Maxwelltown West Church of Scotland, Dumfries

  Commemorative Wall Hanging in Memory of Anna Riddick

 This beautiful wall hanging can be seen on the south wall of the  church to the west of the pulpit.  The idea for its creation came from the late Anna Riddick, a member of Maxwelltown West Church and also a member of the Dumfries Branch of the Embroiderers’ Guild.

 After liaising with the minister to decide on a suitable theme and content, it was agreed how the work would be accomplished.

Twelve scenes from the life of Jesus were selected and Anna was delighted when master drawings were created.

To see the work in detail and read more about it, a booklet can be borrowed from the church or follow the pdf link  below:                      Maxwelltown West Wall Hanging in Memory of Anna Riddick

Our congregation began in the year 1843 as Maxwelltown Free Church.

The barnyard at Nithsdale

In that year, Free Church congregations were formed throughout Scotland by ministers and members who left the parish churches in support of the principle of freedom to call a minister without the influence of a Patron.

Our congregation had its roots in the ‘Chapel of Ease’ in Laurieknowe (later Laurieknowe Parish Church) which was a daughter church of Troqueer.

The first meeting-place of Maxwelltown Free Church was in the open air at the barnyard at Nithside (the present Nithside Avenue).

North Laurieknowe

Such was the enthusiasm of the congregation that within six months a church had been built at North Laurieknowe, at the of Laurieknowe and North Laurieknowe Place. Part of that building stands to this day (now Budget Tyres).

A Manse was constructed behind the church in 1847. On 8th July 1865, the foundation stone of the present building, to the design of Mr James Barbour, was laid.

The church was built at a cost of £2,190 and was opened in November 1866.

From the 1870s until the 1930s the Free Church Mission operated from the Old Bridge Street Hall under the authority of the Session, the full-time Missionary acting as Assistant to the minister.

The Manse

The union of the Free Church and the United Presbyterian Church in 1900 brought a change of name, to Maxwelltown United Free Church.

In the 1920s the present Manse at 11 Laurieknowe was purchased.

In 1929 came the re-union of the Churches when the United Free Church and the Church of Scotland were united and our congregation became Maxwelltown West Church of Scotland.

Today, Maxwelltown West is the fourth largest of the 40 congregations in the Presbytery of Dumfries & Kirkcudbright.

The Millennium was marked by the transfer of the War Memorial Gates from the former Laurieknowe Church to Maxwelltown West, the gates being re-dedicated on Remembrance Sunday 1999.

Past Ministers remembered at Maxwelltown West

Ministers of the Congregation