St John's Church, Port Ellen

St John’s Church, Port Ellen
St John’s Church, Port Ellen
55°37′39.5″N 6°10′59″W
Address	Frederick Street, Port Ellen, Islay
Country	Scotland
Denomination	Church of Scotland
Website	www.islayjurachurches.co.uk/st-johns-church
Architecture
Designated
Listed Building – Category B
Designated	24 April 2003
Reference no.	LB49190
Architect(s)	Arthur George Sydney Mitchell
Architectural type	Arts and Crafts
Groundbreaking	1897
Completed	1898
Specifications
Tower height	55 feet (17 m)
Administration
Presbytery	Argyll
Parish	Kidalton and Oa

St John's Church, Port Ellen is a Category B listed building in Port Ellen, Islay, Argyll and Bute, Scotland.

History

The memorial stone for the new church was laid by Mrs Ramsay of Kidalton on 1 October 1897.[1] It was built to replace the former churches at Lagavulin as the congregation in Port Ellen had grown. It is a single storey church in the Arts and Crafts style built on a rectangular plan. It was built to the designs of the architect Arthur George Sydney Mitchell.

There are three stained glass windows:

• A memorial to Revd. James Mackinnon, minister from 1894 to 1938 depicting Christ the Good Shepherd[2]
• A memorial to Iain Ramsay of Kidalton, killed on 30 April 1942
• A window depicting a haymaking scene.

Organ

An organ was gifted in 1945 in memory of Pilot Officer Alastair MacTaggart and five others of the parish who were killed on active service during the Second World War.[3] The organ is no longer there as the present organ is an Allen Protege which was installed in August 2001.

References

1. "Port Ellen Mission Church". Highland News. Scotland. 2 October 1897. Retrieved 12 February 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
2. "Memorial to Former Islay Minister". The Scotsman. Scotland. 23 October 1940. Retrieved 12 February 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
3. "Organ Gifted as Memorial". The Scotsman. Scotland. 3 April 1945. Retrieved 12 February 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.