Duror Kirk History 1827 to 2023

Duror Kirk was one of the first “Parliamentary” churches , which were erected after a Highlands and Islands Commission decided that additional churches were needed in thinly populated and scattered parishes. Thomas Telford was involved in the design and it is one of 32 similar churches throughout the Highlands.

The Bill providing for the construction of the churches was eventually passed in 1824 with the following guidelines:

• The number of churches was not to exceed forty;

• No more than £1,500 was to be spent on any site;

• The minister's stipend was to be £100 per year;

• The precentor should receive £8 per year, and the beadle £5.
  
  

The task of selecting the sites and overseeing the work was entrusted to the Commissioners for Building Highland Roads and Bridges, and in particular to their Chief Surveyor Thomas Telford. Though the kirks are generally ascribed to Telford in person, this is not strictly true. Telford asked each of his three surveyors, James Smith, Joseph Mitchell and William Thomson, to prepare specimen designs for a kirk and manse within budget and 'particularly calculated to resist a stormy climate'. Eventually Thomson's plan, with some alterations, was adopted; a simple basic rectangle, with various options for adaptation of detail to suit local circumstances. The windows were standardised so that they could be supplied, ready to fit, by James Abernethy in Aberdeen. Smith's design for a single-storey manse (such as Duror's) was adopted, as was Mitchell's for a two-storey manse.

Duror Church and a few others deviated from the basic rectangular plan by having an extension to the rear, making a T-shape.

The contractors for the Duror Church and Manse were John Gibb and William Minto of Aberdeen, who built several churches in Argyll.

The final cost was £1,450, and the completion date is given as 21st August 1827.

The land was provided by Robert Downie of Appin, and the first minister was Donald MacNaughton, previously of Glencoe.

In 1960, the Duror Church was linked with St. Munda's Church, Glencoe.

In 1982 the church was re-roofed and the floor repaired, and improvements made to the electric heating at a cost of £18,660.

In 2002 an extension was built to the rear of the church, to provide accommodation for the Sunday School, a toilet for the disabled, and a new kitchen, at a cost of £62,411.

In 2016, major repairs were carried out to the supporting beams in the roof.  The work was carried out by Riverside Builders (Scotland) Ltd.  The final cost, including preliminary investigations and professional advice, was £45,362.

A list of the Ministers of Duror Church

1828       Donald MacNaughton

1844       Neil Mackenzie

1845       John MacIsaac                          

1846       Donald Sinclair  

1871       James MacDougal

1907       Angus John MacVicar

1910       Martin MacRae

1915       Duncan Macrae McLennan

1926       Kenneth Smith

1930       Angus MacFadyen

1956       Alexander Duncan MacRae

1960 Duror Church is linked with St. Munda's Church and shares the same minister.

1960       Hector MacLean

1979       Archibald Russell

1991       Robert Malloch

1998       Anne Murray Jones

2002       Alison Helen Burnside

2011       Moira Herkes (Locum)

2013       Ann Winning  (Locum)

2016       Alexander  Chapman Stoddart

2023 Duror Church, St. Munda's Church and Nether Lochaber Church unite to become South Lochaber Church.

2023 Malcolm Kinnear