Crathie Kirk
Encyclopedia
Crathie Kirk is a small Church of Scotland
parish church in the Scottish
village of Crathie
, best known for being the regular place of worship of the British Royal Family
when they are holidaying at nearby Balmoral Castle
.
Crathie Kirk is now united with neighbouring Braemar
to form a single parish with two places of worship. Eventually this parish will be further enlarged to include Glenmuick (Ballater
). The minister (since 2005) is the Reverend Kenneth Mackenzie. Mackenzie was previously minister of the Church of Scotland
congregation in Budapest
, Hungary
(1999–2005).
worship since the 9th century when a church was founded on the banks of the River Dee
by Saint Manire (Bishop of Aberdeenshire and Banff
and a follower of Saint Columba
, the pioneer of Christianity in Scotland). It is traditionally held that Manire baptised
Pictish
converts in a pool of the Dee east of the modern village of Crathie. A single standing stone
at Rinabaich is all that remains of Manire's church (where Manire himself is reputedly buried).
Subsequent places of worship were situated further west, near the location of present day Crathie village. The ruins of a 13th century church, dedicated to Saint Manire, stand on the riverbank south of the current structure.
A later church was built at the current site in 1804. Queen Victoria worshipped there from 1848, and every British monarch since has worshipped at Crathie Kirk. Victoria laid the foundation stone for a new, much larger, church in 1893. Queen Victoria's decision to worship at the Crathie Kirk initially caused a scandal, particularly when it was discovered that she had received communion there, because she was head of the Church of England
. Victoria asserted that as Queen of Scotland, she was also entitled to worship in a Scottish church, and further, Crathie is the closest church to Balmoral Castle
.
The British Royal Family
attended the Sunday Service at this Church right after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales
on the morning of 31 August 1997. It caused great public disbelief that the late Princess was not mentioned at the Service.
and the roof made of Scots Pine
. Building materials were donated by the surrounding estates, and £
5000 raised from the local population to fund construction. The church, built in the fashionable Gothic revival style by Elgin
architect
A. Marshall Mackenzie
, was completed in 1895. The kirk's south transept
is reserved for royal use. The north transept contains pew
s belonging to the Farquharson family, Lairds of Invercauld and owners of Braemar Castle
and to the Gordon family, Lairds of Abergeldie and owners of nearby Abergeldie Castle
.
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
parish church in the Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
village of Crathie
Crathie, Aberdeenshire
Crathie is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It stands on the north bank of the River Dee.Abergeldie Castle is a mile away. It was built around 1550 and had nineteenth century additions. It was garrisoned by General Hugh Mackay in 1689....
, best known for being the regular place of worship of the British Royal Family
British Royal Family
The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...
when they are holidaying at nearby Balmoral Castle
Balmoral Castle
Balmoral Castle is a large estate house in Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is located near the village of Crathie, west of Ballater and east of Braemar. Balmoral has been one of the residences of the British Royal Family since 1852, when it was purchased by Queen Victoria and her...
.
Crathie Kirk is now united with neighbouring Braemar
Braemar
Braemar is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, around west of Aberdeen in the Highlands. It is the closest significantly-sized settlement to the upper course of the River Dee sitting at an altitude of ....
to form a single parish with two places of worship. Eventually this parish will be further enlarged to include Glenmuick (Ballater
Ballater
Ballater is a burgh in Aberdeenshire, Scotland on the River Dee, immediately east of the Cairngorm Mountains. Situated at a height of 123m in elevation, Ballater is a centre for hikers and known for its spring water, once said to cure scrofula.-History:The medieval pattern of development along...
). The minister (since 2005) is the Reverend Kenneth Mackenzie. Mackenzie was previously minister of the Church of Scotland
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
congregation in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
(1999–2005).
History
Crathie has been a place of ChristianChristianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
worship since the 9th century when a church was founded on the banks of the River Dee
River Dee, Aberdeenshire
The River Dee is a river in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It rises in the Cairngorms and flows through Strathdee to reach the North Sea at Aberdeen...
by Saint Manire (Bishop of Aberdeenshire and Banff
Banffshire
The County of Banff is a registration county for property, and Banffshire is a Lieutenancy area of Scotland.The County of Banff, also known as Banffshire, was a local government county of Scotland with its own county council between 1890 and 1975. The county town was Banff although the largest...
and a follower of Saint Columba
Columba
Saint Columba —also known as Colum Cille , Colm Cille , Calum Cille and Kolban or Kolbjørn —was a Gaelic Irish missionary monk who propagated Christianity among the Picts during the Early Medieval Period...
, the pioneer of Christianity in Scotland). It is traditionally held that Manire baptised
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
Pictish
Picts
The Picts were a group of Late Iron Age and Early Mediaeval people living in what is now eastern and northern Scotland. There is an association with the distribution of brochs, place names beginning 'Pit-', for instance Pitlochry, and Pictish stones. They are recorded from before the Roman conquest...
converts in a pool of the Dee east of the modern village of Crathie. A single standing stone
Standing stone
Standing stones, orthostats, liths, or more commonly megaliths are solitary stones set vertically in the ground and come in many different varieties....
at Rinabaich is all that remains of Manire's church (where Manire himself is reputedly buried).
