The Tower

THE roots of Helensburgh's now closed St Columba Church sprang from a group of Dissenters who met fortnightly in the Baths Hotel for Sunday worship, often with a visiting minister. The hotel was owned by a prominent member of the group, Mrs Margaret Bell, widow of Henry Bell, first Provost of Helensburgh, after raising funds, The architects, Messrs. Brown and Carrick of Glasgow were employed to build the dissenters church with the foundation stone being laid on March 11 1845. The Church was purchased in recent years by a local entrepreneur and opened as a charitable arts centre for the benefit of all the community.?