Carnoustie - Religion - History of Religion

History of Religion

The site now occupied by Panbride Church has been a site of worship since 1147. A series of successive buildings have been built at the site, with the present building built in 1681 by George Maule, 2nd Earl of Panmure. It was extensively repaired in 1775 and enlarged considerably by Fox Maule in 1851.

Barry Parish was founded in 1230 when Alexander II bequeathed the land to Balmerino Abbey. The earliest record of a church at Barry is from 1243 when the parish church was consecrated by David de Bernham, Bishop of St Andrews (1238–1252). The building that was Barry Parish Church up until the 1950s was built in 1800 on the site of an earlier building that was described as being "old and sorry". All that remains of Barry Parish Church now is the lower portion of its walls and its kirkyard.

The first two churches within the town of Carnoustie were built in 1810 by two rival branches of the Secession Church, which had split from the Established Church in 1733 over the issue of patronage. The Anti-Burghers demolished the church they had built in 1789 near Grange of Barry Farm to rebuild it nearer the expanding village of Carnoustie. The 'Red Kirk', as it was known, was situated at Rye Park, where Thistle Street now stands. The Burghers, built their church the same year in Kinloch Street. This church later went through a series of Unions with other churches, becoming part of the United Original Secession Church in 1822 and the Free Church in 1852.

Barry Parish Church proved insufficient to house the rapidly expanding population of the parish and the refusal of the Heritors to fund its enlargement led to the building of Carnoustie church in 1837. This building was situated on the south side of Dundee street at the site on which now stands the Army and Air Cadets building. The quoad sacra parish was assigned to the church by the Presbytery of Arbroath in 1838.

The Disruption of 1843 had a profound effect on the town. A small Free Church was set up at the East end of Barry, and was replaced by a larger building in 1888, which continues as Barry Church today. The Free Church took over Carnoustie Church, and eventually built a second church immediately adjacent to it in 1850 when the Established Church claimed ownership of the building. This new building was later to become known as St Stephen's church. The school associated with the new Free Church, The Philip Hall, is still in existence and is now used by Carnoustie Church as their church hall. In 1854, the part of the congregation of Panbride Church that had joined the Free Church built what became Newton Church at Gallowlaw after several years of being housed in a wooden building on Westhaven Farm. The building was damaged by fire in 1887 and rebuilt to a larger design.

In 1873, the congregation of the Red Kirk, which had now become part of The United Presbyterian Church, again demolished their church and, in part, used the material to build The Erskine Church on the North side of Dundee Street. This, along with St Stevens Free Church, the Free Church in Kinloch Street, Barry Free Church and Newton of Panbride Church became part of the United Free Church when the United Presbyterians and Free Church merged in 1900.

The Scottish Episcopal Church traces its history in Carnoustie to 1853 when it began meeting in an old Schoolhouse off Maule Street. It was formed into a congregation in 1877, which rapidly outgrew its premises, leading to the building of The Church of The Holyrood in 1881, the former building becoming the church hall. The church building was graded as a Category B listed building in 1971

In 1901, the established Church of Scotland built a new church, St Brides Chapel, on Carlogie Road for the burghal part of Panbride parish. This building became redundant as a place of worship in 1929 when the congregations of the Free church and Established church united, and it served for a while as the Church hall, until it was sold to the Boys Brigade in 1952. Carnoustie Church built its new, larger church in 1902, opposite its former site. This building continues today to house the congregation of Carnoustie Church. The congregations of Carnoustie Church and St Stephen's merged in 1969, with St Stephen's being demolished to make way for the new Health Centre.

On unification of the United Free Church with the Established Church in 1929, St Stephens and The Erskine Church's congregations merged, using St Stephen's as a home. The Erskine Church was sold, and since then has variously been a cinema, snooker club and pub. Those that did not agree with reunification with the Established Church formed a congregation as part of The United Free Church (Continuing), first finding a home in the YMCA building, later buying the Original Secession Church in Kinloch Street in 1934. The two churches in Barry finally completed their move to the former Free Church site in the 1950s.

The congregations of Panbride Church and Newton of Panbride Church united in 1956 and those of Carnoustie Church and Barry Church in 2003.