St Margaret's Church, Aberlour facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St Margaret's Episcopal Church |
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St Margaret's viewed from the north
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| 57°28′21″N 3°12′56″W / 57.47250°N 3.21556°W | |
| Location | Aberlour, Moray |
| Country | Scotland |
| Denomination | Scottish Episcopal Church |
| History | |
| Founded | 19th century |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Heritage designation | Category A listed building |
St Margaret's Church is a beautiful church located near Aberlour in Moray, Scotland. It belongs to the Scottish Episcopal Church. It's built in a Gothic style, mostly from strong granite stone. The church has a cross shape when viewed from above, with a long main hall (called a nave), and two side sections (transepts). There's also a tall, slim tower at one corner.
Inside, it's very fancy with shiny granite pillars that have detailed carvings at the top. You'll also see beautiful marble furniture in the main altar area (called the chancel), and many stained glass windows showing pictures of saints and stories from the Bible.
St Margaret's was built between 1875 and 1879 by Alexander Ross. Most of the money for its construction came from Margaret Macpherson Grant. She was a wealthy heiress who inherited a large fortune from her uncle, Alexander Grant. The church was originally built as a chapel for an orphanage she started in the town. The orphanage building is no longer there, but the church is still used for services every week. It is recognized as a very important historical building, known as a Category A listed building.
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Exploring St Margaret's Church
St Margaret's Church is found in a quiet, wooded area. You reach it by driving up a long path from Aberlour's High Street. It's a large church shaped like a cross, built in the Gothic style. It uses pink granite stone with different colored stone details.
Outside the Church
The church has a tall main hall (the nave) with a steeply sloped slate roof and smaller side sections. The front of the church has a large window with four parts, decorated with geometric patterns. A slightly narrower and shorter section, called the chancel, sticks out from the back of the main hall. Its back wall has three tall, narrow windows, with the middle one being the tallest.
There are also two side sections, called transepts, one on the north and one on the south. Each transept has two tall, narrow windows on its end and single windows on its sides. The north transept also has steps leading to a small door.
At the south-west corner, there's a tall, eight-sided spire with a bell tower inside, topped with a copper roof. Next to this is a large entrance porch with a sloped roof. This is the main way to enter the church through a big arched doorway. Above the doorway, there's a small space with a statue of St Margaret. The arch itself is held up by pillars with beautifully carved tops.
The church also has a burial ground (cemetery) with a partial wall. You enter it through two stone gateposts. In the burial ground, you can find three foundation stones from the old Aberlour Orphanage, which is now gone. There's also a war memorial dedicated to the boys from the orphanage who died in the First and Second World Wars.
Inside the Church
The inside of the church is very richly decorated with fancy stonework. The arches in the side sections of the nave are supported by thick, shiny pink granite pillars. These pillars have eight-sided stone bases and beautifully carved sandstone tops. The main aisle has a decorative tiled floor. The nave also has many stained glass windows that show different saints.
The north and south transepts don't open directly into the main hall. Instead, the north transept is used as a vestry (a room where clergy prepare), and the south transept holds the church organ. At the front of the nave, there's a font (a basin for baptisms). It has a very detailed wooden cover that originally came from another church in London that was taken down in 1977.
The most important part of the church is its chancel, at the east end. This area is raised higher than the nave and separated by a detailed metal screen. The chancel has many original pieces of furniture, including special seats for the clergy, and an altar with a decorated screen behind it. All these pieces are intricately carved from stone. There's also a brass container for religious items, designed to look like it's from medieval times, and a special lamp.
The floor in the chancel is covered with decorative tiles. There's also a stone pulpit (where sermons are given), which stands on a column. The three windows in the east wall have stained glass showing the crucifixion and other Bible stories.
History of St Margaret's
St Margaret's Church was built between 1875 and 1879 by Alexander Ross. It was first used as the chapel for the Aberlour Orphanage, which was built at the same time. Most of the money for both buildings came from a local supporter of the Episcopal Church, Margaret Macpherson Grant.
Margaret Macpherson Grant, whose birth name was Margaret Gordon Macpherson, was the niece of Alexander Grant. He was a merchant who gained a large fortune in Jamaica. After he had a grand house built for himself in Aberlour, he returned to the town in 1838. He spent his time between Aberlour and London until he passed away in 1854. He had no children, so he left all his wealth, which was a very large sum of money, to his niece. She then added 'Grant' to her name and moved into Aberlour House. She continued to manage her uncle's properties in Jamaica through an agent.
Margaret used her fortune to pay for the church and the orphanage, along with other gifts to the Episcopal Church. However, she passed away in 1877 before the buildings were finished. William Grant of Elchies then paid for the rest of the construction, and the church was completed by November 22, 1879.
Over the years, the church received many improvements. The stained glass windows were put in between 1887 and 1907. The marble furniture in the chancel was added in 1900. The pulpit was installed in 1936. The wooden font cover, which came from a church in London that was later taken down, was given to St Margaret's by the Findlay family in 1978. St Margaret's was first recognized as a Category B listed building in 1976, and then upgraded to the even more important Category A in 1987.
The orphanage connected with the church closed in 1967. The orphanage building itself has since been taken down. Only its clocktower remains in a memorial garden near the church. The charity that used to run the orphanage still operates today as the Aberlour Child Care Trust, helping children.
St Margaret's Today
St Margaret's Church is still an active place of worship. Weekly services are held every Sunday at 10:00 a.m.
