I started my last article with a “Thank you” to members of the local community who have read my articles and then taken the time to contact me and giving me more information on the history of the Barony St John and its contents.

This article is no different – many thanks to all Herald readers for your help and support.

Having revealed a couple of weeks ago that the marble baptismal font at the entrance of Barony St. John’s was actually from St. John’s Church and had been donated by St. John’s own minister and his wife after they lost both their sons in the Great War, this week I’ll focus on Barony St. John’s hall building.

Last March, you may remember that I asked for help in finding out the original layout of the rear of the Barony St John church buildings? Well, local historian Helen Abbott has done it again!

Helen has unearthed a fantastic photo from around 1934 which shows how these buildings would have looked and has confirmed my suspicions that what is now the Training Room was, at one time, much larger.

You may remember I was questioning the current layout of the church hall building as there were different types of stone and brickwork on the rear wall which suggested that the original stone buildings had been altered at some point.

Initially, both the church and hall buildings were joined only by a corridor which was recessed so you can see by the brickwork and cement in this present day photo where this has now been smoothed out and made parallel.

And you can see in the close ups of the 1934 photo that the corridor had been made parallel by then too as the brick and cement wall is clearly shown - but there is also a wall or a building extending out from the hall corridor area.

If you look at the hall building to the right of the church building, you will see that at right angles to it ending, at the rear and to the right of the lawn in the 1934 photos, there is another construction extending down the width of the lawn garden and finishing with another house type structure.

This confirms what I suspected when looking at the current rear of the Training Room as you can see a break in the stone work and a replacement of brick and cement again.

If the buildings and the Training Room (which was originally known as the “Small Hall”) had extended back, it would indeed be large enough to be known as a hall and it would also confirm what a previous Ardrossan resident, Mary Buswell, had said.

Mary told me that although she left Ardrossan in the 1950’s she could remember the Training Room being known as the Small Hall and being much larger and extending back into what is now a car park area.

If anyone has any more photos or memories about how the original “Small Hall” looked, please get in touch.

Next time, I’ll update you on the James Mutter windows which has come via another Three Town resident.

In the meantime, many thanks once again for your continued support.

It really is heartwarming to know that the local community wants the Barony St John buildings saved and their historical value preserved for future generations.

Please visit my blog at www.ardrossman.wordpress.com or if you would like to volunteer or find out more about our charity, please contact us via our website www.ScotCPS.org.uk or look us up (ScotCPS) on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.