Battle to save 900-year-old kirk
VILLAGERS are fighting to save one of the oldest churches in Scotland.
St Fillan’s Parish Church in Aberdour, Fife, which dates back to 1123, could close as part of a controversial downsizing exercise by the Church of Scotland.
However, people in Aberdour were shocked and dismayed when their near 900year-old kirk, dubbed ‘one of the finest examples of Norman architecture in Scotland’, was included on a list of properties to be ‘sold, let or otherwise disposed of’.
They warn they won’t be kicked out of their church ‘for a second time’ – 232 years after the Countess of Morton decided she didn’t want parishioners worshipping so close to her home at Aberdour House in 1790. At that time, another kirk was built nearby although the congregation returned home in 1926.
Willie Crowe, property convener and a fifth generation church-goer, described the threat as ‘an act of cultural vandalism’.
A public meeting was ‘standing room only’ and more than 150 letters of objection have been submitted to Fife Presbytery.
Mr Crowe said: ‘It is probably the oldest parish church in Scotland still in use. For everybody the past is important, it shapes us and defines our future. We ignore it to our peril.’ He believes newer churches are not under closure threat because they meet criteria that prioritises ‘multifunction use and facilities such as disabled toilets, access and car parking’.
The campaign is backed by former football manager and Fife Provost Jim Leishman, who said: ‘There aren’t many 900-yearold buildings, that’s for sure.’
A Church of Scotland spokesman said: ‘This is a work in progress and subject to amendment but change is necessary in order to deliver sustainable and realistic new expressions of ministry and church and ensure all buildings are suitable for 21st century mission needs.’