Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Roman Catholic Church, Beith, Ayrshire

The Secession Church from New Street built a new church in Mitchell Street in 1816. This church was Anti-burgher New Lichts and in 1820 united with the Burgher New Lichts to form a United Secession Church. In 1847 on the union with the Relief Church it became Mitchell Street United Presbyterian Church. 

A new church was built in 1893 as a United Presbyterian Church on the same site. It is in Gothic style designed by W H Howie & H D Walton. In 1900 at the union with the Free Church of Scotland it became Mitchell Street United Free Church. Mitchell Street, Head Street and Hammilsfield United Free Churches united in 1917 to form Trinity United Free Church. They met in Head Street Church as the Hammilsfield Church was destroyed in a fire until the new Trinity Church was built in 1924/26. The Mitchell Street Church was used temporarily as a hall and then was sold to the Roman Catholic Church in 1921/22 and converted for their use. The Mitchell Street manse was sold about 1917.

The church is aligned north/south. The walls are coursed rock-faced red sandstone with fair-faced dressings and a slated roof. It had the south gable adjacent to the road and a tower at the south east corner. The entrance on the south gable is accessed by a series of steps and has a series of roll mouldings. It is pointed lancet in style and has a roll moulding for a hood which ends in foliage label stop. To the sides of the door are small narrow rounded trefoils but the trefoil section is blind leaving a rectangle leaded pane. Above are the tall lancet lights and below each a blind circle with the outer two having inscribed round-lobed quatrefoils and the centre a round-lobed trefoil. There is a string course between the entrance and the se windows. Above the windows is another horizontal string course and above that a narrow lancet louvre window. The octagonal tower rises out from the gable face and has two sting courses and then narrow lancet windows with rounded trefoil openings. Above these windows there are triangular hoods and a stone spire. Gargoyles are used at the cusp between the hoods. Below the windows are two date stones – 1759 and 1816. The first date is when the Secession Church split into Burghers and Antiburghers and the second date is when the previous church was built on this site. The nave side walls have tall narrow lancet windows. The north gable has two tall lancet windows.

I Holland 2017