I received an interesting piece of information regarding a member of the Carruthers family who was a well-known Architect in Dumfriesshire. The piece came from another great Facebook page called ‘Lockerbie past and present’. It touches on the laying of the foundation stone of Dryfesdale Church, built on the site of a previous church, by the Provincial Grand Master of Dumfriesshire.
The new church was designed by Frank James Chambers Carruthers and replaced the eighteenth-century parish church previously standing on the site and was intended to serve the rapidly growing town. Carruthers’ design was in the Gothic Revival style and remains one of Lockerbie’s most recognisable landmarks todaymarks today
The Parish of Dryfesdale centres on the town of Lockerbie itself with the name taken from the local river, the Dryfe Water, which flows south towards Lockerbie before joining the River Annan a little to the west. The area is famous for the Battle of Dryfe Sands, fought on 6 December 1593. The battle was seen as the climax of the longstanding feud between the Maxwells and the Johnstons, the former of which Carruthers were close allies of.
Dryfesdale Parish Church can be viewed on Lockerbie’s Townhead Street. It sits a little to the north of the centre of the town and until 1973 the street formed part of the main road from Carlisle to Glasgow. However, the road remains busy despite the two generations of bypass to the west of the town. The graveyard reflects that a previous church stood on its grounds, as can be seen by the antiquity of the gravestones in the cemetery.
The Facebook piece showed a picture and stated:
On this day in Lockerbie History.
In front of hundreds of spectators, and with great fanfare, the foundation stone for Dryfesdale Church building was laid in 1896 by Mr Arthur H. Johnstone-Douglas of Lockerbie, Grand Master of Dumfriesshire. The building architect was Mr Frank Carruthers of Dixons, Tundergarth
Frank was born September 1855 and was the son of Francis Carruthers a farmer from Dixons, Tundergarth, Dumfriesshire. He was educated at Edinburgh Collegiate School from 1870 to 1876, thereafter spending about twelve months in the Estate office of Sir Robert Jardine, Bart. After his education and initial employment, he set up an office in Victoria Square, Lockerbie in 1882 before moving to Dumfries in 1896. Living a rather lavish lifestyle and enjoying travelling and touring in Europe as well as employing five servants at Dixons he died in September 1921 aged 65, leaving a huge architectural legacy in his stead.
As an aside, Tundergarth is a small rural village approximately 3 miles south east of Lockerbie, historically supported by agriculture, it felt part of the brunt of the tragedy that was the Pan Am Flight 103 on December 21 1988.
Frank was a prolific and highly reputed architect whose style was elegant to say the least. His quite extensive portfolio included the following.
- 1896 Dryfesdale Parish Church, Lockerbie
- 1896 Milkbank House
- 1897 Dryfesdale Parish School, probably the much-needed extension work.
- 1889 Lockerbie Town Hall (design work by David & John Bryce)
- 1900 Applegarth Church (remodelling)
- 1900 Lockerbie Tower Buildings and adjacent Library
- 1904 Broombush (Queens Hotel) on the site of a previous house.
N.B. Some architects often worked with others and sometimes they carried out alteration works to buildings done by others. It has been recorded that Frank Carruthers could be credited with giving Lockerbie a sense of urban grandeur as described in one historians account.
The laying of the Foundation Stone by Dumfriesshire Freemasons.
The photograph shows the laying of the foundation stone of Dryfesdale Parish Church, Lockerbie, on Thursday 16th July 1896, as part of a Masonic ceremony. The foundation stone was laid by Arthur Johnstone Douglas (often referred to as A. Johnstone Douglas), who was the Right Worshipful Provincial Grand Master of Dumfriesshire. He was also a descendant of the Douglas family who had originally granted land for an earlier church at Lockerbie, making him a particularly appropriate choice for the ceremony.
For many reasons, this event attracted one of the largest public gatherings seen in Victorian Lockerbie ever assembled to witness the laying of the foundation stone of the new Dryfesdale Parish Church. The ceremony combined civic pride, ecclesiastical celebration and ancient Masonic tradition, drawing a crowd that filled specially erected viewing stands and the surrounding streets
Johnstone Douglas was not only the senior Freemason in the province but also one of Lockerbie’s leading landowners, Lord of the Barony of Lockerbie, Deputy Lieutenant and Convenor of Dumfriesshire. His family’s long association with Dryfesdale therefore made him a particularly fitting choice to lay the foundation stone.
Following a procession through Lockerbie, the Provincial Grand Lodge in full regalia assembled at the building site. The ceremony was also attended by other masonic brethren to include members of Lodge Lockerbie Quhytewoollen No. 258 as well as other neighbouring Lodges. Numerous local civic dignitaries, clergy, and representatives of the town were also present and as can be seen by the photograph, the event was well attended.
As was customary under Scottish Masonic practice and based on ancient tradition that the foundation stone was:
- tested with the Square,
- tested with the Level,
- tested with the Plumb Rule,
- pronounced “well formed, true and trusty”,
- and consecrated with corn, wine and oil, symbolising plenty, joy and peace.
Prayers were offered, hymns were sung and speeches followed before the formal declaration that the stone had been properly laid according to ancient Masonic usage.
As one would expect and has been seen through time, and most certainly in our ancestral home, Carruthers has made their mark….this time literally. The church is a pleasure to behold both inside and out and is a B listed building and session house deemed of regional importance. It is well located in the town and is sadly this beautiful building is now up for sale. However, whoever buys it and because alterations to listed buildingd are tightly controlled, they’re not usually suitable for major renovation projects. As such this part of Frank Carruthers legacy will stand the test of time for a great deal longer we hope.
NB: As an aside, the name ‘Quhytewoollen’ is from the Scots language and likely refers to a place name, possibly derived from “white woollen,” which may relate to sheep farming in the area. It seems it is associated with both Quhytewoollen Hill and Lodge located in Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.
Promptus et Fidelis
No Sto Solus