Subsequent places of worship were situated further west, near the location of present day Crathie village. The ruins of a 13th century church, dedicated to Saint Manire, stand on the riverbank south of the current structure.
A later church was built at the current site in 1804. Queen Victoria worshipped there from 1848, and every British monarch since has worshipped at Crathie Kirk. Victoria laid the foundation stone for a new, much larger, church in 1893. Queen Victoria's decision to worship at the Crathie Kirk initially caused a scandal, particularly when it was discovered that she had received communion there, because she was head of the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
. Victoria asserted that as Queen of Scotland, she was also entitled to worship in a Scottish church, and further, Crathie is the closest church to Balmoral Castle
Balmoral Castle
Balmoral Castle is a large estate house in Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is located near the village of Crathie, west of Ballater and east of Braemar. Balmoral has been one of the residences of the British Royal Family since 1852, when it was purchased by Queen Victoria and her...
.
The British Royal Family
British Royal Family
The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...
attended the Sunday Service at this Church right after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
on the morning of 31 August 1997. It caused great public disbelief that the late Princess was not mentioned at the Service.
Architecture
The walls are built of local graniteGranite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
and the roof made of Scots Pine
Scots Pine
Pinus sylvestris, commonly known as the Scots Pine, is a species of pine native to Europe and Asia, ranging from Scotland, Ireland and Portugal in the west, east to eastern Siberia, south to the Caucasus Mountains, and as far north as well inside the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia...
. Building materials were donated by the surrounding estates, and £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
5000 raised from the local population to fund construction. The church, built in the fashionable Gothic revival style by Elgin
Elgin, Moray
Elgin is a former cathedral city and Royal Burgh in Moray, Scotland. It is the administrative and commercial centre for Moray. The town originated to the south of the River Lossie on the higher ground above the flood plain. Elgin is first documented in the Cartulary of Moray in 1190...
architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
A. Marshall Mackenzie
Alexander Marshall Mackenzie
Alexander Marshall Mackenzie was a Scottish architect responsible for prestigious projects including the Isle of Man Banking Company in Douglas, and Australia House and the Waldorf Hotel in London....
, was completed in 1895. The kirk's south transept
Transept
For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...
is reserved for royal use. The north transept contains pew
Pew
A pew is a long bench seat or enclosed box used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a church, or sometimes in a courtroom.-Overview:Churches were not commonly furnished with permanent pews before the Protestant Reformation...
s belonging to the Farquharson family, Lairds of Invercauld and owners of Braemar Castle
Braemar Castle
Braemar Castle is situated near the village of Braemar in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is a possession of the chief of Clan Farquharson and is leased to a local charitable foundation. It is open to the public.-History:...
and to the Gordon family, Lairds of Abergeldie and owners of nearby Abergeldie Castle
Abergeldie Castle
Abergeldie Castle is a four-storey tower house located near Crathie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is protected as a category A listed building.-History:...
.
Royal connections
- Queen Victoria donated two stained glassStained glassThe term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
windows which commemorate author and social reformer Reverend Norman MacLeodNorman MacleodNorman MacLeod, known in Gaelic as Caraid nan Gàidheal , was a Scottish divine and miscellaneous writer. He was the son of the Rev. Norman Macleod, D.D. , and father of the Rev. Norman Macleod ....
, and endowed the kirk's Father Willis organHenry Willis & Sonsthumb|250px|St Bees Priory organ, the last major instrument to be personally supervised by "Father" Henry Willis, 1899Henry Willis & Sons is a British firm of pipe organ builders founded in 1845 in Liverpool. Although most of their installations have been in the UK, examples can be found in other...
. - Victoria's highland servant John BrownJohn Brown (servant)John Brown was a Scottish personal servant and favourite of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom for many years. He was appreciated by many for his competence and companionship, and resented by others for his influence and informal manner...
is buried in the churchyard. - Princess Beatrice donated four bells which continue to hang in the belltower.
- Edward VIIEdward VII of the United KingdomEdward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
donated two marble medallions commemorating his brother Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and GothaAlfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and GothaAlfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was the third Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and reigned from 1893 to 1900. He was also a member of the British Royal Family, the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha...
and sister Victoria, Princess Royal and Empress Frederick. - Edward's son George VGeorge V of the United KingdomGeorge V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
donated a communion table dedicated to the memory of his father. This was made from white marbleMarbleMarble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
quarried on the island of IonaIonaIona is a small island in the Inner Hebrides off the western coast of Scotland. It was a centre of Irish monasticism for four centuries and is today renowned for its tranquility and natural beauty. It is a popular tourist destination and a place for retreats...
, the site of Columba's monastery. - Elizabeth II donated a BibleBibleThe Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
decorated with the royal crest. - The Princess RoyalAnne, Princess RoyalPrincess Anne, Princess Royal , is the only daughter of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
married her second husband Timothy LaurenceTimothy LaurenceVice Admiral Sir Timothy James Hamilton Laurence, KCVO, CB, ADC is a senior British naval officer and the second husband of HRH The Princess Royal, the only daughter of HM The Queen...
at Crathie on 12 December 1992. Choosing to have the ceremony performed by the Church of Scotland avoided the problem of the Anglican Church of EnglandChurch of EnglandThe Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
's unwillingness to remarry divorced people.