Latest news with #GrassicGibbon
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Scotsman
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Sunset Song church in rural community that inspired novel to be sold
Arbuthnott Church is to go up for sale Sign up to our History and Heritage newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... It is the church in the heart of Sunset Song country and the final resting place of author Lewis Grassic Gibbon. Now, a campaign to save Arbuthnott Church near Inverbervie in Aberdeenshire is gaining momentum after the Church of Scotland announced it was to sell off the kirk as it seeks to save money and reduce its assets. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Grassic Gibbon - real name James Leslie Mitchell - grew up on nearby Bloomfield Farm, with his childhood in the Mearns inspiring his unflinching and then controversial portrait of rural life. Arbuthnott Church, also known as the Kirk of St Ternan, is the final resting place of Lewis Grassic Gibbon, author of Sunset Song. He was raised on a farm nearby. PIC: CC/Rob Hickling. | CC/Rob Hickling. It is likely that he attended the church as a boy with the old Arbuthnott Primary School then just next door. Despite leaving Scotland for England and settling in Welwyn Garden City in 1925 after a spell in the RAF, his ashes were brought back to the churchyard at the heart of the farming community which inspired him. Now, after the Kirk announced the sale of the church, a group of residents is hoping to buy the building and develop the author's legacy in Sunset Song country. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Residents Charles Roberts-McIntosh, of Fordoun, said a charity would be set up to buy the church, which dates to the 13th Century and survived the Reformation. Mr Roberts-McIntosh said that Grassic Gibbon described in Sunset Song the light coming in the east window of the church during a morning service. 'It does indicate that he attended services here. The walk across the back from Bloomfield over the fields and by-ways actually takes you down to the Grassic Gibbon Centre and then down to the church.' He added: 'The church, well it is history. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'We want to buy the church and develop artistic and cultural links, from music concerts to book festivals, anything that is linked to its heritage. 'It is not going to just be a shrine. We want to develop what Grassic Gibbon started.' Vivien Heilbron, who played lead character Chris Guthrie in the original dramatisation of Sunset Song, earlier said she was 'sad and mystified' that the church was due to close. The small congregation is set to move to Bervie Church following the closure, which the Church of Scotland said should happen by the end of the year. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Ms Heilbron said: 'I remember the church was a beautiful building when we filmed there. 'I am sad and mystified that it will close. 'It is not the first time that Scotland has not quite honoured the people who represent her so well.' Meanwhile, Alan Riach, Professor of Scottish Literature at Glasgow University said he was 'appalled' by plans to close the church. He reportedly said: 'This is one of the great places of pilgrimage in literary Scotland.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Professor Riach said he visited Arbuthnott Kirkyard with students to visit the memorial stone to the author and his wife Rebecca, or Ray Middleton, who was also raised on a nearby farm. A Church of Scotland spokesperson said the Kirk needed 'radical change' against a backdrop of falling visitor numbers, a decline in membership and a reduction in income both nationally and locally. Presbyteries across the country were asked in 2021 to decide their future directions, with the decision then taken to dispose of Arbuthnott following that process. A church statement added; 'We believe a significant reduction in the number of buildings we own is necessary in order to deliver sustainable and realistic new expressions of ministry and church and to ensure all of our buildings are suitable for the needs of mission in the 21st century. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'We recognise that Arbuthnott Church, as with many other church buildings across the country, is important and valuable to the local community.' It is hoped, following its sale, that the church can be used for special services, such as Watch Night and Harvest.
The National
26-05-2025
- Business
- The National
Historic Scottish church featured in novel could be saved by locals
The Church of Scotland is selling Arbuthnott Church in Kincardineshire in an effort to plug a £5.9 million deficit. The church was the inspiration for the setting of Lewis Grassic Gibbon's Sunset Song and it is also where the author is buried. Lewis Grassic Gibbon The Church of Scotland said it recognised that the building – the oldest section of which dates back to the late 1200s – as "important and valuable", but that it needed a "significant reduction" in the number of properties it owns. The Arbuthnott Community Development Group is looking to purchase the building and preserve its cultural legacy, while it could also be used as a local hub for events such as concerts. Charles Roberts-McIntosh, chairman of the group, told the BBC that he is determined the building and Gibbon's legacy are protected. READ MORE: Hillwalker dies while climbing mountain in King's Balmoral Estate He said: "We will look to raise money or apply for funds. "People are still interested in this history and rural life - and tourists love Scottish culture. "The value culturally is incalculable. Sunset Song endures because it is a wonderful piece of literature." Alan Riach, National contributor and professor of Scottish literature at the University of Glasgow, said he was "appalled" at the news of the church's closure. He told the BBC: "This is one of the great places of pilgrimage in literary Scotland. "It's not only fixed forever in our cultural history as an essential co-ordinate point in the biography of one of our greatest writers, but it's also a key reference point in his greatest novel." Sunset Song was written in 1932 by Grassic Gibbon, the pen name of James Leslie Mitchell, and is the first novel in the trilogy A Scots Quair. It follows the story of a young woman growing up before and during the First World War and draws on the themes of class, war, religion and female emancipation. READ MORE: The life and death of Scottish author Lewis Grassic Gibbon The kirk, named Kinraddie Church in the novel, is a significant location in the story. Grassic Gibbon is buried in the graveyard, and the inscription on his headstone reads: "for I will give you the morning star'. There is also a sculpture inside the church of the great knight of yesteryear, which features at the start of Sunset Song. A statement from the Church of Scotland said: "We believe a significant reduction in the number of buildings we own is necessary in order to deliver sustainable and realistic new expressions of ministry and church and to ensure all of our buildings are suitable for the needs of mission in the 21st century. "As part of the process, the local presbytery has taken the decision to release Arbuthnott Church. "There are no set dates as yet, but under the current mission plan, Arbuthnott Church would be released by the end of 2025."
