Skene Parish Church

Skene Parish Church

Skene Parish Church is a congregation of the Church of Scotland at Skene, in the Presbytery of Gordon. The parish has two places of worship, Skene Church at Kirkton of Skene and Trinity Church at Westhill. The current minister is Rev. Iain U. Thomson.

The earliest record of a church at Skene dates from 1296, when one Patrick of Skene signed himself "Clericus of Skene". The mediaeval building stood by the Roman Road from Normandykes to Donside. Records of Skene Kirk Session begin in 1676. A 17th century building stood on the site of the present Skene Church.

Skene Church was built in 1801, a plain rectangular building with the pulpit in the centre of the south wall. As this was one of the long walls, the congregation were spread to the left and right of the minister. A gallery ran round the other three walls, and there were doors in each of the end walls. In 1932, the interior was entirely refurnished and the sanctuary moved to the east wall, the door on that wall being blocked off. The gallery was replaced with a smaller one on the west wall. In accordance with the changes in thinking on Scottish church architecture, the communion table now took centre place, with the pulpit on the left. A mortsafe outside the west door is an interesting historical object.

After the disruption of 1843, a Free Church was built near Kirkton. This congregation reunited with Skene parish in 1941. The old Free Church building was later used as a blacksmith's workshop.

In 1872, the congregation also built a mission hall at Lyne of Skene, which it kept until 1970.

Trinity Church at Westhill is an ecumenical project involving the Church of Scotland, the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Roman Catholic Church; thus the dedication to the Trinity echos the three denominations in co-operation. This 1970s building is a hall church with moveable chairs, allowing flexibility of use. A later extension to the building added a second hall church to the complex, making it possible for two denominations to have services within the shared facilities simultaneously.

[Skene Church: [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~ourfamilyrealm/images/church_kirkton_of_skene.jpg] ]

Source: Bicentenary booklet "A History of the Parish of Skene", 2001 (introduction by Iain U. Thomson).

ee also

*List of Church of Scotland parishes


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Skene, Aberdeenshire — Skene (Gaelic: Sgainn ) is a small farming community in North East Scotland some 10 km west of Aberdeen. The two traditional villages are Kirkton of Skene and Lyne of Skene. As the name suggests, Kirkton is still the location of Skene Parish… …   Wikipedia

  • Skene —    SKENE, a parish, in the district and county of Aberdeen, 9 miles (W. by. N.) from the city of Aberdeen; containing 1846 inhabitants. This place, which is of some antiquity, was originally part of the royal forests of the kings of Scotland, and …   A Topographical dictionary of Scotland

  • List of Church of Scotland parishes — The Church of Scotland, the national church of Scotland, divides the country into presbyteries, which are subdivided into parishes, each served by a parish church, usually with its own minister. Unions and readjustments may however result in a… …   Wikipedia

  • Alexander Keith (Free Church minister) — Alexander Keith (1781 1880) was a Church of Scotland minister. He was a graduate of Marischal College. Eldest son of George Skene Keith of Keith hall and Kinkell, where he was born at the manse in 1791. [ Scottish Notes and Queries, by John… …   Wikipedia

  • Mortsafe — Mortsafes at a church yard in Logierait, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Mortsafes were contraptions designed to protect the bodies of the dead from disturbance. There had been body snatching close to the schools of anatomy in Scotland since the… …   Wikipedia

  • Central pulpit — Traditional Presbyterian Churches in Scotland and elsewhere often had a Central pulpit, that is, the Pulpit was located in the centre of the chancel in the position where most churches have the communion table or altar. The table could be… …   Wikipedia

  • Strathblane — infobox UK place country = Scotland official name= Strathblane gaelic name= Strath Bhlàthain scots name= population= 1,811 (2001 Census) population density= Pop density km2 to mi2|54|precision=0|abbr=yes|wiki=yes area total sq mi= 17 os grid… …   Wikipedia

  • Moot hill — A moot hill or mons placiti (statute hill)[1] is a hill or mound historically used as an assembly or meeting place. In early medieval Britain, such hills were used for moots , meetings of local people to settle local business. Among other things …   Wikipedia

  • Clan Donnachaidh — / Clan Robertson Crest badge …   Wikipedia

  • List of museums in Scotland — This list of museums in Scotland contains museums which are defined for this context as institutions (including nonprofit organizations, government entities, and private businesses) that collect and care for objects of cultural, artistic,… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”