Saint Gabriel

Introduction

St Gabriel's Church Hall, West Loan, built in 1934, was used as both church and hall until 1965.

History

The church was built in 1966, the first church in Prestonpans for the parish founded in 1932 to include Prestonpans, Wallyford and Port Seton. The church was opened on Palm Sunday, 3rd April 1966, by Cardinal, then Archbishop, Gray.

Architecture and furnishings

The church is a single-storey, radially planned Modernist building with vertically banded rendered walls rising in height to the east. The interior has a boarded timber ceiling rising in three stages to the altar, lit by three bands of rooflights and vertical side lights. The Lady Chapel has a five-bay stained 'dalles de verre' style window depicting the Resurrection, designed in 1965 by Crear McCartney. The church retains its original form and detailing throughout, with only minor alterations to some windows.

A large secondary section wraps around the principal concentric circular plan to the south, ending in the large glazed Lady Chapel window facing east. The entrance is on the east side, flanked by a double-sided glazed baptistry with a taller concave curved wall at the end. Shallow concrete ponds under the decorative windows were designed to reflect sunlight through the stained glass. The church has a sloping flat roof with three bands of rooflights.

The main congregation space has solid curved walls and no windows, with natural light provided only at floor level by a horizontal glazed band at skirting height. Black terrazzo flooring runs throughout, with a raised curved altar plinth in patterned light grey polished marble. A large cross made from timber I-beam sections stands just inside the main entrance gate of low brick walls and gatepiers with concrete capping. Large Scandinavian style Stations of the Cross, in brown ceramic with coloured glazed details, are built into the curvature of the wall by artist Fred Carson.

The church has a stone altar table with indented cross and a sculptural laminated timber tabernacle enclosing a metal sphere. The church has bespoke timber pews and vertical timber boarded doors. Open timber screen doors with paired red ceramic crosses lead to a timber lined and glazed former baptistery with a central rock plinth on a radially carved stone base for the former font bowl. The 'dalles de verre' style window at St Gabriel's was designed by renowned Scottish stained glass artist Crear McCartney (1931-2016), who studied at the Glasgow School of Art from 1950 to 1955 under Walter Pritchard.

Music and liturgy

The parish supports a choir and music ministry. A Gabriel Choir performed at the church's 50th anniversary concert in April 2016. The parish held a movie evening with refreshments and raffle prizes. The parish held a Tales Over Tea event with tea and coffee after Mass. The parish held a Coffee Morning after Sunday Holy Mass on 31/08/25.

Parish life

The parish community supported a range of groups, including the Women's Guild, a prayer group, support for the sick, the St Vincent de Paul Society, youth groups, and the Operetta Group, which was defunct by 2000. The parish is served by scripture readers, Eucharistic ministers, and altar servers.

The parish has a ministry of care visiting homebound and elderly members. The parish has a gardening team of volunteers to maintain and beautify the parish grounds. The parish has a Knit & Natter group that creates clothing for refugees locally and abroad.