For Sale - The Church of Scotland

The Spectator has a good article by William Finlator deploring the wholesale selling off by the Church of Scotland of many of its churches. The article can be read at The tragedy of Scotland’s church sell-off

These are not just relatively modern buildings or ones of no architectural merit or historic significance. Many are fine buildings and certainly worthy of preservation.

I first became aware of this inane policy when, last year, I read an article about the closure of the medieval cathedral in Brechin. Fortunately there a group of trustees chaired by the Duchess of Fife have, as the Friends of Brechin Cathedral, taken on its care and preservation. The article can be read at Brechin Cathedral: What do you want for the future of the 803-year-old jewel in the city's crown?

 

Brechin Cathedral from the south west

Image: Wikimedia Commons

As Finlator suggests in his article finance has played a major part with the cathedral suffering a serious loss over roof repairs, as reported in 2018 in Closure-threatened Brechin cathedral creaking under £140,000 debt and in 2021 in Fears for 800-year-old Brechin Cathedral which Robert The Bruce helped pay for

The Times reported on the closure of the cathedral after so long a history in Debt forces the closure of cathedral after 800 years and in Brechin Cathedral shuts doors after eight centuries

The website of the Friends organisation who have courageously taken on the care of the building can be seen at Brechin Cathedral Trust - Home

Say what one might as a former Anglican about the Church of England and the Church in Wales they have not yet sunk to selling off wholesale historic cathedrals and parish churches.

Maybe the Church of Scotland should return the cathedral to the Piskies ( Episcopalians) or even the Papists ( Catholics ) ….

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Brechin is one of the ancient episcopal sees of Scotland and still the title of the Episcopalian bishop based in Dundee. The cathedral, with its very distinctive profile is described by Wikipedia at Brechin Cathedral and in greater detail with a good selection of photographs at Brechin Cathedral Feature Page on Undiscovered Scotland

After a serious architectural mangling at the beginning of the nineteenth century a dramatic restoration at the very beginning of the twentieth century sought successfully to reconstruct much of its medieval architecture and appearance. This was followed by an impressive series of commissions of stained glass windows, making it arguably the finest collection of twentieth century glass in Scotland. This striking work is handsomely illustrated in Brechin Cathedral and a feast of stained glass

During the twentieth century this historic building underwent a major, and, no doubt, not inexpensive restoration and was clearly a patron of the visual arts. Yet now it is deemed surplus to requirements.

Historically I have little time for the Church of Scotland and its constitutionally guaranteed position - I have read too much about the history of the northern kingdom in the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries - although I had very great respect and regard for the one Church of Scotland minister I have known. Amongst other qualities he conveyed that sense, akin to the best of Anglicanism, that an Established Church has a responsibility for all the people within its territory. As William Finlator basically says in his article it is that tradition which is being betrayed by the Church of Scotland by pursuing such a blinkered policy.