Telford Parliamentary church facts for kids
The Telford Parliamentary churches, also known as the Telford Kirks, are a group of Presbyterian churches in Scotland. They were built using money from the parliament of the United Kingdom. This funding came from the Church of Scotland Act 1824, which provided a grant of £50,000. These churches were designed by surveyor William Thomson and built by the famous Scottish engineer and architect Thomas Telford.
In total, 32 churches were built. Many of them are still used today for worship. Some have been left empty, like the one at Stoer. Others were destroyed and then rebuilt, such as the church in Tobermory. A few have even been turned into homes.
Why Were These Churches Built?
At the start of the 1800s, there weren't enough churches in Britain, especially in the Scottish Highlands. Many people lived far from their local church. This meant they couldn't go to church regularly, which was seen as a problem. Also, there were other religious groups besides the Church of Scotland. The government and the Church of Scotland wanted to make sure more people could attend their services.
After the Napoleonic Wars, the British Parliament decided to give money for building churches. In 1819, they gave £1,000,000, and another £500,000 in 1824. This money was mainly for churches in England. Many "Commissioners' Churches" were built or fixed up. One of these churches alone cost a lot of money, about £77,000 (which would be around £6 million today!).
A similar plan for the Church of Scotland took a long time to happen. When a new law finally passed in 1824, it only gave £50,000 for the entire Highlands of Scotland. The plan was to build no more than 30 churches with homes for the ministers (called manses). Each church and manse site could not cost more than £1500 (about £125,000 today). So, Scotland received much less money than was spent on just one church in England. Most parts of Scotland didn't get any funding at all.
The job of choosing where to build the churches and managing the work went to the Commissioners for Building Highland Roads and Bridges. Their main surveyor was Thomas Telford. The law said that local landowners, called heritors, had to ask for a new church and provide the land. In 1825, the Commissioners looked at 78 requests. They eventually chose 32 places for churches and 41 places for manses. Some places already had a church but needed a manse.
How Were They Designed?
Between 1823 and 1830, Thomas Telford was in charge of building these churches. They stretched from Islay in the south to the Shetland islands in the north. He created standard plans for the churches and manses. These plans were based on an idea from one of his surveyors, William Thomson.
Thomson had asked his surveyors to design a church and manse that would fit a certain budget. He also said the church had to be strong enough to handle stormy weather. The final designs chosen were from William Thomson. They were quite simple and plain.
Each church had a basic rectangular shape or a T-shape. They all had a small bell tower. In the rectangular churches, tall windows with a criss-cross pattern were on the side walls. For the T-shaped churches, an extra part was built at the back, and the windows were still on the side walls.
The windows were all the same size so they could be made in advance by James Abernethy of Aberdeen. You can still see some of the original window frames in churches like Croick, Iona, and Ullapool. The doors were also standard, using a four-centred arch shape for support.
List of Churches by Location
| Telford Parliamentary Churches | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Parish | Image | Notes | Location |
| Acharacle | Kilchoan, Argyll |  |
Acharacle Parish Church | 56°44′55″N 5°48′13″W / 56.748732°N 5.803508°W |
