A sermon in stone in Underwood Road
Although the Irish monk, Mirin, is Paisley’s patron saint, we should not forgot another holy man has been highly esteemed by the townspeople for centuries past and present.
St James the Great was one of Christ’s 12 Apostles. After he died around 44 AD, his remains were taken to Spain and buried at Santiago de Compestella.
His shrine was a place of pilgrimage for abbots and monks from Paisley Abbey until the 16th century Reformation.
Pilgrims completing the journey received a scallop seashell. It reminded them St James was originally a fisherman.
The scallop shell inspired ornamental carvings on stone pillars at Dunn Square in Paisley town centre.
St James is commemorated too by two Paisley churches, and also by a Masonic Lodge, a park, a street and an interchange.
St James’s Church of Scotland in Underwood Road is a soaring sermon in stone.
Its 180-foot spire is visible from miles
around.
Just as Ezekiel’s Temple was a blueprint for Herod’s Jerusalem Temple, St James’s was the precursor of Paisley’s most splendid church, Coats Memorial.
Both were designed by French architect Hippolyte Blanc and funded by the Coats family of thread-making fame.
The Underwood Road site originally accommodated a building used by English weavers who affiliated to the United Presbyterian Church in the 1830s.
The UP church was replaced by St James’s, which was planned in the French Gothic style. Its foundation stone was laid in 1880 by Sir Peter Coats of nearby Woodside House.
A peal of bells donated by Sir Peter caused the spire to tilt and work had to start again – funded by his sons, Archibald and Peter. The church was officially opened in 1884.
Internally, St James’s enshrines the hallowed atmosphere of a medieval cathedral. An alabaster font, a pulpit carving by Christie of London and a Willis organ designed by AL Pearce, composer of the hymn tune, O Love That Wilt Not
Let Me Go, combines harmoniously with wooden pews, stone pillars, an arched roof and elegant arcades.
Along with stained-glass windows inspirationally illustrating the Earlier Years Of Our Lord, His Ministry, His Passion and His Resurrection and Ascension, these architectural embellishments make a visit to St James’s an unforgettable experience in the soul’s spiritual voyage.
One worthy of the Apostle’s scallop shell.