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PARISH CHURCH OF
KILMORE (Dervaig)
The following notes were taken,
with kind permission, from Hilary Peel's book 'A
History of Kilmore Church' Brown & Whittaker www.
brown-whittaker.co.uk.
The
original church of Kilmore was built in 1755 and as
there is not a complete description of it in the
records, it is not known exactly what it looked
like. It replaced the nearby
Old Parish Church of Kilcolmkill and is
believed to have been very similar to the present
church of Kilninian
which was built at the same time.
Records show it was built from
local stone and harled on the outside and with a
small bell-cot at one end. Inside there were two
privately owned galleries and at least one outside
staircase. There was no fixed seating to begin
with and is believed to have accommodate 319 people
- people sat on the floor or brought their own
stools. The pulpit was in the centre of the church
with a long communion table in front. About 70
years later a small vestry was added and a porch was
built exactly 100 years after the church was first
built.
During the 18th century the
building of a new church was a special event
especially as it had a tiled roof, small belfry and
the luxury of windows, but it was only 20 years
later that the building required extensive repairs
to the roof, walls, windows and doors.
In Hilary Peel's book she writes
how "in the early 1770s presbytery meetings were
mainly devoted to matters of morality......... cases
of fornication, drunkenness, brawling, Sabbath
breaking and fighting appeared with monotonous
regularity, interspersed with occasional more
serious cases involving incest or murder". The
incumbent at the time, Rev. Archibald MacArthur
(buried in Cill an Ailean),
was so concerned that he gave out notices during the
services threatening 'dire consequences for wrong
doers - even possible excommunication'.
By 1818 the church was once again
in a bad state of repair. Money was found and the
work done, although ten years later more work was
needed and again in 1841. In 1875 major works
began on the church and as well as repairing the
outside the inside was reorganised to make it more
comfortable.
In 1890 Rev. Robert Munro became
the new minister and by the early part of the 20th
century Kilmore church was once again in a bad state
of repair. In 1902 Munro wrote to the heritors
saying "In stormy weather rain comes in freely.
Slates cannot be fixed because the sarking is rotten
and will not hold nails" It was time for a new
church to be built.
Peter Macgregor Chalmers, an
architect, was appointed to examine the church and
he found it unfit for public worship. Plans were
submitted for a new church at a cost £1200, funding
coming partly from the congregation and friends and
from the heritors. At a meeting of ten heritors in
the Bellachroy Inn early in 1904, Rev. Munro
stressed that ".. a quaint, simple, ornate church
with a tower, built on a beautiful and prominent
site (such as the present fabric is built upon)
would add immensely to the attractiveness of the
district".
Donald Fletcher from Tobermory was
engaged as the contractor and by September 1904 the
new church was well underway while services were
held in the public school next door.
Finally the first Divine Service
was held on 23 April 1905 and the Dedication on
Sunday 18 June. On 24 June 1905 a brief
description of the church was recorded by the Oban
Times:
"The church is in the early Norman
style, built from Mull whinstone obtained from the
Mornish quarry. It has a nave with four windows on
one side, five on the other and one each side of the
slightly tapering tower which is 63 feet high and
has a vestry underneath it. At the other end is an
apse lighted by two small lancet windows. Inside,
the simplicity of the nave contrasts well with the
richly coloured apse. The roof is of pine and the
communion table and pulpit harmonise perfectly with
the interior. The two lancet windows are filled
with memorial glass and there are three memorial
windows in the nave. The effect is highly
devotional and the church is probably the most
beautiful of its size in the Highlands."
The rounded tower, a simple pencil
shape, is now unusual to see although a few still
remain in Ireland. A bell weighing about 600lbs and
nearly 14 inches in diameter hangs in the tower.
It is probably late 19th century and was cast by a
bellfounder in Glasgow.
The seven distinctive stained
glass windows were designed and executed by Stephen
Adam, a noted Victorian stained glass artist.
Stephen had close links with Mull. His second wife
came from the island they were married in Kilmore
church in November 1887 - this would have been in
the former church. The windows were installed
between 1905 and 1910 and each one is dedicated to
the memory of a local person.
It is not known who designed or
painted the 'richly coloured aspe', but it was
possibly the architect, Peter Chalmers, and was
influenced by the Arts and Crafts Movement. It is
said to have caused the long-standing precentor to
call it 'ungodly' and he consequently resigned.
Sometime later an organ was introduced into the
church, although there were still precentors.
Electricity was installed in 1952.
The Kilmore Cross found inside the
church is 14th to 15th century and of the Iona
school. Consisting of two parts, over 5 foot in
height, it was formerly in the grave yard of
Kilcolmkill Church, but
disappeared some time after April 1964. The larger
fragment was found by the road-side near Skipnes,
Kintyre in 1974, but the smaller fragment has never
been found. It is said to have been on the grave
of John Campbell and was known as 'grissly lad'.
Campbell was a notable athlete and swordsman in the
15th century. During the 19th century the cross
was on the grave of a descendent of John Campbell,
Alexander Munn. The remain part of the cross shows
a crucifix roughly carved with figures of St Mary
and St John on either side and the heads of two
dragons below which develop into intertwined
plant-scrolls. At the foot is a pair of shears and
the back of the cross is decorated entirely with
plant-scrolls resembling those on the front.
There are two War Memorial tablets
inside the church. 21 men are listed for World War
I and two names for World War 11.
The church has been blessed with
many gifts including the font, reading desk, and
various communion vessels. The pulpit, communion
table and font are made from light polished oak in a
plain finish.
Nearly a hundred years after the
church was first built a massive restoration
programme began and was completed in 2004. A
service of Rededication then took place on 22
August.
The church is open everyday.
Service on Sundays 2.00 pm
For more information see:
www.kilmore.org.uk
Hilary M. Peel A History of Kilmore Church
(Brown & Whittaker 2004) ISBN 1 904353 07 X and
www.brown-whittaker.co.uk
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Last modified
Tuesday January 22, 2008
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