Overview of Carriden Parish Church

With its pyramidal spire on top of a square tower, Carriden Parish Church is a prominent landmark at Cuffabouts on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth, 1¼ miles (2 km) east of Bo'ness in Falkirk Council Area. Built in 1908 by local tradesmen in hammer-dressed sandstone from nearby Deanfield Quarry, it was designed by local architect P. Macgregor Chalmers (1859 - 1922). The style is Romanesque and the vast interior space lies below a barrel-vaulted wood-panelled ceiling.

The original church was part of the old village of Carriden, which once lay next to Carriden House a half-mile (0.8 km) to the southeast. A new T-plan church was built next to the current structure in 1766. A tower with a spire and session house were added to this in 1840, but by the early 20th century it was considered too small. This old church forms a relatively complete, but roofless, ruin.

The bell of the current church was brought from its 1766 neighbour, and indeed pre-dates this, having been cast in Rotterdam in 1674. Also brought from the old church was a model sailing ship The Ranger which hangs high above the nave as a reminder of the sea-faring traditions of the parish.

The churchyard, which surrounds the 1766 church, has memorials to industrialist Dr John Roebuck (1718-94), Admiral Sir James Hope (1808-81) and geologist H.M Cadell (1860 - 1934), together with several other members of the noted Cadell family. An elegant cast-iron drinking fountain remaining outside the old church was the work of the Glasgow-based Saracen Foundry in the late 19th-century.