By John Bennie Wilson, 1888-89. Tall galleried Gothic nave-and-aisles church on corner site with 5-stage tower to E; octagonal gallery stair turret to W; later church hall and rooms at rear; modern halls to N. Squared and snecked bull-faced red Mauchline sandstone; polished sandstone dressings. Architraved cill and string courses; stepped buttresses with trefoil-headed detailing centred in apex; raised, polished eaves course. Polished quoins; polished long and short surrounds to chamfered openings. Predominantly trefoil-headed windows; sandstone mullions chamfered cills. Single storey L-plan hall to rear; squared and snecked stugged red sandstone; polished dressings; shouldered-arched surrounds to openings.
Originally built for the Troon United Presbyterian Church of Scotland. The name "St Meddan's" was not used until 1901 when, following the merger of the United Presbyterian and the Free Churches, the congregation became known as the "St Meddan's Street United Free Church". The union of the Church of Scotland with the United Free Church in 1929, and the adoption of parish boundaries in 1932, resulted in the present name. The clock is thought to date back to 1751 when it was commissioned by Glasgow University as part of their tercentenary celebrations. A watchmaker, Andrew Dickie, built the clock, which was housed in a quadrangle in the Old College building in Glasgow's High Street, for £720 Scots. When the University moved to its present site at Gilmorehill in 1871, the old buildings were demolished and the clock was subsequently purchased for the Portland Church building in Troon (now demolished). With the opening of a new church for the Portland congregation in 1914, the clock was gifted to St Meddan's, as the Portland church had no spire and St Meddan's, although in possession of a spire, had no clock.
John Bennie Wilson (c.1848 - 1923) appears to have specialised in church design - his other projects including Stockwell Free Church, Pollockshields, the UP Church, Ayr and Cathcart Free Church, Glasgow. Articled to John Honeyman, he went on to assist both David Thomson and John Burnet before establishing an independent practice in 1878. In 1910 he became president of the Glasgow Institute of Architects and that same year, was representative of the body on the RIBA Co's work. With its impressive tower and broached spire, it is the tallest church in Troon and thereby, one of the town's most prominent landmarks.
Tags: Nikon Z6 John Bennie Wilson Church Troon Spire Nikkor Z 40mm f/2
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Late 19th century. Asymmetrical 2-storey, 4-bay house with Scots Baronial detailing; crowstepped gable to outer right; engaged polygonal tower to outer left; entrance porch at centre. Squared and snecked bull-faced red sandstone; polished ashlar dressings.
With its crowstepped gables, small-pane timber windows, decorative strapwork and finialled spire, this imposing, unusually detailed house retains significant architectural interest.
Tags: Nikon Z6 Troon House Tower Nikkor Z 40mm f/2
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Alfred Gilbert, 1924. Stepped granite square-plan plinth with Vitruvian-scrolled band below memorial panels; surmounting bronze figure of Liberty facing seaward. Vitruvian-scrolled granite wall with consoled bench enclosing terrace at rear.
An imposing statue with an inscribed plinth - "This statue was placed to commemorate the men of Troon who seeking the welfare of their country gave their lives in so doing and are now resting in and beyond the seas...Lift up your hearts...1914...1918." Granite wall to rear inscribed "In proud and affectionate remembrance of those who gave their lives for us....1939-1945."
Tags: Nikon Z6 War Memorial Alfred Gilbert Liberty Statue Nikkor Z 28mm f/2.8
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Thomas Lunan and Henry Edward Clifford, 1914. Perpendicular Gothic church with single storey halls at rear. Squared and snecked bull-faced cream sandstone; polished sandstone dressings. Raised base course to front; moulded eaves; polished parapet to nave. Polished quoins; polished long and short surrounds to chamfered openings; sandstone mullions; moulded reveals to pointed-arched windows; sandstone tracery (trefoil-headed and rose detailing); chamfered cills; deeply recessed doors with moulded reveals. Large 5-light perpendicular traceried window centred in gable; flanking angle buttresses beneath boldly gabletted finials. Crenellated parapet.
A good example of the work of Henry Edward Clifford (1852 - 1932) & Thomas Lunan - a partnership established relatively late in the career of the former. Commissioned by Troon's Portland United Free congregation who originally met in a church dating to 1857 in Church Street (now demolished). With seating for 800 and hall accommodation for 400, Clifford and Lunan's design combined function, quality materials and simple aesthetic appeal. Situated on a prominent corner site, the church is characterised by its crenellated parapets, buttressed angles and decorative tracery (note how the perpendicular pattern found on the N window is repeated on a smaller scale and with slight variation along the nave). Inside, both the furnishings and the space in which they are set are of high quality. The church is recorded as having cost around £10,000 and upon its opening, was described as a "...handsome edifice" (Ayrshire Post).
Tags: Nikon Z6 Troon Church Henry Edward Clifford Thomas Lunan Nikkor Z 28mm f/2.8
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James Hay, dated 1900. 3-storey with attic, gabled baroque shops, former post office and tenements on prominent corner site; 5-bay to Ayr Street; 6-bay to Academy Street; single bay to S corner. Squared and snecked stugged red sandstone; polished sandstone dressings; rendered side elevation to Academy Street. Raised corner plinth; ground floor banding between openings (shopfronts to outer left); architraved corbel course to 1st floor oriel; architraved cill course at 2nd floor; corniced eaves; balustraded parapet. Predominantly round arched openings at ground; square headed windows to upper floors (corniced with blocked surrounds in part); projecting cills; some columnar mullions at 2nd floor; bipartite and single windows. 2nd floor corniced gabled windows comprising corbelled plinths, flanking columns, central pilasters beneath round arched, pedimented Dutch gableheads; flanking ball finials.
With its boldly modelled windows, balustraded parapet, unusual Dutch gables and various blocked openings, this prominent corner block is an imposing commercial and residential development. Formerly the Royal Bank of Scotland, marked on the 1909 Ordnance Survey map as a Post Office.
Tags: Nikon Z6 Troon James Hay Dutch gable Balustrade Nikkor Z 28mm f/2.8
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