Community group buys back abandoned Campsie High Kirk Church for £1 and plans to turn it into community space

Campsie High Kirk Church has been towering over Lennoxtown for years.

But it has been lying empty and without an owner since it was set on fire and destroyed in 1984.

A local group is now attempting to restore the church to its former glory by turning it into a community space.

Friends of Campsie High Kirk will acquire the building from the King’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer for just £1 in May.

which has been on the buildings at risk register since 1990

The church was built in 1828 Friends of Campsie High Kirk via Supplied

They’re currently trying to secure enough funding by the spring to prove they can bring the plans to life.

Craig Brooks, chair of Friends of Campsie High Kirk, said: “The feasibility study is the stage we’re at just now.

“That is quite an involved process that will take place over the next few months.

“We need to be in position by May 12. In fact, before that so we can take possession of this on behalf of the local community.

“It’s a big project, it’s ambitious, some people might think we’re slightly deluded but you’ve got to think big and I think you’ve got to take action.”

The plans include a Celtic Garden telling the story of Lennoxtown James Fallen via Supplied

The plans include clearing the building of vegetation and turning it into an open plan space that is able to host community meetings, arts events and theatre performances.

It will also involve replicating the damaged tower that was torn down in the aftermath of the fire.

The new ghost tower would see a frame constructed on the top of the remaining clock tower, which would light up at night.

The church was destroyed in a fire in 1984 John Mackay via Supplied

A balcony would also be put up around the interior of the building, which has been on the buildings at risk register since 1990.

And a Celtic Garden would be created in the middle of the space paying homage to the story of Lennoxtown.

The church was designed in 1828 by Glasgow architect David Hamilton.

His work includes the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow and Lennox Castle Hospital in Lennoxtown.

But like the High Kirk, Lennox Castle is rapidly deteriorating and is currently lying in a ruined state in the hills above the town.

The group hope the Kirk’s restoration will bring the work of Hamilton back into the modern sphere.

James Fallen, a local artist and architecture student who has designed renders of the group’s plans, says he believes Hamilton’s work is “underappreciated”.

He said: “By preserving it (Campsie High Kirk) it could maybe create the impetus for putting David Hamilton back on the map, back in the public consciousness.

“As an architect I think he really is under appreciated, hugely important for the period. He’s the reason Glasgow looks the way it does.

“He’s designed famous buildings across Scotland.

“You’re looking at the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow, you’re look at the Hamilton Mausoleum, Nelson’s Monument in Glasgow.

“And he was certainly the most prominent Glasgow architect of the period.”

The group behind the project say it could help to regenerate the area and bring control back into the hands of the community.

Susan Murray, MP for Mid-Dunbartonshire said: “I think it’s really important for the personality of Lennoxtown because it’s a lovely place to live the way it is.

“But it gives so many opportunities.

“We’ve got some fantastic walks, we have world class road cycling coming through Lennoxtown, we have access to the hills and the local scenery and if we are really to take advantage of our built and natural heritage this needs to be one of the locations in Scotland that we do that.”