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Our church inspired Sunset Song - we want to save it
A historic church that played a central role in one of Scotland's most-loved novels is being put up for sale to plug a gap in Church of Scotland's finances and locals are determined to save it. Arbuthnott Church, nestled in the beautiful countryside of Kincardineshire, was the inspiration for the setting of Sunset Song and the remains of its author, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, are buried in its graveyard. The Church of Scotland recognises the building - the oldest section of which dates back to the late 1200s - as "important and valuable", but says it needs a "significant reduction" in the properties it owns. Charles Roberts-McIntosh, chairman of the Arbuthnott Community Development Group, said he is determined that the building and Grassic Gibbon's cultural legacy are preserved. "We will look to raise money or apply for funds," Mr Roberts-McIntosh said. "People are still interested in this history and rural life - and tourists love Scottish culture. "The value culturally is incalculable. Sunset Song endures because it is a wonderful piece of literature." Sunset Song was written in 1932 by Grassic Gibbon, the pen name of James Leslie Mitchell. It was the first book in the trilogy - A Scots Quair - telling the story of Chris Guthrie, a young woman who lives and works on her family farm in the Mearns, the farming areas south of Aberdeen. The novel is set on the fictional estate of Kinraddie which Grassic Gibbon based on Arbuthnott, where he lived as a child and where his ashes were buried after his death at the age of 33 in 1935. The story told by the trilogy begins just before World War One and follows Chris from the countryside of her childhood to a big city, touching on class, war, religion and female emancipation. In 1971, a six-episode television adaptation of the novel was the first colour drama made by BBC Scotland and was greeted with huge acclaim. It was credited with reigniting interest in Grassic Gibbon, and Sunset Song was put on the Higher English syllabus. In 2016, it was voted Scotland's favourite book in a BBC poll, ahead of the Wasp Factory by Iain Banks and Lanark by Alasdair Gray. In an introduction to the novel, published in 2020, the then First Minister Nicola Sturgeon wrote of her love for the book, which she said is her favourite novel. Alan Riach, professor of Scottish literature at the University of Glasgow, told the BBC he was "appalled" at news of the imminent closure of Arbuthnott Church. "This is one of the great places of pilgrimage in literary Scotland," he said. "It's not only fixed forever in our cultural history as an essential co-ordinate point in the biography of one of our greatest writers, but it's also a key reference point in his greatest novel." Scott Lyall, an associate professor of Modern and Scottish Literature at Edinburgh Napier University, described the church as a site of "genuine importance to Scotland's literary heritage". Prof Lyall said: "The minister at the end of Sunset Song, in tribute to the local fallen war dead of World War One, indicates that we must remember the past and the dead to better understand our present condition and build a better future. "It would be a sad irony then if the church, with its own long history, were to be neglected. "It would be wonderful to see it as a cultural heritage site with Gibbon's life and reputation at its centre." The Church of Scotland said it expected the main church building would go up for sale later this year. Its congregation for Sunday services is small, in what is a quiet rural area of just a few hundred people. The kirk hopes nearby Bervie Church will serve as the main focus of local worship. The Church of Scotland said that, in recent years, it had identified a need for "radical change against a backdrop of falling minister numbers, a decline in membership and a reduction in income". A statement said: "We believe a significant reduction in the number of buildings we own is necessary in order to deliver sustainable and realistic new expressions of ministry and church and to ensure all of our buildings are suitable for the needs of mission in the 21st century. "As part of the process, the local presbytery has taken the decision to release Arbuthnott Church." The statement added: "There are no set dates as yet, but under the current mission plan, Arbuthnott Church would be released by the end of 2025." Mr Roberts-McIntosh said the local community was determined to save a building that was so intrinsic to one of Scotland's most-loved novels. As well as honouring the author, it is thought the building could also become a local hub for events such as concerts, aided by the acoustics of the church building. Mr Roberts-McIntosh said the the building itself was "fundamentally sound". "It just needs some tender loving care," he said. Sunset Song: Enduring appeal of a Scottish classic Sunset Song 'is Scotland's favourite book' Sunset Song set for December release
