What does the SRCT do?
The Scottish Redundant Churches Trust (SRCT) was established in 1996 to secure the future of nationally important churches threatened by closure. Churches are selected on the basis of their architectural and historic merit. The Trust takes these buildings into care and conserves them to ensure that they survive for the enjoyment and inspiration of current and future generations.

Churches belonging to all denominations, and places of religious worship of all faiths, are eligible for care by the Trust.

Churches in Trust care are made freely accessible to visitors and to their communities as places for occasional worship, venues for religious and secular events, and as heritage resources.

Why is there a problem?
Scotland’s religious history, particularly from the eighteenth century onwards, is characterized by change and disruption. In the years following the establishment of the Church of Scotland, numerous groups broke away and built new churches for worship. Many of these groups later rejoined the Church of Scotland, bringing with them both their members and their buildings. By the early twentieth century, small towns or villages often had as many as four churches – it has even been said that at one time there were more pews than people in the country. Today, there are some 3,500 churches in Scotland.

In 1977 the Victoria and Albert Museum held an exhibition entitled Change and Decay – a future for our churches. The exhibition text stated: “In Scotland, since 1900, more churches have been abandoned, closed or demolished than are now in use.” This is not only due to the excess of churches, but also to changes in society which mean that attendance figures are now at an all-time low. With fewer members contributing financially, and with the relentless action of the Scottish climate taking its toll, churches are under threat today as never before. Historic churches are especially vulnerable as repairs to their ageing fabric are highly specialized and expensive.

Churches in Trust care
Benholm Kirk, Kincardineshire
Cromarty East Church, Ross-shire
St Peter’s Kirk, Skaill, Orkney
Tibbermore Church, Perthshire
Pettinain Church, Lanarkshire

About the organisation
The SRCT is a registered charity (SC024407) and a Company Limited by Guarantee (SC162884). It is recognised by the Architectural Heritage Fund as a building preservation trust, and by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport as one of five UK organisations dedicated to the care of redundant places of worship. It is a member of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), Volunteer Development Scotland (VDS) and the Association of Preservation Trusts (APT).

The SRCT is overseen by eight trustees, with guidance provided by four architectural advisers, a legal adviser, and a representative from Historic Scotland. Trustees and advisers act in a voluntary capacity and receive no payment from the Trust for their services. Management of the organisation, churches in care, and all projects is carried out by a director based in the Trust’s office in St Andrews. Day-to-day running of the Trust’s buildings is delegated to local volunteer Friends Groups who have input into decisions relating to individual properties.

Personnel 2007

TRUSTEES

Dr Tristram Clarke MA PhD
Archivist in the National Archives of Scotland (Scottish Record Office) since 1984. An historian with expertise in the sources for the history of Scottish churches and architectural history. Author of a doctoral study of the history of the Scottish Episcopal Church (Edinburgh 1987), and several related articles.

Bill Conboy MA (Oxon) FRSA
Formerly Principal, Newbattle Abbey College, Vice Principal, Ruskin College, Oxford and President, WEA (UK). 35 years experience as consultant in Britain and overseas; experienced in research and design of educational programmes and projects, and advising on business and managerial strategies.

Lady Caroline Douglas-Home DL FSA Scot
Trained in Rural Estate Management with the College of Estate Management and practised for 35 years in the Scottish Borders. In retirement works as a volunteer for a number of charities and is a Trustee of the Scottish Episcopal Church Nominees.

The Rt. Hon. Lord Gill MA LLB PhD LLD FRSE
The Lord Justice Clerk. Formerly Chairman of the Scottish Law Commission. Practised at the Scottish Bar for 27 years and specialised in planning, compensation, rating and agriculture. General Editor of the Scottish Planning Encyclopaedia.

Simon Green MA FSA Scot
Investigator, Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS). Revised Hay’s Architecture of Scotland’s pre-Reformation Churches 1560-1843. Hon Secretary of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain, Executive Committee Member of Scotland’s Churches Scheme and Reporter to the Church of Scotland Committee on Art and Architecture.

Jack Inglis
Retired Senior Executive Officer HM Customs & Excise. Operated latterly in the fields of Value Added Tax assurance, business support, and staff management.