| Ardgour | Kilmallie, Lochaber |  |
Ardgour Parish Church | 56°43′36″N 5°15′13″W / 56.7267312°N 5.253481°W |
| Berneray | Kilbride, Harris | .jpg) |
Converted into a private house. | 57°43′22″N 7°10′19″W / 57.722737°N 7.17193°W |
| Berriedale | Latheron | Berriedale Church | 58°11′21″N 3°29′46″W / 58.189167°N 3.496111°W | |
| Carnoch | Contin |  |
Converted into a private house. This was the last parliamentary church built in the Highlands. | 57°32′33″N 4°51′20″W / 57.542508°N 4.855508°W |
| Croick | Kincardine, Ross and Cromarty |  |
Croick Parish Church | 57°53′10″N 4°36′16″W / 57.886183°N 4.604583°W |
| Cross | Parish of Barvas, Ross and Cromarty |  |
Demolished. | |
| Duror | Appin, Argyll |  |
Duror Parish Church | 56°38′47″N 5°16′26″W / 56.646278°N 5.273959°W |
| Hallin | Kilmuir, Inverness-shire |  |
57°32′26″N 6°36′03″W / 57.540556°N 6.600833°W | |
| Iona | Kilfinichen and Kilvickeon, Argyll |  |
56°19′57″N 6°23′40″W / 56.332625°N 6.394314°W | |
| Keiss | Wick, Caithness |  |
58°31′58″N 3°07′16″W / 58.532778°N 3.121111°W | |
| Kinlochbervie | Eddrachillis |  |
58°27′34″N 5°03′05″W / 58.459326°N 5.051455°W | |
| Kinlochluichart | Contin |  |
57°37′22″N 4°49′09″W / 57.622717°N 4.819167°W | |
| Kinlochspelve | Torosay and Kinlochspelve, Isle of Mull |  |
Converted to a private house and holiday rental. | 56°21′55″N 5°48′09″W / 56.36527°N 5.80244°W |
| Knock, Eye Peninsula, Isle of Lewis, Ross-shire | Steornabhagh | Demolished. | 58°12′22″N 6°17′26″W / 58.206149°N 6.2905146°W | |
| Lochgilphead | Glassary, Argyll | The church was demolished, and a new one was built in the same spot. | 56°02′22″N 5°25′58″W / 56.039440°N 5.432679°W | |
| North Ballachulish | Parish of Kilmallie | Rebuilt. | 56°42′02″N 5°11′38″W / 56.700552°N 5.193803°W | |
| Risabus or Oa | Kildalton, Argyll |  |
The Oa Parish Church, Risabus. It was set on fire in 1915 and closed in 1930. | 55°36′44″N 6°16′03″W / 55.612189°N 6.267417°W |
| Plockton | Lochalsh, Ross and Cromarty | _-_geograph.org.uk_-_1266656.jpg) |
Plockton Parish Church | 57°20′11″N 5°39′15″W / 57.336389°N 5.654167°W |
| Poolewe | Gairloch, Ross and Cromarty |  |
Poolewe Parish Church | 57°20′11″N 5°39′15″W / 57.336389°N 5.654167°W |
| Portnahaven | Kilchoman, Argyll | .jpg) |
Portnahaven Parish Church | 55°40′52″N 6°30′24″W / 55.681056°N 6.506667°W |
| Quarff | Brassa, Burra and Quarff, Burra, Shetland |  |
Quarff Parish Kirk | 60°06′05″N 1°13′52″W / 60.101389°N 1.231111°W |
| Shieldaig | Applecross, Ross and Cromarty |  |
Shieldaig Parish Church. The original church was found to be unsafe, so a new one was built on its remaining walls. | 56°43′36″N 5°15′13″W / 56.7267312°N 5.253481°W |
| Steinscholl | Kilmuir, Inverness-shire |  |
Skye, Staffin, Stenscholl Parish Church | 57°37′34″N 6°12′21″W / 57.626111°N 6.205833°W |
| Stoer | Parish of Assynt, Sutherland |  |
Ruined Church | 58°12′08″N 5°20′10″W / 58.202222°N 5.336111°W |
| Strathy | Parish of Farr, Sutherland |  |
Now converted to a house. | 58°33′33″N 4°00′14″W / 58.5592°N 4.0039°W |
| Strontian | Kilchoan, Argyll |  |
Strontian Church of Scotland | 56°42′07″N 5°34′11″W / 56.702019°N 5.569700°W |
| Tobermory | Kilninian and Kilmore | Replaced by a Victorian Gothic church in 1897. | 56°37′25″N 6°04′13″W / 56.623582°N 6.070196°W | |
| Tomintoul | Kirkmichael, Banffshire |  |
Tomintoul Parish Church | 56°37′26″N 6°04′17″W / 56.623847°N 6.071421°W |
| Truimsgarry | North Uist |  |
The roof is missing. | 57°39′14″N 7°15′15″W / 57.653799°N 7.254220°W |
| Ullapool | Lochbroom, Highland |  |
Lochbroom & Ullapool Parish Church. Now houses Ullapool Museum. | 57°53′47″N 5°09′47″W / 57.896389°N 5.163056°W |
| Ulva | Kilninian and Kilmore | Salen and Ulva Parish Church. A new church replaced the Telford church in 1899. | 56°28′49″N 6°09′55″W / 56.480361°N 6.165278°W | |
