The Friends of St Machar’s Cathedral published a book on the history of the Cathedral featuring over 150 stunning pictures and essays from a varied group of contributors.
The charity was founded in 1971 by Rev Dr A. Stewart Todd, minister of the Cathedral for quarter of a century. Dr Todd’s forward thinking secured St Machar’s future by envisioning the Cathedral as a place with a wider outreach, not just as a place for Sunday worship. Fifty years later, St Machar’s Cathedral is a site for a very wide community: worshippers, educators, music lovers, young people, historians and everyone who is just passing through.
Over the years the Friends of St Machar’s has provided a series of improvements to the interior of the Cathedral: the oak seating in the Mitchell Chapel, the granite plinths and the baptismal banner which, ahead of its time, provided a striking splash of colour to the stony walls. In addition to purchasing and sponsoring works of art and furnishings, the charity has issued two series of Occasional Papers which showcase the in-depth research of scholars into a variety of aspects of the building and its life.
And now, after fifty-three years of the Friends of St Machar’s Cathedral, who have always believed the edifice to be extraordinary, comes a book, dedicated to the Cathedral’s history, its present and its vital future. After the recent £2 million renovation of the building, the Friends are proud to show off this magnificent monument in all its glory.
The book was edited by Clare Gimingham who has family connections with the Cathedral: her grandfather was a St Machar’s minister for twenty-five years and her father an elder for over fifty years so the family names of Baird and Gimingham are part of the Cathedral’s story. Clare found a perfect quote from a sermon her grandfather preached in the Cathedral in 1935. Rev. Dr John Wilson Baird could not have provided a better description of the now realised book project:
“We must never forget that a building like this is in itself a book of history, with many chapters. We did not create the church in Scotland. We are not the first to worship here. We are the heirs of a long, long story, each chapter of which has something to teach us.”
Here is an excerpt from the Introduction to the book, written by Fiona Kennedy, the Honorary President of the Friends of St Machar’s Cathedral:
“The romantic story goes that St Machar was despatched by St Columba to evangelise the Picts and build a church at the place where a river formed the shape of a bishop’s crosier. The sceptic’s alternative is the Machair church was founded overlooking the low-lying grassy plain that is now Seaton Park. Whichever version you subscribe to, there can be no argument that those early Christians chose well. Even now while navigating that quirky path towards the Cathedral’s south porch a name on a gravestone catches my eye. There are merchants, voyagers, guildsmen, professors, politicians, botanists, kirk moderators, academics, social reformers, astronomers, inventors, philanthropists, musicians, artists, authors and those other gravestones so worn by the seasons that we can but guess at the people they memorialise and their connection to this historic place.
St Machar’s is such a wondrous amalgam it makes it hard to put your finger on the one thing that makes it so special. Is it the castellated twin towers built thick enough to withstand a siege? Is it Bishop Dunbar’s breathtaking heraldic ceiling designed to pack a political punch over 500 years ago? Is it the stunning stained glass that refracts the low winter sun throughout the stony interior? Is it the pulpit falls, embroidered with great skill and love? Is it the ancient ruins of the choir and transepts which remind us that this great building was once even grander in scale? Is it the music — oh the music! — the soaring voices of the choir and the depth of tone of the organ which sends reverberations through your very rib cage? All of these things together make this place of worship so very special. Above all though, it is the people who make any visitor to St Machar’s feel so at home.”
The essays cover a wide variety of subjects: spectacular heraldic ceiling, stained glass windows, bells, the building’s history, memories of ministry, music, education, life in the manse and many more. There will be something to interest and excite everyone!
St Machar’s Cathedral – A Living History is now available at the Cathedral Shop, with proceeds supporting the ongoing preservation and cultural work of the Friends of St Machar’s Cathedral.
Cost: £17.99; discounted to £15.99 for members of the Friends. Postage and packing :£3.
You can contact the Cathedral Office for more information: office@stmachar.com
Here are a few pictures from the book: