THE FIRST CHURCHES


The book in the photograph on the left is the Registrum Vetus Ecclesia Glasguensis - Latin for the Old Register of the Church of Glasgow. It is a chartulary of documents belonging to the medieval Diocese of Glasgow between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries, making it over 800 years old. Within it, folio 48, from the year 1226, contains the earliest known reference to a Catholic Church in Ardrossan. Titled 'De Ecclesiis de Ardrossan et de Dalri', it describes an agreement between the Archbishop of Glasgow and the Abbot of Kilwinning whereby the Archbishop granted the Abbot a pension payable from the Church of Ardrossan. Folio 48 can be seen under Registrum Vetus on the Pictures page. The Registrum Vetus is held in the Scottish Catholic Archives in Edinburgh.

The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) is responsible for recording, interpreting and collecting information on buildings, sites and ancient monuments of archaeological, architectural and historical interest. Its Canmore database contains three reports on the Old Parish Church and Graveyard on Castle Hill, known locally as the Cannon Hill. The RCAHMS reports state:

1950
Ardrossan Church originally stood within its churchyard on Castle Hill; its foundations are still visible. It was blown down by a violent storm in 1691. In it were altars to Saint Peter and the Virgin Mary. It was excavated in 1912 when it was shown to be a long, oblong building, its chancel of the same width as the nave, above which it was raised by three low steps, placed at wide intervals. Considerable areas of stone paving remained. A stone coffin, with a carved lid, was found within the Church, near the north wall. It was removed to the vestibule of the Municipal Buildings. A thirteenth century date is suggested for it.

7 September 1956

The foundations of this Church can be traced, measuring 19.5 by 7.8 metres. The grass-covered floor lies 0.5 metres below the top of the wall which is 0.2 metres high externally and 0.9 metres broad. The masonry is of ashlar. There appear to be two entrances in the south wall, each having a step leading down in to the interior. There are also two small breaks in the north wall; their purpose could not be ascertained as they seemed too narrow for doorways. The churchyard wall has been removed and the whole area is an open park. A few gravestones still exist, one dated 1662 and some of eighteenth century date.

13 October 1982
There is no change to the previous report. The stone coffin is now displayed in the North Ayrshire Museum, Saltcoats together with leather fragments of a possible sandal said to have been found within the coffin.

In the mid nineteenth century, there were only two permanent Catholic churches in Ayrshire. They were in Ayr and Kilmarnock. In 1851, a new church was built in Dalry. It was administered from Saint Mirin's Church in Paisley and served the Catholic population of Dalry, Glengarnock, Kilwinning, Stevenston, Saltcoats, Ardrossan and West Kilbride. Over the next few years, several more churches were built. These were at Saltcoats in 1853, Kilbirnie in 1862, Irvine in 1862, Largs in 1869, Kilwinning in 1872 and Stevenston in 1905. When another new church opened in West Kilbride in 1907, Ardrossan was the only town in its locality without its own Catholic church.

Between 1926 and the opening of the Church of Saint Peter in Chains, Sunday Mass in Ardrossan was said in the Assembly Hall in Bute Place off Princes Street, by courtesy of its owner, Harry Kemp. The Hall was at the far right of Bute Place which is shown in the photograph below. The first Mass in the Hall, and indeed the first Mass in Ardrossan since the seventeenth century, was celebrated by Father Robert McCliment, a native of the town. Children's devotions were held on Sunday afternoons.