ARBIRLOT & CARMYLLIE CHURCHES

A PARISH PROFILE

Arbirlot Church

Carmyllie Church 1

A Message from the Vacancy Committee

Thank you for showing an interest in our parish profile. We hope that you will find the contents informative and interesting and that you will feel that ministering to our congregations and parishes will be fulfilling, stimulating and enjoyable. The flexibility of the half-time post available offers the opportunity for a working life that can be truly enriching with time for family commitments, additional study and the pursuit of other interests. You will have the enthusiastic support of your congregations, an excellent quality of life and the joy of living in beautiful countryside, yet with easy access to towns and cities.

If, after reading this profile, you would like to take further your interest in this ministry – and we hope that you do – we would be delighted to welcome you and show you around our parishes. You can contact our Interim Moderator, Rev Brian Ramsay on 01241 828243 and our Session Clerks, Jim Fairweather (Arbirlot) on 01241 876150 and James Black (Carmyllie) on 01241 860213.

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LOCAL INFORMATION

Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2010

The adjacent parishes of Arbirlot and Carmyllie lie immediately west of the town of Arbroath which has an active harbour, marina and fishing fleet and is famed for its Arbroath Smokies. In 1320 the Declaration of Arbroath, also known as the Scottish Declaration of Independence was signed. It is recognised by millions of Scots at home and abroad as the most treasured document in Scottish history.

Arbirlot, which borders Arbroath, takes its name from the Elliot Water which flows from Carmyllie to the sea at Elliot. The parish is bounded by fine sandy beaches which stretch along the Firth of Tay from Broughty Ferry near Dundee to Lunan Bay near Montrose. Sailing is a popular pastime in these waters.

Arbirlot Village

Arbirlot parish rises inland about 4 miles to meet Carmyllie parish which extends a further 4 miles to the north west, rising to a height of about 600 feet with extensive views of the county of Angus. The county of Fife, with its beautiful countryside and the world-famous St Andrews golf courses, is just across the water and readily reached by the Tay Road Bridge; Carnoustie, with its equally famous golf courses, is a few miles south of Carmyllie. Arbroath Harbour 3

Our parishes are about 15 miles from the centre of Dundee, 60 miles from Aberdeen and 80 miles from Edinburgh. All are reached by dual carriageway and all have airports allowing easy access to London and other major cities. The railway station in Arbroath has direct services to the main Scottish cities as well as to London.

Whilst this accessibility is undoubtedly beneficial, there is no need to travel far to visit wonderful gardens and historic buildings. Dunnotar Castle lies to the north on the coast road, Glamis Castle is about 15 miles to the north west and the House of Dun lies about 12 miles north of Arbroath where the awe-inspiring Arbroath Abbey is situated. Just beyond Forfar lie five outstandingly beautiful Glens, each with its own special characteristics.

The county has many delightful outlets for local arts and crafts and we are well provided with cinemas, theatres and musical venues, including the famous Caird Hall. In Dundee lie the Frigate Unicorn, one of the oldest wooden warships still afloat, and the RRS Discovery which carried Captain Scott on his ill-fated journey to the Antarctic. Dundee is home to the magnificent McManus Gallery which recently displayed Titian’s painting of Diana and Actaeon. A ‘sister’ to the Victoria and Albert Museum is to be developed on the Dundee Waterfront and the designs for the new building are out for public consultation.

THE PARISHES

Arbirlot

Most of the parish is rural, centred on the attractive conservation village of Arbirlot where the Church and manse are located, with a small part of the parish in Arbroath town. The valley of the Elliot provides pleasant wooded walks and the elevated area of the parish gives splendid views over prime farmland. The parish has a population of about 400 adults employed in agricultural-related activities, the oil industry, universities/academia and travelling to work in Arbroath, Dundee or further afield. Arbirlot Church

Arbirlot Primary School has a roll of 25 children with 2 teachers. There is also a nursery, a playgroup and a parent and toddler group. The school is an important part of parish life and has a very good relationship with the Church; our minister visited the school every week and held end of term services for staff, pupils and the community four times a year. Young people attend Arbroath, Carnoustie and Forfar secondary schools. The close relationship between the parishes of Arbirlot and Carmyllie is echoed in the relationship between Arbirlot and Carmyllie primary schools which share a Head Teacher.

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Carmyllie

The concentrations of population in Carmyllie are in the small villages of Redford and Greystone with Carmyllie Church lying in attractive open countryside midway between the two. Forfar, where Presbytery meets, is 8 miles away and a bus service linking Arbroath with Forfar passes through Redford 4 times daily. Farming is still the mainstay of the community, but, increasingly, the inhabitants of Carmyllie commute to nearby towns and cities for work.

Carmyllie School

Carmyllie Primary School in Redford has a roll of 29 children with 2 teachers and 4 nursery school pupils. Carmyllie children attend the playgroup in Arbirlot and a parent and toddler group meets in Carmyllie school.

Both parishes benefit from the proximity of excellent opportunities for further education at Arbroath College, Dundee College, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Abertay University and Dundee University. Dundee University has a particularly good reputation in the Sciences and computer studies and is rated very highly nationally in Medicine with a University Teaching Hospital.

