Public support to keep Kirkcaldy’s Old Kirk in the community once it closes as a place of worship is growing, if a meeting of concerned locals heald during the week is anything to go by.
Supporters have formed the Kirkcaldy Old Kirk Trust group to preserve the church and its heritage.
The Kirk Wynd church, which was consecrated in 1244, will cease to be used for worship from November 7 after congregational trustees decided it should close due to financial pressures, although its final fate remains unclear.
Rosemary Potter, acting chairwoman of the new trust, said local people had demonstrated their strength of feeling at a meeting organised at St Peter’s Church.
She said, “Many people have approached me with the concern that this fine historic building will be left to deteriorate to rack and ruin, or could be sold for inappropriate development a prospect that fills them with horror.
“Those of us who have formed the trust believe that the heritage of the Old Kirk in Christian worship and service to the community on this site from Christianity’s earliest beginnings in the town should be maintained and we are keen to see it take up a sustainable role serving the community in the heart of the town.
“It is right that the Church of Scotland, as present owners of the building, should realise that this building is at the heart of Kirkcaldy’s identity and we are hoping that they will delay any decision to strip the building while the trust is undertaking its business plan.
“This was a strong feeling at our meeting and we have heard that members of the St Bryce Kirk congregation are sympathetic to the trust’s aims.”
Kirkcaldy Old Kirk Trust is being supported by the Fife Historic Buildings Trust and the Scottish Redundant Churches Trust and has also been helped by the Architectural Heritage Fund and Fife Council.
“We are serious in our efforts to find the best combination of uses for the building,” Mrs Potter said. “It has very good acoustics and makes a fine concert venue, as musicians supporting the trust tell us and Ann Watters (Kirkcaldy Civic Society) has suggested it could provide additional exhibition space for the museum’s collections.”If you want to support the trust, contact Mrs Potter on 01592 265499 or leave a comment below.