DEVOTION AND DISCORD: The History of St Mary’s Parish Church Kirkintilloch by Graham McKenzie. Thursday 2nd October 2025

 The first meeting of the 2025-26 session will be on Thursday 2nd October in the Park Centre, 45 Kerr Street, Kirkintilloch G66 1LF. The meeting will start at 7:30pm with tea and coffee served from 7pm.

Society member Graham McKenzie will give a talk on "Devotion and discord: the history of St. Mary's Parish Church, Kirkintilloch". St Mary’s church located in the Cowgate in Kirkintilloch has been in existence for over 110 years, but it is only the latest manifestation of a local parish church history that goes back over 700 years. The history of this parish church is a story of those who were devoted to promoting Christian worship in Kirkintilloch, but also a story of the discord that arose when people began to challenge the rights the law had conferred on the church. This illustrated talk will cover the history of the two earlier parish churches and will describe in detail the controversy that attended the planning, design and construction of the current church.

Graham was born and grew up in East London, South Africa, and studied and worked in topographical surveying before taking up a project administration and management role with a South African engineering consulting firm. While working, he completed a BA with majors in history and psychology at Rhodes University. He transitioned into preparing and managing engineering consultancy tender submissions. He moved to the UK in 2008 to take up a proposal management position with a company in Glasgow and is still working in the same field.

As part of plans for celebrating the centenary of the current St Mary’s church in 2014, Graham undertook to write a publication that updated and extended aspects of Joe Fisher’s book, ‘The Auld Kirk, Kirkintilloch Parish Church, 1644-1944’ and Iain Smith’s book ‘St Mary’s Parish Church, Seventy-five years on, 1914 – 1989’. The new publication provided a detailed analysis of the planning, design and construction of the church in the Cowgate.

Come along and join us for what promises to be a fascinating presentation.

Doors Open Day and Old Aisle Cemetery Walk, Saturday 6th September 2025

This year's Doors Open Day in East Dunbartonshire is on Saturday 6th September 2025. The Society's contribution is an exhibition in the foyer of the William Patrick Library profiling significant local personalities, mostly buried in the Old Aisle Cemetery, Kirkintilloch. In connection with the exhibition, which will be on view for the following week, a guided walk around a selection of these graves will start from the cemetery's belfry at the Old Aisle Road entrance at 2.00 pm. The full programme for 2025's Doors Open Day may be downloaded here with details of the Antiquaries exhibition and walk on pages 9 and 11 respectively.

The grave of David Lawson, the founder of the transport company,
in the Old Aisle Cemetery. The business expanded in the 1920s to
include buses and 'Land Cruise' coach tours, and the Lawson brand
continues to this day as a funeral undertaker. (© I.S.Ruddock)

Annual General Meeting and Talk by David Forsyth, Thursday 24th April at 7:30pm in the Park Centre

 Our Annual General Meeting will be held in the Park Centre at 7:30pm on Thursday 24th April. 

The AGM will be followed by a talk by David Forsyth titled "Confessions of a Tour Guide: or more correctly a walk around Auld Reekie" This will hopefully be a light-hearted look at tour guiding round the Old Town of Edinburgh, while discovering some of the more obscure aspects of Edinburgh's history on the way.

David Forsyth worked for National Museums Scotland in various curatorial roles within the Scottish History collections for a quarter of a century. He retired in 2022 after acting as Keeper (Head) of both the Scottish History & Archaeology and Art & Design Departments. The mainstay of his research and exhibition interest was the Scottish Diaspora and more generally the juxtaposition of history and material culture, having exhibited and published on topics as diverse as the Scottish military diaspora, Mary, Queen of Scots, and Jacobitism. He now enjoys as post-retirement career as a historical guide and freelance historian.

Here's an image of David in full flight:

Visit to Town Hall Heritage Centre and Exhibition, Tuesday 11th March

Sixteen members of  the Society visited Kirkintilloch Town Hall at 2.pm on the 11th March 2025 for a guided tour of the Cultural and Heritage exhibitions on display for the Local History Month programme organised by East Dunbartonshire Leisure and Culture Trust.

After being welcomed by curator Jennifer Binnie, the group was guided into the ground floor of the centre which has been refurbished into a multipurpose facility for conferences, business meetings, and various theatrical and musical events. As many of us will have remembered it was also where we were invited to attend by Public Health Scotland for immunisation against Covid and flu. The second floor was of particular interest as it is here that most of the exhibits were on display from the timeline of Kirkintilloch in history with particular emphasis on the importance of its transport connections( the Forth and Clyde Canal and railways) and industrial ( weaving, boat building and foundries) past. Exhibits based on local notable personalities ( Bain, Cowan and Clugston) were greatly appreciated as there was acknowledgment of the contributions made  to these exhibits by members of the Society. a good feeling reinforced by the display of 'bits and pieces' photographs provided by local historians.

A most interesting afternoon was rounded off over a cup of tea and an opportunity to reflect on the various exhibits and to thank the staff for their input and hospitality. 

Photo by Ivan and Ruth Ruddock

Public talk for Local History Month, Wednesday 19th March at 2pm in the Park Centre: Developing Lenzie by Design: Alexander Thomson, Robert Turnbull and their lasting impact.

As part of Local History Month 2025, the Kirkintilloch and District Society of Antiquaries will host a public lecture in the Park Centre, 45 Kerr Street, Kirkintilloch, G66 1LF on Wednesday 19th March at 2pm on ‘Alexander “Greek” Thomson’ by Dominic d’Angelo, Chair of the Alexander Thomson Society. Dominic will discuss the work of Alexander 'Greek’ Thomson with particular reference to his early coastal villas at Cove and Kilcreggan, and his late designs and posthumous work used in developing Dullatur and Lenzie carried out by his last partner, Robert Turnbull, and architect successor, the (unrelated) David Thomson.

Dominic d’Angelo was for many years Secretary of The Alexander Thomson Society and became Chair in 2023. He currently produces weekly free-to-view articles on aspects of Alexander Thomson’s life and work at https://greekthomson.substack.com. 

 

Warwick Croft, 10 Heriot Road, Lenzie. 

(http://canmore.org.uk/collection/1844546) 

Heritage Centre and Exhibition at the Town Hall, Tuesday 11th March, 2pm

We have arranged a visit to the Heritage Centre and Exhibition at Kirkintilloch Town Hall in Union Street on Tuesday 11th March at 2pm. We need to confirm the expected numbers in advance, so if you would like to attend, please drop an email to kdsantiquaries@gmail.com giving the names of everyone who will be coming by noon on Monday 10th March.

Assemble at 1.55pm in the foyer of the Centre where we will be met by Jenifer Binnie, principal curator, who will give the group a guided tour of the various cultural, heritage and industrial exhibitions on display. The tour will last about 60 minutes at the end of which it is hoped that there will be additional time to consider the displays including that of Edward Smith and Don Martin.