St. Gregory's Church is a Roman Catholic church at Preshome near

Buckie Buckie () is a burgh town (defined as such in List of burghs in Scotland, 1888) on the Moray Firth coast of Scotland. Counties of Scotland, Historically in Banffshire, Buckie was the largest town in the county until the administrative area was ...

in north-east Scotland. It is protected as a category A

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. Built in 1788, St. Gregory's was the first church building to be openly built by Catholics in Scotland since the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

of 1560. Catholic worship had previously been confined to private homes and clandestine churches.Kaplan, Benjamin J., ''Religious Conflict and the Practice of Toleration in Early Modern Europe,'' Harvard University Press, 2007, Chapter 8, pp. 198. ff. St Ninian's, a Catholic church at nearby Tynet, was erected in 1755 but was built to resemble a cottage. The design of the church was intended to make a statement of the pride that Catholics took in their faith. Therefore, the church has an elegant

Italian Baroque Italian Baroque (or ''Barocco'') is a stylistic period in Italian history and art that spanned from the late 16th century to the early 18th century. History The early 17th century marked a time of change for those of the Roman Catholic religion ...

façade that proclaims its Catholicism by being stylistically unique in Scotland. The pedimented gable sports classical urn finials and the Latin date "DEO 1788." The design of the church has been credited to Father John Reid, with later additions by Peter Paul Pugin. Inside, the

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...

incorporates a painting of St Gregory by Caracci, a gift from the

Earl of Findlater Earl of Seafield is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1701 for James Ogilvie, who in 1711 succeeded his father as 4th Earl of Findlater. The earldoms of Findlater and Seafield continued to be united until 1811, when the earl ...

References

Roman Catholic churches in Scotland 1788 establishments in Scotland Roman Catholic churches completed in 1788 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Churches in Moray Category A listed buildings in Moray Listed churches in Scotland Baroque architecture in Scotland Baroque church buildings in the United Kingdom {{Scotland-RC-church-stub