Srct.org.uk
Title
Scottish Redundant Churches Trust - a future for our historic churches
Description
The Scottish Redundant Churches Trust (SRCT) was established in 1996 to secure the future of nationally important churches threatened by closure. Churches are selected on the basis of their architectural and historic merit. The Trust takes these buildings into care and conserves them to ensure that they survive for the enjoyment and inspiration of current and future generations.
Churches in Trust care are made freely accessible to visitors and to their communities as places for occasional worship, venues for religious and secular events, and as heritage resources.
Scotland’s religious history, particularly from the eighteenth century onwards, is characterized by change and disruption. In the years following the establishment of the Church of Scotland, numerous groups broke away and built new churches for worship. Many of these groups later rejoined the Church of Scotland, bringing with them both their members and their buildings. By the early twentieth century, small towns or villages often had as many as four churches – it has even been said that at one time there were more pews than people in the country. Today, there are some 3,500 churches in Scotland.
