History of the Project

At the heart of the project lies a database inventory of Scottish church sites, www.scottishchurches.org.uk. Although now much broader in scope, the inventory was originally conceived in the mid 1980s to provide a basic level of information on churches and places of Christian worship in Scotland, from the origins of Christianity to the present day.

Now it has been expanded to include places used for worship by other communities- Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Chinese and others. Initially only exteriors were included, but, with the growing number of closures we now record interiors.

Beginnings!

The original database was designed during a transitional phase in data management; many official bodies had only begun the process of computerising their records and SCHR initiated its database on computer. Since the first objective was to create a core of sites from official sources, much information from existing national and local archives was imported. The principal data sources at this time were printed listings from the National Monuments Record of Scotland (NMRS) and Historic Scotland, as well as lists supplied by many regional and district councils. Some regional archaeologists were able to provide sites and monuments records, and John Hume made available his extensive personal archive relating to churches. Churches in use were located through the year books and directories published by the various denominations.

This initial phase of manual data entry was completed in three years by one principal researcher using a desktop computer running dBase III. The researcher was backed up by temporary assistants, whose role became increasingly valuable as the project progressed. By 1991 a core dataset of more than 10,000 sites had been compiled.

Validation and Verification Phase

The official lists that had been incorporated during the first phase had been compiled for different purposes and contained different levels of detail about sites: the church directories contained few National Grid references; whilst the archaeological and architectural sources were not especially concerned with the denominations or ecclesiastical use of the buildings. Thus, the next objective was to standardise the information. The sites were located precisely on detailed maps and provided with addresses and grid references. This work was carried out by two researchers using maps at the NMRS, and was completed for 90% of the sites by 1992.

Consolidation Phase

Since 1992, data for new sites has been received from volunteer fieldworkers. Much of this has been input; the database itself has changed greatly. It has been migrated through various versions of dBase and, more recently, Microsoft Access and recently it has been converted to a website. This currently contains details of over 10,000 sites, with raw details of many new and existing sites waiting to enter into the compilation and data entry processes. We have a large collection of photographs, most of which have been input to the website. Each church has its unique number and is described in its environment. The heritage of each church is a focal point of the record, which includes references to people and events of significance to the congregation. References are also included to enable further research.

Fieldworkers and desk-based researchers are briefed to check details of sites already on the website and to provide information on places of worship, regardless of denomination. Standardised and structured report forms are used to record basic information on site situation, condition and bibliographical references, together with descriptions and historic information. Volunteers do not make stylistic or value judgements, but are encouraged to include dating evidence for changes to a site, carry out detailed photographic surveys, or compile architectural reports.

To ensure anyone who is interested can participate, Training Days are organised throughout the country to instruct volunteers in good practice procedures for building and site recording.

Current Phase

Although there are over 10,000 entries in the Gazetteer, only a small number have been completed, although all have preliminary information, including name, address and National Grid Reference. Most work so far has been at sites in Fife and Angus, although we hold records for many more churches which we are now entering, complete with images.

Most work is carried out by volunteers and we are interested in hearing from people and local societies or community groups who would be willing to visit and record places of worship to help increase the useful content of the web site entries for other geographical areas. Please contact us, using the Contact us button.

The Team

We are grateful to all those who have assisted so far, although not all their work has been included. We now have updated the website and regular visitors will be able to identify additional uploaded information over the coming months.

Staff

Current staff include Kari Gibson,(Administration), Jonathan Dowling,(Co-ordinator, Angus) and Edwina Proudfoot(Chairman and project director).Zeno Kerr developed the revised website. Earlier staff include Sarah Kettles, Amanda Gow and Kirsty Owen.

Volunteers

Including Brenda Hall, Stuart Hall, Mary Howatson, Geoffrey Millar, Lorna Carr, Allan Carr, Barbara Robertson, Roy Robertson, Jim Bell, Albert Lawrie, Alan Provan, Jimmy Linton, John Wray, Kay Hepworth, Jennifer McDonald, Miriam Buncombe, Ewan Malecki, Emma Dryburgh, James Sinclair, Suzannah Meade, Anna Wowk, Anna McKenzie, David Gould, Chris Duncan, Derek Hall, Karen Nichols, Kenneth Ross, Judy Dowling, Margaret, Roger Stapleton, John Richardson, John McQueen, Louise Mackenzie, Margaret and Edinburgh Art College Students.