Holy Trinity & St Barnabas
Paisley, Strathclyde
The church nave was built in 1833 and the chancel added in 1885, locally only Paisley Abbey is older.
We are Renfrew North Parish Church, a welcoming, inclusive, vibrant worshipping community. We are part of the Church of Scotland.
Renfrew North Parish Church, on Renfield Street, was built in 1882-83 to replace an earlier church dating from 1843. It is a fine example of Gothic Revival architecture, with a striking frontage of squared and coursed stone, ashlar dressings and pointed-arch windows. The entrance is framed by deeply moulded stonework, with paired lancet windows and delicate geometric tracery above. To the left, the tower rises in two stages, with narrow windows, decorative pinnacles and conical stone caps, giving the building a distinctive vertical emphasis. The church is Category B listed.
The interior continues the Gothic theme, with an open roof, pointed arches and a U-shaped gallery supported by cast-iron columns with elaborate foliage capitals. Gothic detailing is repeated in the pulpit, communion table, lectern and gallery panelling, creating a harmonious overall design. An interesting feature of the building is an inscribed stone panel carried over from the earlier Free Church tower, bearing the words “We ought to obey God, rather than men” and the date 1883. The inscription recalls the congregation's origins in the Disruption of 1843, when members left the established Church of Scotland to form a Free Church congregation.