Looking back with Ian Scott on the history of Bothkennar Church and its stained glass windows

What will happen to the buildings and especially the fantastic stained glass windows if they close? One of the churches that comes to my mind at this time of the year is Bothkennar with its lovely nativity window which like the rest was beautifully restored not many years ago.

The church building is a familiar sight in the northern part of Falkirk district standing in glorious isolation on the fertile lands of the carse. There has been a worshiping Christian community here for well over a thousand years and the name Bothkennar itself seems to derive from ‘both’ meaning a church, and a proper name ‘Cainner’ who was one of those early missioners who carried the Christian faith from Ireland via Iona. Hence ‘the church of Cainner’, which would take us back to the 6th or 7th century. In his masterly account of our local Feudal settlements John Reid tells us that the parish was probably the smallest in Scotland though it was, at one time, one of the richest and most productive. So valuable that successive sovereigns kept it for themselves giving rise to the name, the ‘Crown Lands of Bothkennar’ where noble families like the Bruces of Newton acted in the King’s name.

The present church with its unusual tower was built in 1789 with major additions a century later in what the experts call a ‘neo-Georgian’ style. The kirkyard which is looking a bit forlorn these days has some very old stones including a couple with carved sailing ships which remind us of the merchant seamen who made their fortunes shipping coal and grain far beyond our shores.

For many years the windows were obscured to by the protective coverings put in place to prevent damage. Over time these covers had deteriorated blocking the light from the sanctuary and causing damage to the windows by lack of ventilation. Today after the excellent work of the skilled restorers the sunlight again floods the building and the brilliant colours in the windows sing!

Two of the windows are the work of Glasgow based artist Felix McCulloch who developed new decorative glass techniques in the 1950s including work in St Francis Xavier’s in Hope Street which opened in 1961. For Bothkennar McCulloch produced a magnificent Resurrection scene in memory of the Sutherland family whose relative was Tom Sutherland, the Beirut hostage. It was installed in the late 1960s and a decade later the same artist produced the wonderfully colourful Nativity which the Woman’s Guild commissioned in honour of Mrs Elizabeth Maclaren, the Minister’s wife. It was unveiled in 1972.

The earliest of the three, the Crucifixion, was dedicated after the Second World War as a tribute to the fallen of the Parish. It is the work of Douglas Hamilton a designer with connections to both Alf Webster and Stephen Adam two of Scotland’s most distinguished stained glass artists. For the congregation at the time, and in all the years since, these three windows represent the mysteries at the heart of the Christian faith: the birth, death and resurrection of Christ. Let us hope that whatever might happen to the buildings in the future a way will be found to preserve these works of religious art for our children and grandchildren to admire and care for.