Preserving our heritage, creating our future.
Kirkmichael Heritage Trust is a group of local residents working to secure a positive outcome for the Kirkmichael Parish Church building for the benefit of all Mount Blair residents. Based in Kirkmichael, Perthshire.
The recent well-attended public meeting hosted by Mount Blair Community Development Trust regarding the future of Kirkmichael Parish Church saw strong majority support from residents to try and find a positive outcome for the building for the benefit of all Mount Blair residents.
Following a call for volunteers to help steer this project, a new group of seven local residents is now in the process of formally constituting itself. It is still early days, but we wanted to at least let people know that something is happening. As soon as we have something definitive to report, we will let everyone know through the usual Newsgroup and social media channels.
In the near future, we will look to raise further local interest, support, and assistance from within the community, and start the fundraising process, including opening dialogue with potential local benefactors.
Who We Are
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Kirkmichael Heritage Trust has been formed to preserve and revitalise the historic church building at the heart of our community, transforming it into a sustainable, inclusive and vibrant space for Mount Blair area residents today and our future generations.
Our initial aim is to secure and restore this important heritage building, so that it may support community life, creativity, learning, enterprise, and cultural events. By creating a common space available for a wide and flexible programme of activities — potentially including performances, exhibitions, weddings, memorials, music, theatre, religious and spiritual ceremonies, working facilities and educational opportunities — we will ensure the building remains a living asset that serves the people of Kirkmichael and the wider Mount Blair area.
Our mission is to honour the past while creating opportunities for today and for the future, fostering connection, well-being and economic resilience, through the preservation and active use of this cherished local landmark and otherwise.
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IConstructed in 1791-2, the church building is a very prominent local feature and is Category B listed. It is of high significance for all three of its aesthetic value, its communal value and its evidential value, in terms of the relevant standard for historic buildings.
In community ownership, there are many uses to which it could be put – in conjunction with the activities of the Session House and the Village Hall and complementing those activities. In addition, although no longer a church, it would be available for weddings, funeral services and so on, as has been the historical position.
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The alternative is all too clear. We already have one derelict, unused church building in the village. There is a very real risk that Kirkmichael Church could become another, if it is not taken into ownership by the Mount Blair community.
With no water or sewerage, no parking and set, as it is, within the graveyard, any commercial developer’s plans are unlikely to succeed.
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By taking the building into community ownership, we can continue to have it used for the benefit of the community, as the community sees fit.
We can all help by contributing a donation or else ideas and assistance in other ways. Please complete the pledge form if you can.
HISTORY
Named after the Archangel St Michael, to whom the Church was dedicated around 1274. Michael was held by the pre- Reformation church to have been the defender of the Church, and chief opponent of Satan, and who assists souls at the hour of death. His feast day is 29th September, and in a field near Kirkmichael the Michaelmas fair was held on that day. The fair became the site of one of the largest cattle markets in Scotland as it was a meeting place for drovers coming from Braemar.
Photos from Mount Blair Community Archive
CONTACT US
Ready to reimagine what a next-generation church community can be?
Submit the form below if you would like to get involved, make a donation or collaborate with the trust.
