Gavan & Risk sat on the southern side of this gallery. There were also two seats at the front of this gallery, one for the Lochside family, and the other for Spreulston.

The front of Castle Semple Gallery protruded a little beyond the line of the South side wall. This gallery contained an apartment for the use of the Castle Semple family. The remainder was occupied chiefly by Mr MacDowall, his family and domestics, none of the tenantry had sittings in it.

The pulpit stood on the east side where the north aisle and the main body of the church met (see map above). This is opposite the Castle Semple gallery where the patron sat. Col. MacDowall acquired the patronage by purchase from the Earl of Dundonald soon after he obtained Castle Semple. The disposition dated 10th February 1730 included the lands of Glen, property or superiority, their teinds, and also the teinds of Castle Semple, &c., belonging to Lord Sempill in 1547.

The West Gallery had three seats in front; that to the South side was for Millbank, the middle one Nervelstone, and the North side one for Moniabrock.

The Barr Gallery was occupied by those resident in the Barony of Barr and Bridgend which is part of the Barony of Glen and before the Reformation, belonged to the monastery of Paisley.

The stairs which led to the East and West Galleries were inside of the church walls. Those to the East Gallery were visible inside the church and were used as seats when the church was well attended. Access to the Castle Semple and Barr Galleries was by an outside stair on the East side of these aisles. The stair to the West Gallery, although inside, was not seen from within the church. It was close by the wall of the West gable and also led to the clock and belfry. An entry in the household book for Lochside dated 31^st December 1731 shows a new clock was being sourced: - "Ane offering to get a clock to the kirk of Lochwinnoch, Scots." The bell was the gift of Colonel MacDowall but after the main body of the church was demolished it was only rung on the occurrence of some great public event such as a Curling victory. There’s not been any of those in my lifetime.

In the early 1770’s the church was again thoroughly repaired inside. In a poem by Dr Caldwell in 1770 entitled “Speech and Lamentations of the Kirk of Lochwinnoch” he reminds the heritors of the duty they owed to the house of God. The poor “Auld Kirk”  refers to herself as in an “uncomely, neglected condition” with the roof leaking, windows broken, some blocked with straw and her doors shattered.

The poem seemed to have had the desired effect because the following year Dr Caldwell congratulates  the heritors for the “decent reparations” made to the church. Mr James Stevens, minister from 1788, reports in 1791 that the church “is very well finished and contains about 1300 people”.

A meeting of the Presbytery along with the majority of the Heritor's took place at the old Kirk on 15^th April 1806. The meeting was attended by James Connell (Masson), John Logan (Mason), David Gilmour (Wright) and Robert Campbell (Wright) who inspected the building listing a catalogue of serious structural issues. The roof appeared to be giving way and it was considered unsafe for the congregation to be sitting under it. As temporary supports, two large logs from Castle Semple were brought in as temporary supports. They looked uncouth within the church, but served a purpose. Some referred to them as Saul and Jonathan and others in a more masonic way called them Jachin and Boaz. It wasn’t long before the building was finally abandoned and a tent erected in the southside of the churchyard. The congregation either sat on the broad flat ‘‘thruch-stones” over the graves or brought their own chairs.

The decision was taken to build a new church on Chapel Street (eventually renamed to Church Street) which was more central to the changing face of Lochwinnoch. The foundation of the new church was laid in 1807 and the new church opened on 2^nd October 1808.

Prior to 1781 the churchyard was in a very “senseless” condition, being open ground with many footpaths through it. To protect it a stone and lime wall about nine feet in height was built around it. The main entrance to the church and churchyard was by a wide double iron gate through the wall on the west side. There was another entrance on the east side but that was sealed in 1865. It afforded access for the minister from the new manse, those residing about Castle Semple and those in the eastern part of the parish. Leading to this east gateway was what was called the "Kirk Road."

Throughout the period 1727-1814 the MacDowall family had significant influence in Scotland and were the principal landowners in the Parish of Lochwinnoch. From the time of the Reformation landowners were the Heritors of the Parishes with responsibility for providing a church with a bell and belfry, seats for at least one-third of the parishioners, a manse with a garden, a glebe of at least four acres, and a burial ground for the parish. In addition, they had responsibility for Poor Relief in the village and for contributing towards education by providing Parish Schools.

In 1731 McDowall acquired the land of the church Glebe by swapping it for land in a park called McDonallie which he owned. A new manse was to be built there (see map above) and McDowall bore the greatest part of the cost of erecting it. However, this caused a great commotion because the heritors were not consulted and the tenants in the Kirktown were forced to take out feu charters because they had no title to the land on which they built their houses. To make matters worse the Presbytery ordained that the heritors should supply the material for the new manse. They refused and were legally charged but the Court of Session ruled the Presbytery had overstepped its powers and suspended the charge. During this turmoil the elders would not act, stand at the plate on Sundays and the church was deserted by many. Eventually things returned to normal. This new manse still stands today but is now a private residence.

The original manse was situated opposite the Church located in a vennel (see map above). It had a thatched roof which was replaced by James Riddell of Balgreen who charged the heritors on 23rd May 1732 for “theiking the manse and for strae”. The houses that clustered around the manse were known as Kirktoun. The manse well was shared with the neighbouring properties however when a new owner occupied the building they attempted to stop this practice – they failed.

Lastly, no parish church in those times could be without juggs. Metal collars about one inch (2.54cm) wide attached by a chain to a wall. In this case the west gable close to the main entrance. Most of the crimes recorded in the Session minutes were sexual in nature. To have your indiscretion publicly displayed was presumably sufficiently embarrassing that the offender mended their ways. Given the number of these "crimes" I would have to conclude nature was more powerful than embarrassment!

After the juggs came the “stool of repentance” which stood in some conspicuous place inside the church probably in front of the pulpit. The version of this when I was at school was to stand at the front of the class facing the blackboard. Mr Newal’s variant was to make a solid circle of chalk on the blackboard, make you take half a step back and lean forward with your face on the circle. All three instruments of torture have probably gone into disuetude before the vast strides which people have made in refinement and civilization!