Ann McCarter SRN Chair of Trustees
Member of the Church of Scotland Assembly Council 1984-88, member of the Church of Scotland Board of Practice & Procedure 1988-2000 (Convener 1996-2000). In retirement works as a volunteer for a number of charities.

Margaret Neil BArch ARIAS
Retired Architect, currently Architectural Advisor to the property committee of the Paisley Abbey Kirk Session. Served on the Church of Scotland Property Commission 1992-96, and on the Church of Scotland Board of Practice & Procedure 1996-2000.


DIRECTOR and COMPANY SECRETARY
Victoria Collison-Owen MA (Hons)
Director of SRCT since 1999. Curator with the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland 1989-98, latterly Information Systems Curator in National Monuments Record of Scotland. Member of Scotland’s Churches Scheme Advisory Council.


ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
Rosemary Mann BSc (Hons) MSc
Freelance administrator. Secretary of the Mansfield Traquair Trust (position includes responsibility for establishing and maintaining the Trust as a charitable company limited by guarantee, negotiations for acquisition, fund-raising for acquisition, restoration and conversion of Mansfield Place Church and restoration of murals by Phoebe Anna Traquair). Fife Council, Doors Open Day Co-ordinator, Building Limes Forum, Administrator, Scottish Churches Architectural Heritage Trust, Grants Administrator.


LEGAL ADVISER
David Reith WS
Partner with Lindsays WS Solicitors Edinburgh and Chairman of Management Board. Accredited as a specialist in Charity Law by the Law Society of Scotland. Member of the Scottish Charity Finance Directors Group and the UK Charity Law Association. Lead adviser for a number of Scottish charities, with experience as company secretary, board member and treasurer to organisations including the Scottish Seabird Centre, the Mavisbank Trust, the Cockburn Association and the Scottish Historic Buildings Trust. Scottish Legal Awards Partner of the Year 2007


ARCHITECTURAL ADVISERS

Lyndall Leet ARIBA FRIAS
Retired senior partner and consultant with the former Leet Rodgers Practice. North Highland representative of Scotland’s Churches Scheme and former adviser to Highland Vernacular Buildings Trust. Member of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings and Scottish Vernacular Buildings Working Group. Past President, Inverness Architectural Association.

Brian Park BSc (Hons) BArch ARIAS
Founding partner in 1981 of Page & Park Architects. Managing partner of practice with specific responsibility for conservation and historic buildings work. RIAS Conservation Committee (corresponding member), Past Chairman of Council, Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society, Past Convener, Glasgow Conservation Trust West. Adviser to Archdiocese of Glasgow Conservation Working Party and to the Scottish Catholic Heritage Commission.

James Simpson BArch RIBA FRIAS FSAScot.
Co-founder of Simpson & Brown Architects in 1977. Special interests in Architectural History, Building Conservation and ‘Green’ Building. Trustee and committee member of the Scottish Historic Buildings Trust and the United Kingdom Committee of the International Council for Monuments and Sites. For 12 years a Member of the Ancient Monuments Board for Scotland, currently a Member of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Member of the Historic Environment Advisory Council for Scotland.

Andrew Wright OBE BArch RIBA PPRIAS FRSA FSA Scot
Former Partner and Chairman of LDN Architects. For ten years a Diocesan Architect for the Scottish Episcopal Church and served two terms on the Church of Scotland Committee on Artist Matters. Member of the Ecclesiastical Architects’ and Surveyors’ Association. President of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland 1995-1997, Member of the Ancient Monuments Board for Scotland 1996-2003 and a Commissioner of the Royal Fine Art Commission for Scotland 1997-2005. Member of the Historic Environment Advisory Council for Scotland (Vice-chairman 2003-2006). Awarded the OBE in 2001 for services to architecture and the built heritage in Scotland.


Funding
The SRCT raises funds for the running of the organisation, and for the repair of churches in its care, through grants, donations and legacies.

The following organisations and charities support the work of the Trust through grants or through sponsorship in kind:

Historic Scotland
The Architectural Heritage Fund
The Church of Scotland General Trustees
The Scottish Episcopal Church
The Geraldine Kirkpatrick Trust
Lindsays Charitable Trust
The Strathmartine Trust
The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland

To find out how you can help the SRCT financially, please contact us.