Undiscovered Scotland

 

Stronsay's only church lies near the centre of the island on the B9060 just south of Wardhill. It was built between 1950 and 1955 to the design of Edinburgh architect Leslie Graham MacDougall.

The story of the church dates back a further 11 years to the death of Alexander Moncur in 1944. He left £20,000 to build a new church on Stronsay in memory of his grandfather, James Moodie, who had been a minister on the island from 1822 to 1860.

What has emerged at the island's focal point is a large, grey-harled, cruxiform church, unlike anything else in Orkney yet distinctly Orcadian in some of its details. The church itself feels fairly narrow yet extremely high, with white walls and free standing seating.

The communion table is in the church's sanctuary, lit by the light flowing in through the stained glass east window. This illustrates the good shepherd and was produced by Marjorie Kemp of Edinburgh.

Externally the south transept is topped off by a bellcote with a Dutch styling that reflects some of the island's early influences. The design emphasises simplicity, and largely local materials were used in its construction (with the exception, obviously, of wood on a largely treeless island).

Though attractive, it is sad that the bellcote replaced an original part of the plan: a tall circular tower modelled on that of St Magnus Church on the island of Egilsay. The original plan also called for a hall and a manse, forming an enclosed square with the church and its tower. These, too, were not built. Instead use continued to be made of a pre-existing hall that now abuts the north transept of the church.