Berriedale Church facts for kids
Berriedale Church is an old church building in a place called Berriedale, which is in Caithness, Scotland. It was built a long time ago in 1826. This church has a special T-shape design.
It stopped being a regular church in 2008. Now, a group called the Berriedale Church and Cemetery Association looks after it as a charity. Berriedale Church is also a "category B listed building", which means it's an important historical building that needs to be protected.
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Where is Berriedale Church?
The church building is very close to the sea. It sits on the north side of a deep valley in Berriedale. It's about 6 miles from the closest edge of its old church area and 20 miles from the furthest part. Getting to the church used to be quite tricky because of mountains, rivers, small streams, and marshy areas nearby.
A Look at Its History
Building the Church
Berriedale Church was built in 1826 by the government. It cost about £750, which was a lot of money back then! In 1827, it became a "Parliamentary church." This meant it was set up under a special law. The land for the church was given by James Home of Langwell.
The church was surrounded by a strong stone wall. People started to be buried in the ground around the church as early as 1833.
Becoming a Parish
In 1846, the church and its surrounding area officially became a quoad sacra parish of Berriedale. This meant it had its own church district.
By 1892, the minister (the church leader) was Reverend Daniel Macdougall. At that time, there were no elders living in the parish. So, the church's local council, called the kirksession, was made up of the minister and two helpers from the wider church group, the Presbytery of Caithness.
People did not have to pay to sit in the church. The building was also designed so that it could be made bigger by adding balconies, called galleries, if more space was needed.
Repairs and Upkeep
The Duke of Portland was responsible for making sure the church was kept in good repair. In March 1892, the Duke's manager asked for bids from builders to fix the wall around the churchyard. After that, the repairs began. This included taking down and rebuilding parts of the wall and changing the design of the gates.
