Kirkintilloch’s First Church. The old belfry at the Old Aisle cemetery marks the site of the original parish church for the Kirkintilloch area. The exact date of its foundation is unknown, but it was in existence by AD1195, when its donation to the Abbey of Cambuskenneth was confirmed by papal bull, along with a ‘half carucate’ of land. It was gifted to Cambuskenneth by the Comyn family, who were the feudal superiors of the area at the time. The parish was then known as ‘Lenzie’ and extended south-eastwards to Cumbernauld, in line with the Comyns’ local baronial territory. The old parish church of Lenzie was known as “St Ninian’s”.
The Reformation. The old church at the Old Aisle lasted long enough to be invigorated as a protestant church at the time of the Reformation in the mid-sixteenth century. After a few years, however, it was replaced by a new church at Kirkintilloch Cross, opened in 1644 (now the Auld Kirk Museum). The ‘Auld Kirk’ at the Cross remained as the parish church of ‘Lenzie’ for a few years, but eventually the old parish was divided into two new ones, which became ‘Kirkintilloch Parish’ and ‘Cumbernauld Parish’, when the Auld Kirk became the parish church for Kirkintilloch.
The Belfry. At the time that the parish church was removed to central Kirkintilloch a belfry was erected at the old site, reputedly made of stones from the old church. This is the tower that remains standing today. During the early nineteenth century it is said to have been used as a watch tower by local people protecting recently-interred bodies from the predation of body-snatchers or ‘Resurrection Men’ who had identified a market in the Glasgow medical community. There was a notable incident at the Old Aisle during the 1820s when a large mob of local people shepherded a newly-captured ‘Resurrection man’ down to the Barony prison at the Cross.
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