Yesterday I had my bike at Winchburgh and decided to explore some of the outlying points of interest that are inaccessible by car.
Auldcathie Kirk was my first destination. It's a sad sight, and a sad site, these days.
In living memory there used to be a community around the old abandoned Kirk, but like so many of these small clusters of houses, it was too hard to upgrade them with modern facilities, and the people relocated to larger growing settlements, like Winchburgh less than a mile away, across the fields.
There is no sign of these houses now. Only the old Kirk had sufficient prestige to avoid demolition and the subsequent plough. And there's not much left of it now.
Auldcathie Kirk is shown on my old 18th century map of the area. It dates back to at least the 12th century, and was still in use at the time of the Reformation in 1560.
Shortly after that, in 1574, the parish was merged with Dalmeny parish, and Auldcathie Kirk became disused. It's a tribute to the subsequent generations that the building still survives as a ruin today.
It was in 1891 that the new church was built at Winchburgh. The shale oil industry was in full swing, and the Winchburgh brickworks was shipping bargeloads of product along the canal to the rapidly growing cities and towns along its route - to Edinburgh in the East, and Falkirk and Glasgow in the West.
Once again the church is facing hard times, and the enthusiastic congregation are facing some difficult issues in the months ahead.
The fact that Auldcathie Kirk continues to stand above the crops growing in the fields shows that the church still retains a lot of respect within the local communities. But it also shows what happens when such respect is not accompanied by practical support.
Jesus of Nazareth called his disciples to follow him. They had no building or infrastructure. No pulpit, no baptismal font, and no pews. As in the modern church phrase - it was a Church Without Walls.
Buildings do have their uses, especially in our Scottish Winters, so much harsher than in the Middle East. But God's people will continue to survive even if their buildings reach the end of their useful life.
Indeed, the people of God will live for ever. Come and join us!
Some more about Auldcathie!
ReplyDeleteThe earliest record we have dates from 1198 when the Prior of St Andrews in Fife, an important centre of the mediaeval church in Scotland, granted the chapel to one William Gifford.
(Our Parish had a further link with St Andrews, through Patrick Hamilton of Kingscavil, one of the first martyrs of the Reformation, who was burnt at the stake there in 1528.)
After the Reformation there were difficulties in finding a minister for Auldcathie. To keep things going, “Exhorters” were sent out from the Parish of Abercorn and Cramond, but my source has a different date for the merging of the parishes, which may be the result of a "tidying up" in some chancelry. It says in 1618 the position was regularised by the Commissioners of Parliament who united the Parishes of Dalmeny and Auldcathie. As the poorest part of an exceptionally poor parish, it was not surprising that the Church at Auldcathie fell into disrepair and ruin.
On the first Easter Day of the present minister's time in PKW we held our Dawn Communion in the ruins, but since then the state of the field (usually ploughed or with a growing crop) has made a repeat impractical, and we've had the service on the nearby bridge instead.
Perhaps an example too of keeping faith with tradition while moving on to new ways?
Thanks for the additional information. I'm not sure how authentic my 1574 date for the Dalmeny union is - but your date is in the same ballpark!
ReplyDeleteIt would nice to enhance the woodland path to the old Kirk, and maybe also to clear out the plants and any rubbish from the interior of the building. The sign could do with some attention as well.
Last I heard the farmer said he would not mind a single-track path from the edge of the field to the Kirk. I was thinking of going out there in my Wellies at some point. Trainers would not be suitable with the current wetness of the ground!