Generosity is still remembered

SERIES

AT first sight Sandyford-Henderson Memorial Church is impressive mainly for its site and conspicuous position.

It is next to the south-east corner of Argyle Street and Kelvinhaugh Street, but has no tower or steeple to attract attention. Even its main door is round the corner from its simple three-gabled frontage.

It was built as a ‘chapel of ease’ to serve what was becoming a high-class tenemented suburb of Glasgow, as the city expanded west along Argyle Street. The long range of tenements on the south side of the street west of Kelvinhaugh Street, Franklin Terrace’ had been built in about 1845, and construction of St Vincent Crescent, to the south, had begun in 1850.

By 1858 the Stobcross area was a dignified classical residential area. To the north the Park area was being developed as the apogee of Glasgow’s middle-class housing. Construction of what was initially Sandyford Chapel started in 1854, the architect being J T Emmett, a noted ‘High Church’ London designer.

It was completed in 1856 by the Glasgow architect John Honeyman, then at the start of his career. It is an early example of a Gothic Revival church with details based on genuine Gothic examples, notably the two doorways. The choice of Emmett was probably due to the first minister, the Rev J R MacDuff, who was artistically-minded.

The church had stained-glass installed from the beginning, made by Ballantine and Allan of Edinburgh. When a chancel was added in 1866 the original east window was relocated. It is likely that the absence of a tower or steeple was deliberate, to keep the scale of the building in keeping with that of the tenements in the area.

The congregation was given a parish in 1864, as Sandyford Parish Church.

The former Henderson Memorial Church was in Overnewton Street, to the west. It had its origin in a bequest of £5,000 to the United Presbyterian Church by John Henderson of Park ‘for ‘church building in populous districts of Glasgow.

The United Presbyterian Presbytery of Glasgow eventually decided to build a church in Overnewton, at the time expected to become another tenemented suburb. The church was eventually opened in 1878. It was an ambitious building, with seats for 900, and cost nearly £12,000. Because the expected development of the area did not materialise the congregation never became self-sustaining. In 1900, when the Free and United Presbyterian churches united it became the Henderson Memorial United Free Church, and in 1929 when the United Free Church and the Church of Scotland merged it became the Henderson Memorial Church of Scotland.

In the depressed economic conditions of the 1930s the decision was taken in 1938 to unite the Henderson Memorial congregation with that of Sandyford, worshipping in the latter, hence the name of the present congregation.

It is good to think that John Henderson’s generosity is still remembered.

After the closure of the original Henderson Memorial building it was altered to house a youth club, and in 1948 it was refitted as a Church House and Community Centre.

When many inner-city churches have closed, and often been demolished, Sandyford-Henderson Memorial thrives. This has been due in large measure to the qualities of a succession of ministers, and to the ability and dedication of the office-bearers.

Over recent years the interior of the church has been remodelled to suit modern patterns of worship, and to provide easy access to the worship space, which is elevated above a suite of halls. An unusual and attractive feature is a suite of blinds installed in the east window to reduce the glare of the morning sun. These were designed by a local artist.

Today Sandyford-Henderson Memorial plays a distinctive and important role in the church life of Glasgow, as it has done for many years.