![Crathie QE2 89](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Crathie_QE2_89.jpg)
Crathie Kirk is a small
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland.
The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...
parish church
A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...
in the
Scottish village of
Crathie
Crathie ( gd, Craichidh) is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It stands on the north bank of the River Dee.
Abergeldie Castle is away. It was built around 1550 and had 19th century additions. It was garrisoned by General Hugh Mackay in ...
, best known for being the regular place of worship of the
British royal family when they are in residence at the nearby
Balmoral Castle
Balmoral Castle () is a large estate house in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and a residence of the British royal family. It is near the village of Crathie, west of Ballater and west of Aberdeen.
The estate and its original castle were bought ...
.
Crathie Kirk is now united with neighbouring
Braemar
Braemar is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, around west of Aberdeen in the Highlands. It is the closest significantly-sized settlement to the upper course of the River Dee sitting at an elevation of .
The Gaelic ''Bràigh Mhàrr'' prop ...
to form a single parish with two places of worship. Eventually this parish will be further enlarged to include Glenmuick (
Ballater). The minister (since 2005) is Kenneth Mackenzie. Mackenzie was previously minister of the
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland.
The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...
congregation in
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
(1999–2005).
History
Crathie has been a place of
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
worship since the 9th century when a church was founded on the banks of the
River Dee by Saint Manire (Bishop of
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland.
It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...
and
Banff and a follower of
Saint Columba
Columba or Colmcille; gd, Calum Cille; gv, Colum Keeilley; non, Kolban or at least partly reinterpreted as (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is toda ...
, the pioneer of Christianity in Scotland). It is traditionally held that Manire
baptised
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
Pictish
Pictish is the extinct language, extinct Brittonic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited num ...
converts in a pool of the Dee east of the modern village of Crathie.
["Crathie Kirk", Braemar and Crathie Parish]
/ref> A single standing stone
A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright rock (geology), stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. T ...
at Rinabaich is all that remains of Manire's church (where Manire himself is reputedly buried). Subsequent places of worship were situated further west, near the location of present-day Crathie village. The ruins of a 13th-century church, dedicated to Saint Manire, stand on the riverbank south of the current structure.
A later church was built at the current site in 1805.[ ]Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
worshipped there from 1848, and every British monarch since has worshipped at Crathie Kirk. Victoria laid the foundation stone for a new, much larger, church in 1893. Victoria's decision to worship at Crathie Kirk initially caused a scandal, particularly when it was discovered that she had received communion there. As Supreme Governor
The supreme governor of the Church of England is the titular head of the Church of England, a position which is vested in the British monarch. Queen and Church > Queen and Church of England">The Monarchy Today > Queen and State > Queen and Churc ...
of the Anglican Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
, it was expected that she would worship in the Scottish Episcopal Church
The Scottish Episcopal Church ( gd, Eaglais Easbaigeach na h-Alba; sco, Scots Episcopal(ian) Kirk) is the ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion in Scotland.
A continuation of the Church of Scotland as intended by King James VI, and ...
, which recognised the authority of the archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
, although to do so would have been illegal since in her own words "Scotch bishops are mere dissenters".
Anne, Princess Royal
Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of ...
married Timothy Laurence
Vice Admiral Sir Timothy James Hamilton Laurence, (born 1 March 1955) is a retired Royal Navy officer and husband of the Princess Royal, Princess Anne, daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Laurence was equerry t ...
, then a commander
Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain.
...
in the Royal Navy, at Crathie Kirk, on 12 December 1992. The couple chose to marry in Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
as the Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
did not, at the time, permit remarriage after divorce. The Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland.
The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...
, which does not consider marriage to be a sacrament, has no objection to remarriage after divorce, depending on the circumstances which led to the end of the previous marriage. The British royal family attended the Sunday service here after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...
on the morning of 31 August 1997.
Architecture
The walls are built of local granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
and the roof made of Scots pine
''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US) or Baltic pine, is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-green leaves and orang ...
. Building materials were donated by the surrounding estates, and £5000 raised from the local population to fund construction. A gift of £2,000 was made by Queen Victoria's daughters Princess Beatrice
Princess Beatrice, Mrs Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi (Beatrice Elizabeth Mary; born 8 August 1988) is a member of the British royal family. She is the elder daughter of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Sarah, Duchess of York. She is a niece of Charle ...
and Princess Louise who raised the money at a Bazaar held in the grounds of Balmoral Castle.[
The church, built in the fashionable ]Gothic revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
style by Elgin architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
A. Marshall Mackenzie, was completed in 1895. Marshall Mackenzie then went on to build St Ninian's Chapel, Braemar, for Queen Victoria's grandson-in-law, the 1st Duke of Fife. Crathie Kirk's south transept
A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...
is reserved for royal use. The north transept contains pew
A pew () is a long bench (furniture), bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating Member (local church), members of a Church (congregation), congregation or choir in a Church (building), church, synagogue or sometimes a courtroom.
