Tayport's Auld Kirk

Tayport’s Auld Kirk has stood at what was once the head of the town for more than 400 years. Till 1978, when its life as a place of worship came to an end, it was known officially as Ferryport-on-Craig Parish Church, keeping the old town name that changed in the mid-19th century when the railway arrived and the new name it gave the town caught on.

The church was first built in 1607; then, having become 'ruinous', it was completely rebuilt in two stages in 1794 and 1825. Its style, more or less unspoiled, is the vernacular Georgian of those later dates: modest but imposing, well-balanced, a little rugged, with an unshowy dignity and confidence. An unapologetic severity too, as suits a church shaped within an unbroken Calvinist tradition. For most of its 371 active years it was, in a way that's now hard to imagine, the hub and binding-point of its community. Nearly everyone took it as such without question: followed its rules (more or less), went to its services (most people every week, the rest at least now and then), suffered its penalties, had unquestioning faith in its teachings.

The Auld Kirk cannot be understood as more than a picturesque relic without some notion of the history and the belief system behind it. The book Tayport’s Auld Kirk aims to meet this need – to give a picture of the church, as a building and as its community's binding point, in connection with that history and with the doctrines and forms of worship that were part of it. 

Tayport’s Auld Kirk will be available shortly at a cost of £10. For more information, or to pre-order a copy, contact me at simonkingspooner@btinternet.com.