Hill Church, Kirkwynd, Blairgowrie

Piend-roofed, 5-bay, rectangular-plan church with slim 4-stage pagoda-roofed tower. Ashlar. Base and eaves courses; raked courses and deep mutuled eaves cornice to tower. Pointed-arch openings; corbels, voussoirs; stone transoms and mullions; chamfered arrises to porches. Some diamond-pattern leaded glazing pattern retained and window to left at S with some coloured glass panels. Grey slates. 2 rectangular ridge ventilators, 1 retaining pyramidal cap. INTERIOR: galleried (ceiling lowered to gallery height) to N, E and W, with clustered cast-iron columns, panelled blind-arcaded gallery fronts and some panelled dadoes. Moulded plasterwork cornices and roof ventilators and decorative ceiling rose. Stone staircases. BOUNDARY WALLS, GATEPIERS AND GATES: semicircular-coped rubble boundary walls, flat-coped square-section ashlar gatepiers to S and similar gablet-coped gatepiers to W, both with 2-leaf decorative ironwork gates.

Formerly the parish church, the building is now (2002) used as a store. The Rev Mr Henney refers to the tradition that Blairgowrie and Rattray churches were by same architect, namely William Stirling. Built on the site of an earlier church at the old 'mercait gate' which, prior to the Reformation, belonged to the Abbey of Scone. (Historic Scotland)

September 2009: External inspection finds the church appears to have been disused for some time. Most windows are boarded up, others are protected in other ways. There are substantial bushes round the base of the tower.
The Conservation Area Appraisal of 2007, noted the building although in part use as storage, would benefit from being brought into regular use.

September 2011: External inspection finds the church largely unchanged, basic maintenance is being undertaken. A church committee member reports they have received £10,000 towards the cost of a feasibility study for the building.

March 2012: James Stephen Architects advise that the former church has been in use as a rehearsal area and storage space for sets, props and costumes for the Blairgowrie Players since 1979.
A feasibility study is currently being undertaken by James Stephen Architects and The Glamis Consultancy to explore the potential for enhanced adaptive and continued use of the property for the Blairgowrie Players.

6 February 2014: External inspection finds the building remains in much the same condition as seen previously.

30 December 2016: Full Planning Permission and Listed Building Consent for alteration, repair and downtakings, on behalf of the Blairgowrie Players are being sought ref: 16/02099/FLL & 16/02098/LBC.

17 July 2024: Full Planning Permission and Listed Building Consent for alteration, repair and down takings, on behalf of the Blairgowrie Players was conditionally approved in 2017. Part of the building may be in use as a base for a theatre group.