Kirkcaldy’s Old Kirk building has gone up for sale, three months after it closed as a place of worship.
The Church of Scotland has confirmed that offers over £75,000 are now being invited for the famous Lang Toun landmark, which shut its doors in November due to financial constraints.
The B-listed building dates from 1807, although it incorporates a square Norman-style 16th-century tower housing a 19th-century clock. It also stands in the original parish churchyard, which is owned by Fife Council, and contains some fine stained-glass windows.
Particulars of the sale urge buyers to “contemplate the minimum possible alteration or adaptation of the original fabric of the building,” which will be good news for those wishing to see minimum disruption to the church.
The Kirk also states that uses involving public assembly, such as a performance space, cultural use, creche or day nursery, educational or training facilities or a studio, may also be possible.
However, interested parties are urged to contact Fife Council to discuss their proposals for the building, with nothing so far being ruled in or out.
Also included in the sale price will be the church’s magnificent pipe organ, which was installed in 1885 by August Gern of London and is still in working order, while sellers will reserve the right to remove the war memorial attached to the tower.
Members of the Kirkcaldy Old Kirk Trust, which was set up to try to keep the church in the community, have expressed their dismay at what could befall the historic building.
The group was angered just weeks after the church closed as a place of worship when a number of items were placed for sale on the Church of Scotland’s website, while other historical items have been offered to Kirkcaldy Museum and Art Gallery and to the National Portrait Gallery.
The trust had requested that the church keep the building and contents intact until it had the opportunity to complete a business plan for preserving the Old Kirk, and wrote to the general trustees of the Church of Scotland detailing items of particular interest.
Rosemary Potter, from the trust, said, “It would be tragic if the Church of Scotland was to ignore the claim of Kirkcaldy people to continued access to their heritage and put short-term financial gain before the interests of the community they should be serving.”
The Church of Scotland closed the Old Kirk after stating that retaining both St Brycedale and the Old Kirk would not be “good stewardship” in the current financial climate, with Historic Scotland’s decision to reject an application for grant assistance to repair the Old Kirk tower thought to be the final straw.The property details can be downloaded at www.churchofscotland.org.uk