Public asked for views to safeguard future of one of Scotland's most iconic churches

A public session is being launched to safeguard the way forward for one in every of Scotland’s most historic and iconic church buildings.

The Abbey Church of Dunfermline in Fife comprises the bones of King Robert the Bruce and is thought the world over, welcoming greater than 40,000 guests a 12 months.

A part of 950-year-old Dunfermline Abbey, it’s going through “vital challenges” with a restore invoice of round £4 million anticipated over the following three to 5 years to make sure it stays wind and watertight.

Native church leaders estimate {that a} growth plan to improve amenities within the constructing will value an additional £4 million.

An exhibition inspecting the function of the church in the local people and its historical past, is being held at Dunfermline Carnegie Library & Galleries from 22 March to six April.

Guests could have a possibility to make identified their views on the way forward for the constructing, described because the “jewel within the crown” of Scotland’s latest metropolis and one which captures “Scotland’s historical past in microcosm”.

They’ll have an open invitation to attend a particular occasion on the Abbey Church, well-known because the royal mausoleum of Margaret (St Margaret), David I and Robert I (Robert the Bruce) , on 5 April to additional talk about proposals on tips on how to shield it for future generations.

The Abbey Church, which doesn’t obtain public funding, has arrange a web based fundraising web page the place individuals can donate cash.

Nationwide significance

Initially based as a priory by Queen Margaret within the Eleventh century, Dunfermline Abbey is described as Scotland’s equal of Westminster Abbey in London and the Basilica of Saint-Denis in Paris.

Abbey Church of Dunfermline minister Rev Dr MaryAnn Rennie admitted: “These are eye-watering sums of cash.

“We’ve got a congregation of 425 and up till now, the burden has fallen on them to fund repairs and enhancements in addition to safe small grants from funding our bodies resembling The Carnegie (Dunfermline) Belief.

“Nonetheless, that is an unsustainable funding mannequin.

“Congregations of buildings of nationwide significance shouldn’t be solely chargeable for the majority of restore, upkeep and sustainability of a historic constructing of this standing.

“Our church constructing is a singular icon and the tower, with the lettering ‘King Robert the Bruce’, is a landmark and synonymous with town.

“Our wealthy historical past attracts guests and pilgrims from all around the world.

“That is why we’re opening a dialog with the local people, key organisations and people with an curiosity about how we go ahead with the constructing.”

For almost a millennium, Dunfermline Abbey – its palace, nave and church – have supplied a spot of neighborhood and refuge for its residents, guests and pilgrims.

Within the Center Ages, it was the most important employer within the space, simply as Fife Council, Amazon, Lloyds and TechnicFMC are in the present day.

Within the 18th and nineteenth centuries, The Abbey Church of Dunfermline, in addition to the burgh council and native employers, was instrumental in bringing about road lighting and improved sanitation to the city, in addition to sustaining the poor roll which gave individuals entry to indoor shelter in the event that they have been ailing, aged or in any other case unable to assist themselves.

This work adheres to the rules that Queen Margaret set out when she based the church within the Eleventh century.

Her son King David I paid for the extension of the church right into a full Benedictine Abbey.

In 1320, King Robert the Bruce funded the completion and upgrading of the monastery and guesthouses and within the 1560s Queen Mary funded additional main growth work to the palace and nave.

The palace turned the residence of James VI’s queen, Anna of Denmark and the longer term Charles I used to be born there in 1600, the final monarch to be born in Scotland.

Following the Protestant Reformation, Dunfermline Abbey was ransacked with the east finish of the choir space destroyed and the constructing fell into additional disrepair over the following 200 years.

The nave survived and served because the parish church constructing till the nineteenth century.

A brand new church was constructed for £8,300, roughly £1 million in in the present day’s cash.

It was funded by the Heritors (feudal native landlords) plus the Church of Scotland Lodging Committee and opened in 1821.

The nave continues to function one in every of a number of entrances to the church constructing.

It’s maintained by Historic Setting Scotland.

Dunfermline Abbey, and by extension the Abbey Church, has attracted Kings and Queens and pilgrims from throughout Europe.

In October 2022, His Majesty King Charles and Her Majesty Queen Camilla visited Dunfermline Abbey to mark its 950th anniversary and Dunfermline turning into Scotland’s eighth metropolis.

It was the monarch’s first official engagement after ascending the throne following the demise of his mom, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.

Dunfermline’s metropolis standing bid as a part of the late Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee was primarily based on its historic standing after King Malcolm established Dunfermline as a brand new seat for royal energy within the mid-Eleventh century.

The restore invoice and improve prices are primarily based on surveys carried out by specialist firms.

Starting of a journey

Dr Rennie mentioned the congregation needs a future for the constructing, including “we hope the individuals of town of Dunfermline and the entire of Scotland do too.

“It has a spot in individuals’s hearts, however now we have to maneuver the constructing ahead,” she defined.

“It is now not sufficient to have it solely as a spot of worship.

“We wish to guarantee it continues to fulfil its authentic intent of being an area for neighborhood, refuge and training on the coronary heart of Dunfermline for town, guests and pilgrims for the foreseeable future.

“Nonetheless, to attain this we have to not solely restore the constructing to maintain it wind and water-tight but additionally adapt it while additionally sustaining its dignity and historic options.

“A raise, updated heating and lighting, extra bathrooms, assembly rooms for neighborhood teams and church teams to make use of, versatile seating provision that permits a variety of occasions to happen.

“We would like this constructing to be on the coronary heart of Dunfermline and we would like everybody with a connection to town, whether or not a distant relative of Robert the Bruce, a vacationer, a pilgrim, a resident or a member of the congregation, to come back with us on this journey.”

Detailed discussions about the way forward for the constructing have been ongoing at Kirk Session conferences for a few years and the choice to open up a public session is the results of cautious planning.

Dunfermline Abbey finance convener Ian Walker made clear that the Kirk Session has not been ignoring the monetary state of affairs going through the constructing and take their duties very critically.

“We’ve got been discussing for a while how we’re going to deal with the repairs to our constructing and the way we’re going to verify it stays the enduring centrepiece of town of Dunfermline,” he mentioned.

Mr Walker mentioned the state of affairs is “very difficult” for trustees however they strongly agree they need the longer term for the constructing to be a constructive one.

Professor Michael Penman, Professor of Historical past at The College of Stirling, mentioned: “Dunfermline Abbey is Scotland’s equal of Westminster Abbey in England or Saint-Denis in France.

“It served each as a parish church to the rising adjoining burgh neighborhood, and as a monastic dwelling for the royal mausoleum and its integral cult shrine of St Margaret.

“However Dunfermline Abbey can be absolutely Scotland’s historical past in microcosm.

“In its partitions, data, materials stays and, above all, the tales of its individuals, we are able to hint over a thousand years of non secular, political, financial, navy, civic and cultural expertise.

“And, just like the medieval castles of Edinburgh and Stirling, the Abbey is nearly singularly synonymous with the identification of Dunfermline as a burgh and now metropolis, an everlasting icon on the coronary heart of a wider hinterland and ‘kingdom’.

“In that sense, it’s certainly maybe time to re-evaluate the way it ought to be conserved, offered and used.

“As I usually ask my college students, given its significance and what it holds (and it holds a lot extra than simply the stays of Robert the Bruce), what would possibly different communities and even nations have completed with such a church and its legacy?

“And what ought to we do now and for future generations?

“That’s the very query the church goes to ask the neighborhood in March (and April) when it goes out to session on the way forward for the constructing.”

In November 2022, an historic declaration of friendship between the Church of Scotland and the Catholic Church in Scotland was signed on the Abbey Church.