Not only a place of worship

Lesley Ratomska offers a reflection on the challenges facing one of Scotland’s most historic churches.

THE jewel in Dunfermline’s crown, the Abbey Church of Dunfermline, is slipping.

In common with many other congregations it has unsustainable finances. But it also has a repairs bill of around £4m and a development plan to secure its future into the 21st century, of a further £4m.

An exhibition looking at the role of the church in the local community and its history, is about to open in Dunfermline Carnegie Library and Galleries and visitors will have an opportunity to make known their views on the future for this muchloved church building.

“These are eye-watering sums of money,” said the minister of the Abbey Church of Dunfermline, the Rev Dr MaryAnn Rennie. “We have a congregation of 425 and up until now, the burden has fallen on them to fund repairs and improvements as well as small grants from funding bodies such as the Carnegie (Dunfermline) Trust.

“However, this is an unsustainable funding model. Congregations of buildings of national historic interest should not be solely responsible for the bulk of repair, maintenance and sustainability of a historic building of this standing. That’s why we are opening a conversation with the local community and key organisations about how we go forward with the building.”

Dunfermline Abbey Finance Convenor Ian Walker is clear the church’s Kirk Session has not been ignoring this situation. “As a Kirk Session we have been discussing for some time how we are going to handle the repairs to our building and how we are going to make sure it remains the iconic centrepiece of the city of Dunfermline,” he said. “It’s a very challenging situation for our Trustees but we all strongly agree we want the future for our building to be a positive one and one that is there not only for the local community but also for future generations to come.”

One of the more recent positive developments overseen by the Kirk Session is the installation of a stunning Tiffany window donated by Carnegie Dunfermline Trust. Originally commissioned in 1913 by Andrew Carnegie, permission to install it in the Abbey nave was refused as it was deemed to be “out of harmony with the existing stained-glass windows in the Nave.” The current Session were not of the same opinion and after restoration endorsed its installation in the church in August 2019. And is a fitting addition to other high-quality stained-glass windows found in the church and nave.

For 950 years Dunfermline Abbey – its palace, nave and church – have provided a place of community and refuge for its residents, visitors and pilgrims. In the Middle Ages, Dunfermline Abbey was the largest employer in the area, just as Fife Council, Amazon, Sky and TechnicFMC are today. It attracted kings and queens and pilgrims from all over Europe.

“Our church building is a unique icon,” says Dr Rennie.“A church has been on this site for over 950 years. Our tower with the lettering ‘King Robert the Bruce’, is a landmark. It is synonymous with the city. Our rich history attracts visitors and pilgrims from all over the world. It constantly pops up on Instagram and Facebook posts, websites and in magazine. It stands for Dunfermline. Some within the congregation wish we could copyright the building and raise funds each time it’s used but unfortunately, we cannot!”

Since 1822 the building has been a place marker for the town with its distinctive bell tower signalling the burial place of King Robert the Bruce. The church is included in shaping the city vision for Dunfermline. There are still royal visitors and pilgrims but the church no longer has the wealth or power it once had. Since 1945 when the state began to take over the wellbeing and funding of the town and its residents, the church in Dunfermline has seen a decline in it having sole responsibility for practical/ material matters. For example, education and welfare, alongside a steady drop in congregational numbers and a UK-wide shift in cultural values and busier work and social schedules.

In the 18th and 19th centuries the Abbey Church of Dunfermline along with the burgh council and local employers was instrumental in bringing about street lighting and improved sanitation to the town as well as maintaining the Poor Roll which gave people access to indoor shelter if they were ill, aged or otherwise unable to support themselves – very similar to the principles Queen Margaret set out when she founded the church 950 years ago. Her son King David I paid for the extension of the church into a full Benedictine Abbey. King Robert the Bruce in 1320 funded the completion and upgrading of the monastery and guesthouses and in the 1560s Queen Mary funded further major development work to the palace and nave.

During the Scottish Reformation of 1560 Dunfermline Abbey was ransacked with the east end of the choir area destroyed. Over the next 200 years the building fell into further disrepair. The nave survived and served as the parish church building until the 19th century. A new church was built costing £8,300, roughly equivalent to £1m in today’s money. It was funded by the Heritors (feudal local landlords) plus the Church of Scotland Accommodation Committee and opened in 1821. The nave continues to serve as one of several entrances to the church building. It is maintained by Historic Environment Scotland.

“Dunfermline Abbey is Scotland’s equivalent of Westminster Abbey in England or St Denis in France,” said Michael Penman, Professor of History at the University of Stirling. “It served both as a parish church to the growing adjacent burgh community, and as a monastic home for the royal mausoleum and its integral cult shrine of St Margaret. “But Dunfermline Abbey is also surely Scotland’s history in microcosm. In its walls, records, material remains and, above all, the stories of its people, we can trace over a thousand years of spiritual, political, economic, military, civic and cultural experience. And, like the medieval castles of Edinburgh and Stirling, the Abbey is almost singularly synonymous with the identity of Dunfermline as a burgh and now city, an enduring icon at the heart of a wider hinterland and ‘kingdom’.

“In that sense, it is indeed perhaps time to re-evaluate how it should be conserved, presented and used. As I often ask my students: given its importance and what it holds (and it holds so much more than just the remains of Robert the Bruce), what might other communities or even nations have done with such a church and its legacy? And what should we do now and for future generations?”

That is the very question the church is going to ask the community in March when it goes out to consultation on the future of the building.

Dr Rennie adds: “Our congregation want a future for this building, and we hope the people of the city of Dunfermline and the whole of Scotland do too.

“It has a place in people’s hearts, but we have to move the building forward. It is no longer enough to have it only as a place of worship. We want to ensure it continues to fulfil its original intent of being a space for community, refuge and education at the heart of Dunfermline for the town, visitors and pilgrims for the foreseeable future.

“However, to achieve this we need to not only repair the building to keep it wind and water-tight but also adapt the building whilst also maintaining its dignity and historical features – for example, a lift, upto-date heating and lighting, more toilets, meeting rooms for community groups and church groups to use, flexible seating provision that allows a range of events to take place.

“We want this building to be at the heart of Dunfermline and we want everyone with a connection to Dunfermline, whether a distant relative of Robert the Bruce, a tourist, a pilgrim, a resident or a member of the congregation, to come with us on this journey.” ¤

Dunfermline Abbey – more than a building is on in the Community Gallery, Dunfermline Carnegie Library and Galleries, Abbot Street, Dunfermline from Saturday March 22 to Saturday April 6.