‘Brought alight and alive’: community reuse of Church of Scotland churches

Abstract

The Church of Scotland, a ubiquitous built presence in communities across Scotland, aims to sell 40% of its properties between 2017 and 2027 in response to a continued decline in membership and a historical accumulation of churches throughout its history of schisms and reunifications. At the same time, there is a growing body of land reform legislation aimed at facilitating community ownership of buildings and land, including churches declared surplus to requirements. This timely research presents two case studies of community reuse of former Church of Scotland churches during this dynamic period, utilising ethnographic methods to investigate the experiences and perspectives of those involved. The first is Bellfield, formerly Portobello Old Parish Church in the seaside Edinburgh suburb of Portobello and now a community hub owned by Action Porty. The second is Clachan Church, a small rural church located at the head of Loch Broom now owned by Clachan Lochbroom Heritage Trust. In considering these two case studies, this thesis asks why and how community bodies are formed to take ownership of former churches, problematising ‘community’ as a multifaceted and evolving concept that is unique to the circumstances of each project, and seeks to understand their relationships with these places as existing sites of significance. This research explores how community groups navigate complex mnemonic and narrative landscapes and develop both community and place identities through embodied engagements with the materiality of former places of worship. By describing and analysing two ethnographic case studies with differing circumstances, including community composition, building typology, and new uses, this thesis reveals diverse realities within the phenomenon of church reuse in Scotland and develops perspectives for understanding such projects, their motivations, and goals.