Glenbuchat Heritage

74 Church and Manse

The Free Church group represents a fine, virtually unaltered example of a small charge which became the focal point of religious life in the Glen owing to its more convenient siting than the Parish Church. Locating a site for the new Free Church was not easy, and the Free Church Annals record that ´After great difficulty and much discouragement a site was obtained at Balnacraig in 1861, and a church and manse were erected´. The Third Statistical Account recognises that ´As there are no other denominations, the church is part and parcel of the life of the community´, and continues ´There is, ´ , a genuine regard for the church´. Decommissioned in 1983, the building was sold to the current (2006) owner a decade later. The Sunday school was held in the single storey building situated to the rear of the manse.

The former manse with its associated ancillary building and walled garden are situated immediately to the west of the former Free Church of Glenbuchat. The group constitutes a fine, virtually unaltered example of a small charge which became the focal centre of religious life in the Glen, owing to its more convenient siting than the Old Parish Church. Locating a site for the new Free Church and manse was not an easy task, and the Free Church Annals record that ´After great difficulty and much discouragement a site was obtained at Balnacraig in 1861, and a church and manse were erected´. The church was decommissioned in 1983, and the manse was purchased in 1988 after remaining empty for 5 years. During this period the building became uninhabitable. The church itself was purchased after a further 5 years.
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