St Mungo’s has been the Parish Church since the 1600’s. We have been in the present building since June 1819 and are in the process of celebrating our bicentenary as the foundation stone was laid in February 1817.
The Building
We are proud to have such a beautiful,
historical building
Our History
Bicentenary
Over recent years we have undertaken substantial restoration work funded by HLF, HES, individual donations and fundraising events.
Brodie Window
John Blyth (1915 – 99), local to Markinch in Fife, produced this window which gives thanks for the forty year ministry of the Very Reverend Peter Brodie in Alloa and in this window the old St Mungo’s (the Auld Kirk at Greenside) and Alloa Tower are depicted. John Blyth signed his work by incorporating a small bumble bee in the window and you can see the bee immediately above the words “loving memory” in the dedication at thebottom of the window. This window is entitled “Fishers of Men”.
Gethsemane Window
This window dates from 1910 and is called the “Gethsemane Window” because it depicts the arrest by night of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, a memorial to the wife of James Brown, JP and made on his instructions “to be of similar make and design to the Gethsemane Window in Dunfermline Abbey”.
Te Deum Window
This window is to the memory of Rev Alexander Bryson and commemorates his ministry at St Mungo’s from 1870 to 1900. The theme of this window is “Te Deum” (meaning “God we praise you” – from the first line of the hymn Te Deum laudamus)
WW2 Memorial Window
This is the memorial to those thirty three members who gave their lives in the Second World War. It is the work of William Wilson RSA and depicts St Andrew and St Mungo. The window bears the signature of William Wilson in the bottom right-hand corner. It was unveiled by Mrs Pitt Watson, wife of the current minister who was, at that time, Moderator-Designate. Mrs
Gilbert Purgavie, wife of a former Session Clerk, whose only son, Captain David Purgavie, had been killed in Normandy in 1944 laid a wreath “on behalf of the kinsfolk of the fallen”.
William Wilson was, throughout the 1940s and 50s, the dominant artist in Scottish stained glass. He received his early training under James Ballantyne II, but the crucial influences on his style were Douglas Strachan and his tutor at Edinburgh College of Art, Herbert Hendrie. An excellent teacher of stained glass, Wilson taught John Blyth, who was responsible for another of the windows.
The Good Shepherd Window
This is dedicated to William Duncan Bruce, for 50 years an elder of St Mungo’s and Session Clerk, and his wife Elizabeth Thomson (1895). This window was produced by Wm Meikle and sons who were glass merchants and craftsmen in stained glass in Glasgow in the 1890’s.
A Journey of Faith and Hope Window
A new stained glass window was installed in the church in mid-June to commemorate the bi-centennial anniversary, 1819-2019. It has been designed by Moira Malcolm, “Rainbow Glass Studio”, Prestwick. The window symbolises our church journey over the past 200 years and the river of molten glass reflects the importance of the River Forth in the past and present lives of the local people and the development of the industries in Alloa. It is funded by the well-known bottle making company O.I. The local factory is an iconic landmark in Alloa and has been a neighbour of St. Mungo’s for the last two centuries. The cone shaped kiln and easily recognisable skyline of the factory feature in the window at the top right hand side.
It was the River Forth which carried Mungo’s mother in a coracle landing on the shore at Culross, where he was born and raised by the monks at the Abbey. The coracle can be seen at the edge of the river at the top left. The symbols associated with the legend of St. Mungo’s four miracles, (bird, tree, bell, fish) which are prominent in the present church, are featured at the base of the window.
An integral white cross leading to a rainbow symbolises the constant journey of Christian faith and hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, past, present and future.
The link below contains an article about the window on the Church of Scotland website.
