St Luke's Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Glasgow. Source Building News and Engineering Journal, Vol. 35: following p. 694. This is a Category B listed church designed by the Scottish architect, James Sellars (1843-1888), of Messrs. Campbell Douglas, and Sellars. Built 1876-77, it is described in the listing text as an "[a]psidal church in Normandy Gothic style," of "[s]tugged coursed ashlar with polished margins and dressings." The main facade, shown above, is to the north, and has a impressively high (90-foot) gable with stout buttresses. Formerly the Belhaven United Presbyterian Church, it is at 27-29 Dundonald Road, Glasgow.

Of the interior, the Building News reported:

For the nave pillars and arches, and other interior work, a finer grained stone from the Overwood quarries was employed. The walls are plastered internally, and the ceiling, which is a semi-decagon in form, is lined with wood, and richly decorated in colour. The walls are also elaborately decorated from designs by the architects. The west gable is filled with stained glass, having figure subjects illustrating the Parables; some of the smaller windows are also filled with stained glass, with figure sub- jects illustrating the Acts of Mercy. [694]

In fact, the stained glass designed by Stephen Adam is one of the most important features of the church. Another was the fine organ "built at a cost of over £1,100 by Messrs. T. C. Lewis and Co., of London" — half as much again as the cost of the whole church (Building News, 694). According to the same source, the internal decoration was by Andrew Wells, of Glasgow.

With its new congregation have come various changes, notably, a "modern Byzantine screen of 5 pendant arches with icons incorporating part of the original screen as balustrading" (listing text).

>Image download, text and formatting byJacqueline Banerjee. The image is from a double page spread (which says something about the architectural interest of the church), so the double line down the middle has been digitally erased (as far as possible). You may use the image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image and (2) link your document to this URL, or cite the Victorian Web in a print document. [Click on the image to enlarge it].

Related Material

Bibliography

"27-29 (odd nos) Dundonald Road, St Luke's Greek Orthodox Cathedral." Historic Environment Scotland. Web. 6 October 2019.

"James Sellars." Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Web. 6 October 2019.

The Building News and Engineering Journal. Vol. 35. July-December 1878. Hathi Trust, from a copy in the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Web. 6 October 2019.


Created 7 October 2019