The Next IHR Centre for the History of People, Place and Community Event.
Recording a Reformation: preserving the stories of closed church buildings.
30th April, 2025.
5:30pm – 7:00pm.
ZOOM.
FREE.
This event is part of the IHR’s People, Place and Community seminar series and is hosted by the Centre for the History of People, Place and Community.
The Sacred Landscape project at the University of Saint Andrews was established to record the impact of changing religious landscapes, most notably the closure of church buildings, in the peninsular county of Fife and to work with stakeholders to provide guidelines for the best stewardship of formerly religious sites.
Fife, an important coastal region, gave birth to the Scottish Reformation and the accompanying mass destruction of religious fabric of medieval belief. Centuries later, further physical change marked the landscape as the national Church suffered ‘the Great Disruption’. In 1843, 450 Church of Scotland ministers broke away to form the Free Church of Scotland, prompting the creation of new congregations and requiring new buildings. However, potentially the greatest change was announced in 2021 when the Church of Scotland launched a process to sell under-used or surplus property: this included churches, halls and accommodation amounting to 40% of its portfolio.
Using Fife as a starting point, in this seminar a panel of speakers from across Scotland and England will collaboratively share and discuss approaches to recording the religious fabric, beliefs, and histories of changing congregations in the twenty-first century.
These sessions are FREE to attend but advance registration is required
More information and booking here
