Greyfriars Kirk

There have been three churches in Dumfries known as Greyfriars. Today the steeple of the third one dominates the church and the townscape of Dumfries and the Town Bell still rings daily for Angelus and Curfew. This ancient site was once occupied by Maxwell’s Castle of Dumfries, then after its demolition in the 1720s the Burgh Council built a new church on the site, the Burgh Church of Dumfries. This was replaced in 1868 by the present Greyfriars Kirk, designed by John Starforth and paid for by the people of Dumfries.

A richly ornamented Gothic Revival building with crisply carved detail, all in red sandstone, its interior is large and decorated with clustered shafts with leafy capitals and king-truss timber roofs. You’ll find stained glass by James Ballantine & Son, Powell Bros, Camm Bros and L C Levetts. The Dumfries Provosts’ and Baillies’ chairs are kept in the church. The church is now the home of the traditional Anglican congregation of Dumfries. It is dedicated to St Bride, as was the castle chapel that stood here from medieval times.