Lochcarron Old Parish Church
The now deconsecrated Lochcarron Old Parish Church was completed in 1836. It was Presbyterian, Church of Scotland. Located in Ross-Shire, Scottish Highlands. Originally known as An Eaglais mhòr which means 'big church' but often also known locally as 'East Kirk'. It was built on virgin land of a shingle bank, close to the edge of the salt water Loch Carron.
Location
The building is situated a mile from the village of Lochcarron on the A896, on the North Coast 500 tourist route. The building and graveyard are situated within the Lochcarron Golf Course at the foot of the Glas Bheinn mountain 728m, which is connected to the Sgurr a' Gharaidh mountain 732m. The grey topped An Ruadh-stac 892m, is visible from the graveyard, but not its taller neighbour red topped Maol Chean-dearg 933m. Also clearly visible from the graveyard to the east is Fuar Tholl 907m, with the Wellington's Nose landmark on its summit. These are part of the Torridon mountain group.The building is not to be confused with the other Old Parish Church of 1751 that is several meters down the road towards the village, and is a ruin. It is also not to be confused with Lochcarron Parish Church, which is the current parish church and located in the village.
Architecture
The grade B listed building is sited in the new Lochcarron Burial Ground, an active graveyard, which contains the remains of Lauchlan Watt at the east end of the building. There are no graves older than the church, those are sited in the graveyard of the 1751 Old Parish Church. The building has been remodelled inside three times since being built. The original layout was a central high pulpit with galleries either side. Later it was remodelled into two rooms, the galleries were removed and the pulpit remodelled. A large maintenance was undertaken by Alexander Ross (architect) which included adding skews. In the final remodelling a gallery was placed at the opposite end to the pulpit. Under the gallery are two vestry rooms, steps up to the gallery and a passageway to the porch. The entrance porch was an addition during the remodelling. This is a newer front door as the original access was through two doors either side of the pulpit, these were blocked up when two doors in the rear wall were added, one of these was blocked up when the new porch entrance was added. In fact, the blocked entrance door in the west rear wall was turned into a window. At some point the raised wooden floors were added, as before that it was a soil floor with boards over.Major alterations undertaken include:
- Initial design: one large room, galleries either side, high central pulpit with external doors either side of it. The 700 to 800 person capacity.
- Two rooms, galleries removed, pulpit remodelled, doors near pulpit closed up, doors opened in rear wall at extreme ends.
- Returned to a large room with a gallery installed, with vestry rooms under, at the opposite end to the pulpit. External door opened under gallery. Rear west door sealed.
The four wooden Gothic Y-tracery windows to the front are three and a half meters tall and still original. The windows above the pulpit are also original. There is a very similar, though smaller, church in Applecross. This now has Y-tracery windows, though smaller windows than the East Kirk, which are uPVC; the original windows were not Y-tracery.
While a lot of Highland churches follow a similar oblong box design pattern to the East Kirk, the unusual things about it are: the very large ornate Y-tracery windows and the exceptional size of the building. Other than that, in line with the Presbyterian faith, the interior is now modest. The glass is clear, and not stained glass, in order to 'let in the light of the lord'. The standard design and standard bellcote is featured on all the Thomas Telford 'Parliamentary Kirks', though East Kirk is 6 years too late a build to be among their number it still shares a similar design philosophy.