PARISH LIFE

The scattered nature of settlement and the influx of newcomers to both parishes has diluted the focus of traditional parish life in recent years; nevertheless there remains a good community spirit. Parishioners who do not choose to join Carmyllie Church continue to support our activities both financially and by their attendance at services and other Church activities. Arbirlot continues to draw worshippers from Arbroath, despite more conveniently located town churches.

Sunday School - Harvest Barrow

Arbirlot Church has an excellent hall which is utilised regularly by the Sunday School, WRI, Men’s Club, Tai-Chi group, two children’s theatre groups and art shows. There are undoubtedly other ways in which it could be used to the benefit of the parish. An annual Burns’ Supper is held in the hall, organised by the Church, but attended by many from the parish and beyond. On occasion, soup and coffee are served in the hall after the Church service and the social committee organises events such as open days in local gardens, sponsored walks and silent auctions which bring together parishioners, both members and non-members of the Church. These events also raise funds.

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The Carmyllie Church hall is small but very adequately houses meetings of the Guild, Church coffee mornings, sales of work, a twice-weekly art group and meetings of our flourishing Heritage Society. It is also the venue for the Session meetings which are held jointly with Arbirlot. Most of the parish activities centre on the large, modern Carmyllie hall which has no direct involvement with the Church. It is there that the Men’s Club and WRI meet and the very active Carmyllie Amateur Dramatic Society rehearses and puts on performances twice a year. Carmyllie Guild Meeting

Carmyllie hall and its grounds host archery classes, badminton, dog training, dancing and piping classes, as well as providing a venue for parties, quizzes, dances, barbeques and school sports days.

In recent years, our Churches have organised an annual ceilidh for agricultural workers from predominantly Eastern European countries to introduce them to Scottish country dancing, stovies and the famous Forfar Bridies.

THE MINISTRY

Arbirlot and Carmyllie Churches have been linked for the past 27 years. The congregations have a very good, collaborative relationship, reflected in the many activities that we undertake together and in the joint Session meetings and Church services which we have from time to time, including ‘favourite hymns’ evenings and the Watchnight service.

Harvest Service at Carmyllie Church

We are fortunate to have been able to sustain such a positive and supportive interdependence; we try to help each other out so that, for example, when an organist in one Church is unavailable, the other Church’s organist will play at both services. We seem to be able to meet the challenges that arise with enough sensitivity to each other’s needs - and with enough humour - to overcome any problems. 6

Church services are held each Sunday at 9.30am in Carmyllie and at 11am in Arbirlot. Communion is celebrated 4 times each year in each Church on the same Sunday and, by tradition, the Remembrance Day service is held at the War Memorial in Carmyllie. A joint Maundy Thursday service with Communion is held each year and the two Churches host either the early evening or the late Watchnight service.

The congregational rolls have been revised recently. Arbirlot has 193 members and Carmyllie has 123. Arbirlot has a Sunday School staffed by a Church elder and parent helpers. Carmyllie does not have a Sunday School at present, but we have two young children attending Church regularly whom we hope will provide the nucleus for a new class in the future.

Although there are no other youth organisations directly connected with the Church at present, there are young people in the parishes who would benefit from the provision of youth-orientated activities and we are keen to develop these.

Hospital visiting has been a much appreciated part of the minister’s role, with a wide selection of hospital locations ensuring that the journeys are varied and interesting.

Our congregations are acutely aware of the challenges of a part-time ministry and we will work together to be flexible and attentive to the demands of the post so that the minister can meet the needs of both parishes in the time available.

Arbirlot Congregation

THE BUILDINGS

The Church buildings and halls are in excellent condition with up to date lighting and heating systems. Both Churches have good organs (as well as excellent organists!). Carmyllie Church is to have an induction loop installed in the near future, generously donated by a member and Arbirlot is also considering this facility. In 2009, the Listed Buildings Inspectorate considered Carmyllie Church and its cartilage to be uniquely unspoiled in the East of Scotland.

War Memorial Window - Arbirlot 7

The stained glass windows in both Churches are notable; Arbirlot has windows in memory of the Rev Thomas Guthrie, an exceptionally fine War Memorial window and a beautiful Millenium children’s window. Carmyllie Church contains the magnificent Arts and Crafts stained glass windows by Scotland’s then leading artist in that medium, Steven Adam. These commemorate the invention by the Rev Patrick Bell, minister of Carmyllie Church, of the mechanical reaping machine which revolutionised crop harvesting.

As noted earlier, Arbirlot Church has a large hall (the former Free Church in the village) and Carmyllie has a small modern hall near the Church. Both Churches have glebes, farmed by members of the Church for the benefit of Church funds.

The manse, in Arbirlot, is an architect- designed, 4 bedroomed house built in 1984. It is a lovely family home, situated in a large, attractive garden screened by mature trees. Both congregations contribute to the maintenance costs. Currently, it is occupied by a caretaker and a very recent Presbytery report on the condition of and facilities in the manse was highly favourable.

