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Christmas cheer for Scotland’s churches

Christmas cheer for Scotland’s churches

From Dunoon to Dufftown, over £1.5million of funding will ensure that these fine buildings are once again wind and watertight providing a venue for worship and a hub for community activity. Each one architecturally important, their features range from enamelled panels by Pheobe Traquair to the last remaining water-driven organ and bells system in Scotland.

Commenting on today’s announcement, Colin McLean, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund, said: “Scotland has an amazing variety of churches, each one reflecting the social history of its community as well as the architectural influences of the time. They give each town and village a sense of identity while providing an important venue not just for worship but for a wide array of community groups. HLF is delighted to be able to help these congregations secure the future of their churches and hope that over the festive period visitors through their doors will take time to appreciate the history and heritage around them. “

Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs, said: “Our churches play a key role in Scotland’s history and heritage and sense of place. They are architecturally important places of worship, but are also at the heart of many communities where they offer meeting places for a wide range of activities. It is vital that we do all we can to ensure they are properly protected and maintained.”

St Mary’s Episcopal Church, Dalkeith
HLF First Round Pass for grant of £43,600 (including development funding of £9,000)
Historic Scotland funding £51,800

Originally commissioned by Walter Francis, the 5th Duke of Buccleuch as a private chapel, the St Mary’s Episcopal Church contains the only working water-powered organ in Scotland. The Hamilton and Miller of Edinburgh hydraulically blown organ was installed in the church in 1846. The bells are also hydraulically operated.

Situated at the entrance to Dalkeith Country Park, the church was built in 1844 by William Bryce to designs by William Burn. Repairs will include replacing all the lead gutters as well as damaged timber and masonry.

St Johns  & Kings Park Church, Dalkeith
HLF First Round Pass for grant of £97,800 (including development funding of £15,400)
Historic Scotland funding £123,600

Situated in the Dalkeith House and Country Park Conservation Area, St Johns & Kings Park Church is a mid-Victorian church built in 1870 by architect Robert Thorton Shiells. It is attended regularly by around 250 people.

The roof will undergo a major overhaul of slates, flashes, drains and ridges, and stonework will be repaired.

Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, Dunoon
HLF First round pass for a grant of £113,800 (including £24,800 development funding)
Historic Scotland funding £133,600

One of the first Episcopalian churches to be built in the area, its design was influenced by the sixth Earl of Glasgow whose support of the Tractarian movement led to the appointment of John Henderson as architect. Opened in 1850, it has a simple rectangular plan with steeply–pitched roof and lancet arch windows, the most striking of which has stained-glass by Mayer and Co of Munich.

The church is currently suffering from water ingress through the roof, walls and windows. Repairs will help preserve this physical record of the Tractarian philosophy in Scotland.

Sandbank Parish Church, Dunoon
HLF First Round Pass for grant of £125,000

Sandbank Church sits in the centre of Sandbank on the Holy Loch. It was built in 1868 by Edinburgh architect, Andrew Kerr, in a Gothic design with an unusual round tower. Inside it is simply decorated with timber panelling and an open-framed timber roof.

The roof will be the focus of the repairs which are set to make the church wind and watertight again.

St John’s Episcopal Church, Alloa
HLF First Round Pass for grant of £100,000
Historic Scotland funding £150,000

St John’s Church was built around 1869 in a Gothic style designed by architect, Robert Rowand Anderson. Its fascinating interior houses enamelled panels by Pheobe Traquair as well as high-quality stained glass, a reredos of Sicilian marble and alabaster and works by Robert Lorimer.

Repairs will be made to the roof while stonework will be re-pointed

Cumbernauld Old Parish Church
HLF First Round Pass for a grant of £44,700
Historic Scotland funding £67,100

Situated in the historic Cumbernauld Village, the history of Cumbernauld Old Parish Church dates back to the 12th century. The current building, which dates back to the 17th century and 18th century is in very poor condition and at risk of loss. The church is involved in the North Lanarkshire Open Doors day when visitors can see its two large stained-glass windows by the prolific artist, Gordon Webster.

The grant will enable urgent repairs to the roof to be carried out.

Limekilns Parish Church, Fife
HLF First Round Pass for a grant of £97,000 (including development funding of £25,000)
Historic Scotland funding £108,000

With its grand neo-Classical façade, Limekilns Parish Church was re-constructed in 1825 from the former church which was built in 1785. During this time, the minister Reverend Johnston is said to have held services in a tent in a field beside the village. A Jacobean Renaissance pulpit was added in 1883 and the bellcote added in 1911.

Extensive repairs can now be carried out to this important community venue which has many groups regularly use its facilities. A permanent exhibition on the history of the church will be created by local residents using the archive of Lord Elgin.

Cairneyhill Parish Church
HLF First Round Pass for grant of £68,600 (including development funding of £12,500)
Historic Scotland funding £84,100

Cairneyhill is one of the few remaining Antiburgher churches (a faction of the Scottish Presbyterian Church who refused to take the Burgher oath) in Fife. It retains the charm and simplicity of these types of churches with many of its interior fixtures and fittings intact.

The church currently suffers from serious damp problems caused by cement harling. This will be replaced with a traditional lime harling along with repairs to the roof and windows.

The Church Of St James The Less, Penicuik
HLF First Round Pass for a grant of £31,900 (including development funding of £9,500)
Historic Scotland funding £33,600

Built in grounds owned by Sir George Clerk of Penicuik House, St James the Less Episcopal Church was designed by RTN Speir and opened in 1882. The church has some very fine stained glass windows by Charles E Kempe. In 1921 a reredos was added designed by Alice Meredith Williams, inspired by drawings of soldiers that her husband, Morris, had made during three years in France.
          
Repairs to the roof and tower as well as masonry re-pointing and repair of rainwater goods will enable the Church to open for visitors after Sunday Service. There will also be Children's Trail created as part of the project.

St Mary’s Of The Assumption, Dufftown
HLF First Round Pass for a grant of £56,100 (including development funding of £10,900)
Historic Scotland funding £67,800

Currently extremely dangerous and rarely used because of the ravages of dry rot, St Mary’s of the Assumption was built almost 200 years ago. It was designed by the Right Reverend James Kyle who modelled it on the Relinquary Chapel of the Scots College in Valladolid in Spain.

St Agnes, Lambhill, Glasgow
Historic Scotland funding of £125,000
 
Situated close to the Forth and Clyde Canal, St Agnes was one of several churches built for the new Glasgow archdiocese in the late 19th century by the renowned architectural firm of Pugin & Pugin. The building is a large Gothic red sandstone structure with particularly lavish interior decoration which was added by Pugin & Pugin in 1913.

The current phase of works will cover high level roof repairs, rotworks and selective re-pointing.

Notes to editors

The churches applied for a grant through the Repair Grants for Places of Worship scheme whereby a first-round pass means that money has been earmarked by the Heritage Lottery Fund for the project in question. Competition at this stage is tough, and while a First Round Pass does not guarantee funding, it is an indication of positive support, and money for the scheme is set aside. The applicant can then progress to Stage Two and submit a further, fully developed application to secure the full grant. On occasion funding will also be awarded towards the development of the scheme.  

Historic Scotland is an executive agency of the Scottish Government charged with safeguarding the nation’s historic environment. The agency is fully accountable to Scottish Ministers and through them to the Scottish Parliament. For more information visit www.historic-scotland.gov.uk.

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