A map of churches is a treasure map. The buildings themselves can be extraordinary and often contain wonders that, were they in a national museum or art gallery, would be highlights of the collection. Having travelled around the UK visiting churches, I have found that some of the best are in Scotland. Here are five of my favourites.
Govan Old, Glasgow
This church has been in the news thanks to the discovery, during an archaeological excavation, of the so-called Govan warrior — part of an early medieval stone slab showing a bearded man carrying a round shield and a sword or spear. It is to be hoped that the headlines will draw more visitors to a place, open to the public from April 1, that is one of the marvels of Scotland but remains unknown to a surprising number of Glaswegians.
The 19th-century building on the south bank of the Clyde sits on the site of a far older church and contains a collection of early Christian monuments brought in from the kirkyard. The star object is a sarcophagus, carved with a rider hunting a stag, which it is thought may have held the body of Constantine, a 9th-century king and saint.
Stranger — and for me more exciting — are five “hogback” grave markers. Their design demonstrates a Viking influence, we are told, but the impression is of something unsettling and cocoon-like. You do wonder when they will wake, and what dragon-ish form will crawl forth.
Old Saint Paul’s, Edinburgh
A black arrow of soot-dark stone, Old Saint Paul’s sits almost beneath the great arch of North Bridge. I find it a melancholy place, but like to call in from time to time on my way to Waverley station, choosing hush over the commuter rush.
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In a chapel dedicated to the dead of the Great War there is a large painting by Alison Watt, titled Still, showing loose folds of white cloth, suggestive of a shroud. The masterpiece is one of the great sights of Edinburgh. It’s not an explicitly religious work, but there’s something about the dim chapel, the white of the painting, the light from a small window and the flicker of candles that add up to a feeling of numinous mystery.
In a city that often feels overwrought, Old Saint Paul’s and Still offer consolation and quiet.
Pluscarden Abbey, near Elgin
One of very few medieval monasteries in Britain still used for its original purpose, Pluscarden is home to a small community of white-robed Benedictine monks. Visitors can sit in one of the small chapels within the church and listen to Gregorian chant as the brethren sing the Latin prayers of the divine office and Mass.
The day begins with vigils at 4.30am and ends with compline at 7.30pm. The voices are beautiful and moving, but not showy. It is a duty, not a performance. There’s something pleasant and reassuring about the knowledge that, while the rest of us go about our lives, the monks are in their church, singing through sunrise and sunset, making a dead language live.
Aberlemno Parish Church
This small 18th-century building in the Angus countryside is remarkable for the Pictish stone standing in the churchyard close to the west gable. More than 2m tall, it is made from red sandstone and is thought to date from the late 8th century.
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The front of the stone slab features an elaborate carving of a Christian cross, but it is the back that thrills. It depicts a battlefield scene, sometimes said to be the Battle of Nechtansmere in AD685, when the Picts defeated the Northumbrians. One of the fallen bodies is providing a feast for a raven, and I always feel a delicious shiver when peering close to look at this as crows caw in the churchyard trees.
The cross slab and Aberlemno’s other extraordinary Pictish stones are boxed up over winter for protection, but should be out in the light again from April.
Sacred Heart, Cumbernauld
The architectural practice Gillespie, Kidd & Coia built 14 modernist Catholic churches in Scotland between 1957 and 1972, mostly for the new towns and peripheral housing estates. Some find these buildings ugly — St Peter’s Seminary, near Cardross, has become an infamous ruin — but they embody a beautiful idea: a cultural optimism, faith in God and in the future.
Sacred Heart in Cumbernauld, tucked away at the end of a road in a council estate, is a lumpen concrete box that one could easily mistake for an old bingo hall, but go inside and you will see huge and exquisite dalle de verre windows — pieces of coloured glass set in concrete — depicting the Stations of the Cross. These were made by Sadie McLellan in 1964 and in my opinion are among the best church windows in Britain.
Peter Ross is the author of the Sunday Times paperback bestseller Steeple Chasing: Around Britain by Church (Headline £10.99)
