Montrose Old and St Andrew's Church

The Old and St Andrew’s Church stands in Montrose’s historic High Street, beside the town hall. Built of sandstone in the 18th century and later enlarged, it is a plain neogothic hall church with a single tall tower. The tower rises 61 metres and was designed by James Gillespie Graham after an earlier 17th-century structure was replaced. The church is worth the journey because its tower is one of the tallest in eastern Scotland. Robert Stephenson, the engineer, examined the first tower in 1811 and advised a new one. Parishioners raised about £3,000 to pay for the new build, completed in 1834. The interior was altered in 1860 and 1885, giving the space its present form. Visitors find a broad spire above the tower, its octagonal pinnacles reaching 9.7 metres. The tower’s west front carries a pointed main door with carved mouldings. Inside, the hall is simple, with pointed windows and plain horizontal string courses. From the pavement outside, the tower dominates the street, while the church’s east end opens onto a small close behind the town hall.