Future of Crail Kirk

Over the past months work has continued with the intention of better defining plans for Crail Church community and, in particular, for Crail Church building.

 

As a quick reminder, the Mission Plan approved by Fife Presbytery in 2022 proposed that Crail Parish Church, St Ayle Parish Church (Anstruther and Cellardyke already in union) and Pittenweem Parish Church join together in union to become one church. This new church to be administered by one Kirk Session.

 

Presently each church operates as a separate charity, each responsible for its own management and financial affairs. For several reasons discussions to implement this proposal did not commence until 2024. St Ayle and Pittenweem have held discussions on implementation of the plan, however Crail Kirk Session strongly believes that the existing linkage arrangement with St Ayle is the best option at the moment for Crail. The reasons for this have centered around the uncertainty over the future of Crail Church building.

 

With our existing linkage arrangement, costs are shared with St Ayle such as the minister’s stipend, travelling expenses and costs associated with the manse. However other costs such as heating, insurance and maintenance of the Kirk Hall and the church building are met by Crail Church.

 

The most recent discussions between St Ayle and Pittenweem have reached a positive conclusion, and it is proposed that a union of the two congregations will be effective from 1st January 2026. The new church will be called St Adrian’s.

 

In July, Crail Kirk Session met with members of the Presbytery Mission Plan Implementation Group (PMPIG) at which our Kirk Session requested that Crail form a linkage with the new church, St Adrian’s. This recommendation, which received the support of PMPIG, will be formally considered by Fife Presbytery at its September meeting. The intention is that this linkage would be effective from 1st February 2026. Discussions with St Adrian’s would be needed to agree the working of the new linkage and would be structured within a formula or template provided by PMPIG.

 

As it stands, the Presbytery Mission Plan categorises Crail Church building as ‘B’, meaning it is to be disposed of, with Sunday services being conducted in Kirk Hall. Session recently presented a paper to PMPIG outlining reasons for retention of the church building. This has been rejected, although a final decision about the building will not be taken until late 2026. The Kirk Session will continue to provide evidence that the building should be retained. We keep in mind that the Historic Buildings Group, set up by Fife Presbytery, did recommend that Crail Church building be retained - provided that the Kirk Session made a case for retention.

 

Should these efforts fail, and no other owner be found, it is understood that Crail Church building will be placed on the open market by December 2027.

 

This is a deeply concerning outlook and the Kirk Session has been strongly advised that it should urgently explore other options for the future of the building. With this in mind, the Kirk Session recently met with interested parties including Dennis Gowans, Lizzie Swarbrick, research officer (Finding Futures for Scotland’s Churches Project), Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, and Claire Martin, Churches Adviser, Development Trust Association Scotland (DTAS). One role of DTAS is to actively support groups who wish to take over church buildings, for use in the community. As a first step a grant application will be submitted by Crail Community Partnership (CCP) as Crail Church is not permitted to form, for example, a Trust or similar structure to acquire ownership of the building. However, this building is historically important, and it is an iconic part of Crail’s built heritage. The hope is that interested individuals/groups will come together to secure a future, which is for the community of Crail.