The Church of St John the Evangelist is a Category B-listed Roman Catholic church in the heart of Cumnock, Ayrshire.
Designed by the celebrated Victorian architect William Burges for the 3rd Marquess of Bute, it was built between 1878 and 1880. Constructed in the Early Decorated style, the church follows the plan of Burges’s Church of All Saints, Murston, in Kent, with a nave extending across four bays and terminating in an unfinished tower — a striking feature of this handsome and historically significant building.
St John’s holds a distinctive place in Scottish history as the first ecclesiastical building in the country to be lit by electricity, and it enjoys a notable musical heritage too: this is the church where Sir James MacMillan was baptised, and later played the organ as a young man.
Sunday Mass is held at 11:00 am, and weekday services typically take place on Mondays and Wednesdays at 10:00 am.Schedule
Vigil Mass (Partner Parish): Saturday at 6:00 pm at Our Lady & St Patrick’s, Auchinleck
2026 festival
What’s on
Come and join us for the twelfth festival edition of The Cumnock Tryst. It’s not to be missed this year. But we say that every year!
