This late Scots Gothic cruciform church, with its low tower and stocky spire over its crossing, was designed and built by the architect Alexander Marshall Mackenzie from 1912-14. Shortly after he opened it in May 1914, the outgoing Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Rev Dr Wallace Williamson, declared to that year’s General Assembly that the “princely gift” of a church might better be labelled “a small cathedral”.

Built in red-snecked rubble, it consists of a five-bay nave with aisles and a vaulted porch to the south, aisleless transepts and a one-bay chancel, with ample adjacent halls and ancillary accommodation. Its construction and furnishings were primarily funded by philanthropist Elizabeth Steele, and her two similarly philanthropic sisters Mary Richardson and Agnes Lawson. The siblings named the building in memory of their father John Lowson, a local jute manufacturer and a former provost of Forfar, who had died in 1903.

No plaster adorned its interior when it was built, the only material other than stone that was originally seen in the church was oak. Beneath its handsome wagon roof, seating for 700 worshippers was provided. The church also possesses some exquisite stained glass, including windows by Douglas Strachan, Scotland’s foremost stained glass artist. Strachan installed his first window in the building, portraying “Te Deum” in the spring of 1915, other windows depict historical events and figures from Scottish history and these underwent significant repair and restoration in 1995, following a spate of vandalism.