Fife town mobilises to protect ‘for sale’ church where they have worshipped for 430 years
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Burntisland Parish Church is thought to be the first church built in Scotland after the Reformation and still in use, but it could put up for sale - and such a move could end 430 years of continuous service
The building is set to be released from the Church of Scotland’s estate in 2027 - and now the community wants to be prepared before it goes on the open market.
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Hide AdA working group has been formed, and it has announced a public meeting in the church on Sunday, February 23 which is open to all to discuss its future.


It is led by members of Burntisland and Kinghorn Church of Scotland including Anne Smith, a member at Erskine UF Church in Burntisland; John Dingwall, Fabric Convener; Bill Sweenie, formerly Session Clerk at Burntisland; George Lees, Fabric Committee, and Rev. Jim Reid.
Its first choice is for the building is taken into state care - in other words transferred to ownership of Historic Environment Scotland (HES). This would ensure its long-term maintenance and keep it accessible to everyone as a heritage asset.
But that could only happen with the consent of the General Trustees of the Church of Scotland, and with limited resources and many other church buildings likely to ‘flood the market’, they do not believe that HES would agree.
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Hide AdAnother option is for community ownership, and that would need long-term funding and a business plan to demonstrate how it could generate the income necessary to maintaining the historic building.


Anne said: “Without a solution to these issues there is a risk that either the building is sold privately and general access to this unique heritage asset is lost, or, worse, it becomes derelict and ruinous.”
The working group knows how important the church is to the town, and it wants to hear as many local voices as possible at the public meeting.
Councillor Julie MacDougall (Burntisland, Kinghorn & Western Kirkcaldy), who has been working with them for some time, said: “This could be a great community asset. If the Church of Scotland does decide to dispose of it then we want to have the first opportunity to take it forward. It is hugely important to the community, and it is a beautiful church. It would be a huge undertaking to keep it for the community so we want to explore all options and hear what local people think.”
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Hide AdShe has written to the Church of Scotland, and the issue has been sent on to Fife Presbytery.


It’s a challenge facing many communities as the Church of Scotland looks to shrink its estate amid declining numbers and rising costs - but this one is particularly important given the building’s astonishing history and the active role it plays in the town.
For the past year, Burntisland Parish Church has shared its services with Kinghorn Parish Church under the auspices of the Rev Reid. It was not permitted to call a new minister on the retiral of the Rev. Alan Sharp, in 2019.
The church - which hosted the ‘Kirking of the Council’ when the Burgh still had its own Town Council - continues to play its part in the civic life of the town the crowning of the ‘summer king and queen’ in Civic Week; and sharing in hosting the annual Remembrance Sunday services and parades.
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Hide AdIt is also architecturally unique having a square shape with the communion table at the centre.
It has many other interesting historical features including early 17th century panel paintings featuring ships, sailors, and trade guild insignia; original box pews including the ornate canopied magistrates’ pew; and a sailors’ loft with an outside stair allowing sailors to catch the tide without disturbing the service.
It was here that King James VI agreed the new translation of the Bible, known the world over as ‘the King James Version’. This gained the church the epithet of ‘the Kirk of the Bible’.
Burntisland Church was also associated with the formation of the ‘Secession Church’, the forerunner of the United Free Church of Scotland, and was closely involved with the formation of the Free Church of Scotland. The people of Burntisland built the church to replace a much smaller medieval church at the Kirkton. The original settlement had begun as a supplier of produce to Dunfermline Abbey. In the1500s a new harbour was constructed and Burntisland town developed at the coast with King James V granting the Burgh its Royal Charter in 1541. The bigger population needed a bigger church and chose the site on a ridge overlooking the harbour where the church tower still dominates the skyline today.
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Hide AdThe Reformation was a time of great change all over Scotland. One issue the folk of Burntisland faced was how to design a new kirk. All previous churches were built when Scotland was a Catholic country and the usual design was a cross-shaped building with a nave, apse and transepts. In 1592 John Roche started to build a unique square church for Burntisland with four great columns and the communion table at the centre of the church. The new church was open for worship by 1596.
When in 1601 Edinburgh suffered the ravages of plague and King James VI was staying at the castle in Burntisland, the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland was held in the new church of Burntisland. It was here in Burntisland Church, in the presence of the King, that the world famous ‘King James Version’ of the Bible was born.
Over the years the building gained a porch; a sailors’ loft; galleries decorated with 17th century painted panels; box pews; a tower; and an organ, donated by Andrew Carnegie.
Burntisland Church has another unique place in Scottish Church history. Rev. Thomas Chalmers and Rev. David Coupar, were Burntisland men who founded the Free Church of Scotland, leaving Burntisland Church and the Church of Scotland at the ‘disruption’ of 1843. Prior to this in the early 18th century, Rev. James Thomson was minister at Burntisland Church but was forced out because of his radical ideas. He went on to form the ‘Secession Church’ in the town, the forerunner of the Erskine United Free Church of Scotland.
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Hide AdOther famous Burntislanders who worshipped at the church include Sir William George Fairfax, who was promoted to Vice-Admiral after his heroics at the Battle of Camperdown, and his daughter Mary Somerville, the mathematician and first scientist, for whom Somerville College, Oxford, is named.
> The public meeting on Sunday, February 23 starts at 12:30pm immediately after the morning service. Visitors are welcome to attend both and join with others in the church halls after the meeting for teas and coffees.
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