Overview
...
s belonging to the Farquharson family, Lairds of Invercauld and owners of Braemar Castle
Braemar Castle is situated near the village of Braemar in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is a possession of the chief of Clan Farquharson and is leased to a local charitable foundation. It is open to the public.
History
From the Late Middle Ages, ...
and to the Gordon family, Lairds of Abergeldie and owners of nearby Abergeldie Castle
Abergeldie Castle is a four-floor tower house in Crathie and Braemar parish, SW Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It stands at an altitude of , on the south bank of the River Dee, west of Ballater, and about east of the royal residence of Balmoral ...
.
Royal connections
* Queen Victoria donated two stained glass
Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
windows which commemorate author and social reformer Reverend Norman MacLeod, and endowed the Father Willis organ that stood in the kirk between 1895 and 2003.
* Victoria's highland servant John Brown John Brown most often refers to:
*John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859
John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to:
Academia
* John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...
is buried in the churchyard.
* Princess Beatrice, the youngest daughter of Queen Victoria, donated four bells which continue to hang in the belltower.
* Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.
The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...
donated two marble medallions commemorating his brother Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Alfred (Alfred Ernest Albert; 6 August 184430 July 1900) was the sovereign duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 1893 to 1900. He was the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. He was known as the Duke of Edinburgh from ...
, and sister Victoria, Princess Royal and Empress Frederick
Victoria, Princess Royal (Victoria Adelaide Mary Louisa; 21 November 1840 – 5 August 1901) was German Empress and Queen of Prussia as the wife of German Emperor Frederick III. She was the eldest child of Queen Victoria of the United Kingd ...
.
* Edward's son George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936.
Born duri ...
donated a communion table dedicated to the memory of his father. This was made from white marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...
quarried on the island of Iona
Iona (; gd, Ì Chaluim Chille (IPA: iːˈxaɫ̪ɯimˈçiʎə, sometimes simply ''Ì''; sco, Iona) is a small island in the Inner Hebrides, off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It is mainly known for Iona Abbey, though there ...
, the site of Columba's monastery.
* Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
donated a Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
decorated with the royal coat of arms.
* Following the death of Elizabeth II
On 8 September 2022, at 15:10 BST, Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, and the longest-reigning British monarch, died of old age at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, at the age of 96. The Queen's death ...
at Balmoral, the church held a private service for members of the Royal Family on 10 September 2022.
Ministers
*1563 – Sir Laurence Coutts
*1567 – Richard Christison
*1574 – John Wilson
*1576–85 – Archibald Wilson
*1590–1608 – David Sanderson
*1626–63 – Alexander Ferries (Ferguson) M.A.
*1669–99 – William Robertson M.A.
*1700–14 – Adam Ferguson M.A.
*1715–48 – John McInnes M.A.
*1784–88 – James Wilson M.A.
*1789–1822 – Charles McHardy M.A.
*1822–40 - Alexander McFarlane
*1840–63 – Archibald Anderson M.A.
*1864–74 – Alexander Minty Beattie M.A.
*1867–73 – Malcolm Campbell Taylor M.A.
*1874–96 – Archibald Alexander Campbell D.D.
*1897–1918 – Samuel James Ramsay Sibbald M.V.O., D.D
*1919–41 – John Stirton C.V.O., D.D.
*1937–63 – John Lamb C.V.O., D.D.
*1964–71 – Ronald Henderson Gunn Budge M.V.O., M.A.
*1972–77 – Thomas James Trail Nichol M.V.O., M.B.E., M.C., M.A., D.D.
*1979–96 – James Alexander Keith Angus T.D., M.A., L.V.O.
*1996–2005 – Robert P. Sloan M.A., B.D.
*Since 2005 – Kenneth I. Mackenzie B.D., C.P.S.[Church of Scotland Year Book]
Burials of note
*John Brown John Brown most often refers to:
*John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859
John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to:
Academia
* John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...
See also
* List of Church of Scotland parishes
The Church of Scotland, the national church of Scotland, divides the country into Presbyteries, which in turn are subdivided into Parishes, each served by a parish church, usually with its own minister. Unions and readjustments may however res ...
References
External links
*
Information on the history of the Crathie parish
Photo of Crathie Kirk
{{Authority control
Churches in Aberdeenshire
Church of Scotland churches in Scotland
Category B listed buildings in Aberdeenshire
Listed churches in Scotland