The Manse at Arbirlot

HISTORY OF THE PARISHES

Carmyllie Carmyllie has had a church or chapel on the site since about 1500 and the present church was built in 1609 when Carmyllie became a distinct parish. The Church was altered in 1780 and extended in 1874, and there remain elements which are thought to originate from the 16th century.

We are quietly proud of our long history of Christian worship and of the remarkable connections such a small part of Scotland has with some major historical figures. Scarcely a week passes without visitors arriving at Carmyllie Church from all over the globe seeking out evidence of their ancestry. It is often possible to show them round the Church and its curtilage, usually through the good offices of the elder who occupies the old Carmyllie Church manse. He has also been responsible for the development of a ‘Heritage Corner’ in the Church which offers The interior of Carmyllie Church detailed information about the history of the building and the Carmyllie community. 8

William Small (1734 – 1775), a son of the manse at Carmyllie, graduated MA from Marischal College, Aberdeen, in 1755. At the age of 23 he was appointed Professor of Natural Philosophy at William and Mary College in Virginia. With his student, Thomas Jefferson, he contributed to the development of the concepts of freedom, liberty and the rights of men embodied in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the USA. His progressive ideas about a non-elective education system continue to exert influence to this day. When he returned to Scotland in 1764, William carried an introductory letter from Benjamin Franklin to Matthew Bolton, whose physician he became. He obtained his MD in 1765. He developed a close friendship with James Watt and they shared ideas on steam power, microscopes, telescopes, barometers, synthetic alkali and canal construction. William’s many enthusiasms led to his founding the Lunar Society in Birmingham, whose members included Erasmus Darwin, Josiah Wedgewood, John Baskerville, James Keir, Richard Lovel Edgworth and others. There, he continued to assert the fundamentals of the Scottish Enlightenment.

William’s brother, Robert Small was a distinguished scientist and astronomer. Minister to Dundee’s parish Church, St Mary’s, he became Moderator of the Church of Scotland. In his writings, he gave credence to the discoveries of Keplar on the origins of the universe.

In 1843 the Rev Patrick Bell was ordained as minister at Carmyllie. He invented the mechanical reaper in 1827 and continued refining his invention during his years in Carmyllie. He refused to patent his invention, so that all might benefit freely from his creativity. The Patrick Bell Window, Carmyllie

James Bowman Lindsay (1799 – 1862) was born and lived in Carmyllie, studied at St Andrews’ University and was famed for his work on the production of the electric filament light bulb (1835) and wireless telegraphy (1854), predating Edison and Marconi.

The Carmyllie quarries have produced high quality stone and slate for several hundred years. In 1834, the invention of the world’s first effective stone-planing machine by James Hunter, quarrymaster at Leysmill, revolutionised the working of flagstone. By the latter part of the 19th century, over 500 men were employed at the Slade quarries alone, with paving slabs shipped to South America, to provide the floor of Cologne Cathedral and to pave the streets of Edinburgh’s New Town. The piers of the Forth Road Bridge used 40,000 tons of Carmyllie stone. The last quarry closed in 1939 and the railway spurs which served the quarries and linked Carmyllie to Arbroath closed in 1965. The abandoned quarries remain, providing ideal habitat for the local flora and fauna.

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Arbirlot The first church at Arbirlot is said to have been destroyed by Danish invaders around 1000 AD. The replacement was gifted by King William to the newly founded Abbey at Arbroath in 1178 and little is recorded about it until the Reformation. Most of the parish was the property of the Maules of Panmure estate from the 13th century, transferring to the Earls of Dalhousie in the 19th century. Part of the estate was split up and the farms sold, mainly to tenant farmers, in the early 1920s and the rest a few years ago, again mainly to tenants.

The second minister of Arbirlot after the Reformation became Archbishop of St Andrews under the Episcopal regime of that period and is said to have died of gluttony. Another minister of the 17th century became Bishop of Moray. He was one of the two related Guthries who were ministers of Arbirlot in that period, but the most distinguished Pictish Stone, Arbirlot Manse Garden minister of that name was Thomas Guthrie from Brechin who was ordained to the charge in 1830. Thomas Guthrie arranged for his patron, William (later Lord) Maule to rebuild the church in 1832 and two years later, the manse. He also set up a library, a savings bank and several Sunday Schools in the parish before he moved to Edinburgh in 1837.

Farming developed slowly in the parish but development speeded up in the mid 18th century when most of the land was under cultivation growing crops of oats, barley, wheat and turnips and also supported herds of cattle. Flax was a crop of importance from later in the century, much of it being dressed, spun and woven into linen by householders in the parish and some taken into Arbroath where the manufacture of linen was a major industry.

Agriculture remains the main activity in the parish, the main crops being barley, wheat, oil-seed rape and potatoes. Although close to Arbroath, the parish has been little affected by industry. A bleach field for linen operated at Elliot but closed many years ago as did a tar works at the shore. The village with its church, hall and cluster of houses is a Conservation area and is maintained with due care. The valley of the Elliot provides fine walks as does the sea shore with its superb beaches and golf links. Arbirlot village

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We hope that you have found this parish profile useful and that you will be in touch to find out more about us and the ways in which you might contribute to our future development as good Christians.

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