HISTORY OF THE GALLERY
Killearnan Free Church was built around 1860. The building is a substantial one built with the local Tarradale stone. The congregation must have been large in the early days – pews were crammed into every corner, all numbered, including those in the gallery upstairs. The high pulpit enabled the minister to address the whole company from an elevated position.
Wedid not have to make any substantial changes to this impressive and historical building for its new role as a gallery. The original floor had a severe slope towards the pulpit - apparently if you inadvertently dropped your pan-drop during the service, it ended up at the front pew! The floor has been replaced with a level one, (more practical for hanging paintings) and the pulpit has been preserved. The pews have all found good homes and we now have a beautiful open space filled with natural light from the high windows each side and the wonderful rose window as a superb feature.
Our visitors have liked the new look of the interior and it is generally agreed that the old place has "scrubbed up nicely". We believe that we have been sensitive to the original building and that an equally uplifting experience may still be had here, in a different way!
HISTORY
A Short History of Killearnan Free Church
kindly researched and written for us by congregation member Sandra Bain of Tore.
(Sandra has also recently published a book on the history of Tore School, available from the gallery)
Donald Kennedy, the minister of Killearnan, was among the many ministers who left the established Church at the Disruption of May 1843 and formed the Free Church. With the exception of 3 communicant members his congregation followed him although it meant they had no building in which to worship and the minister had no Manse.
They used a tent erected on land near Redcastle Quarry as a place of worship but immediately began making moves to acquire a permanent building. A site at Newton (Fettes Crossroads) was granted by Col. Baillie of Redcastle and on 20th November 1843 their new building was opened for public worship.
Although the available minutes give little detail about the construction we understand that it was a double-roofed building and since it appears to have been constructed in less than 5 months we suspect that it was not a very substantial building.
Just over a year later the dyke round the building was constructed and sites had been granted, on Redcastle Estate, for the building of a school and a Manse. The Manse was built at Linnie Wood about 800 metres east of the Church. Land near Redcastle Quarry was granted for a Free Church school. Teachers who adhered to the Free Church lost their positions in the Parish school so this provided them with work and Free Church parents with a school for their children.
In 1864 discussion began about replacing the Church building which was falling into disrepair. On the same site the present building was erected. Considering its height and early construction methods, it would have taken several years to complete. There is no record of where the people worshipped during that time but the new building opened in 1868(?)
Rev Donald Kennedy is commemmorated on a plaque in the building. He was the son of Rev John Kennedy who was minister before him in the parish church and who is buried in a railed plot in the Churchyard there. Donald remained as minister of the Free Church of Killearnan until his death in 18..... He was succeeded in August 1872 by Rev Neil Gillies, who became very involved with the Killearnan School Board when schools were handed over to the State.
In 1900 the Free Church of Scotland joined with the United Presbyterian Church to form the United Free Church. Twenty seven ministers resolved not to join the Union but Mr Gillies was not one of them. However, a large number of his congregation refused to follow him and the congregation was again homeless. Throughout the country the remnant who wanted to remain as the Free Church of Scotland took the new denomination to Court over properties, a case which eventually reached the House of Lords. In what was to become a very famous test case in 1904 their Lordships found in favour of the Free Church and properties were returned.
The congregation had, once more, a building but now no minister. This vacancy continued until 1919 when Rev James MacDonald was inducted into the charge. He was known as 'wee Macdonald' since in the Parish Church there was Rev Aeneas MacDonald, known as 'big MacDonald' - with reference to their physical stature.
During the 1920s the congregation was large. A local resident who was a young lad at the time remembers the building being so full on a Communion Sunday that people were sitting on the gallery stairs. There would, of course, also be present people from neighbouring congregations, it being a custom at the time to attend other local Communion services. The Parish Church held its Communion on the same weekend and the local schools had a holiday.
James MacDonald retired in 1947 at the age of 79 and in 1950, because the congregation had become so small, it was linked to share a minister with the Fortrose congregation - also vacant. Rev Robert J Murray, minister at Strathy, was inducted in August 1950 to this linked charge.
One of his innovations was a Sunday School, held in Tore School, attended by a large number of local children.
During the 1950s the old boiler for the central heating no longer functioned and, being the days before electricity had reached the area, it was difficult to provide adequate heating for a building of this size. A partition was erected to close off the now redundant gallery from the main Church and in the winter the services were held there. It was a rather unusual meeting-place because the gallery sloped to the front so instead of the people looking up to the minster he was looking up at them.
Eventually electrical central heating was installed and all services were held once more in the main Church. Mr Murray retired in 1964 and was followed, in 1966, by Rev Hugh MacKay, minister of the Aberdeen congregation. During his time the congregation numbered about 100 including several young families.
When he retired in 1979 the congregation again gave a call to Aberdeen's minister, Rev Hector Cameron who had grown up in Resolis. He was inducted in 1982 and during his ministry the area under the gallery was partitioned to make a smaller room for meeting in the winter. The partitions were movable so that the whole building was still available for large weddings and funerals.
Over the years the population of Fortrose was growing and during Hector Cameron's time both congregations reached such proportions that it was considered a good idea, when he retired in 1989, to disjoin them. In 1991 when Rev Grant Bell, from Castletown, was inducted to Killearnan, for the first time in over 50 years, the congregation did not have to share a minister. The old Manse at Linnie was sold and a modern house was built at Tore. Mr Bell ministered here for over 7 years. At this time there was a shortage of ministers so Killearnan was asked to link again. In October 2000 the congregation united with that of Maryburgh where Rev Douglas Mackeddie was already the minister.
It was with great reluctance that the congregation decided that the Church building should be sold. Falling numbers and the need to expend vast sums of money to take it into the 21st Century pointed to the expediency of letting it go. The last service took place in a packed Church on 25th January 2004.
There are still many in the community whose forbears worshipped in this building. Occasionally there have been visitors from further afield whose great grandparents and indeed great great grandparents had connections with the Free Church of Killearnan.
