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The following description of St Stephen’s is by Jim Alexander, architect and elder of the congregation, prepared for the Open Doors Day 2009.
St Stephen's Church, Southside Road, Inverness by W.L. Carruthers, 1895-97
St Stephen's Church foundation stone was laid at the end of August 1896 and was completed, free of debt, in the Autumn of 1897 for a cost of £3450 and dedicated on Friday 15th October 1897.
The exterior is carefully detailed Arts and Crafts Gothic in coursed rubble or freestone from Rosebrae Quarries in Morayshire. There is a slated roof with a red-tiled roof ridge which gives added colour. The church consists of a nave, simple north transept and a lower apsidal chancel in which the small windows are set high up under a widely crenellated parapet. There is a square tower with a delicate needle spire.
In his book entitled "Old Buildings of Inverness" and published in 1978, the architect William Glashan states that "for quality of design I think it, that is St Stephen's Church, is the best of the Inverness Churches"
Internally, a high open, braced collar roof runs into pointed stone arches which frame the chancel and transept. The pulpit is of locally grown oak.
The stained glass is noteworthy: all by A Ballantine & Son, the creators of the stained glass in Greyfriars Kirk, Edinburgh and Dornoch Cathedral just two well-known examples.
Three-light west window (the Martyrdom of St Stephen) by A. Ballantine & son, 1905
In the north wall of the nave, a portrait of the Very Rev. Norman MacLeod, 1911
In the south wall, a Prophet, by A. Ballantine & Son 1901
Two-light window (the Marys at the Tomb) in the north transept, by A. Ballantine & Son, 1906
Chancel lights are of strongly coloured glass and apparently installed in 1897.
The organ is by Wadsworth & Bros., 1902; substantially renovated in 2000 by A. Edmonstone.
Some historical background about the organ
In December 1901 the church plans prepared by the Architect Mr W L Carruthers showing the front elevation and the side elevation of the organ were submitted to the Kirk Session. The site which was considered the most suitable by the organ builder and the architect was illustrated. This involved taking away several pews which occupied the proposed site. The organ was donated by Mr Grant of "Maryhill",now the Four Winds" guesthouse.
As a matter of interest, the organist, Miss Margaret Henderson was formally appointed in 1915 and continued until 1959 but she had been playing on a voluntary basis from 1897. That's 62 years. There is a plaque in her memory on the organ.
J. Alexander September 2009
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