THE Pulpit Rock, one of Scotland's most stunning and unusual locations for preaching, is to be restored for public use.
Known in Gaelic legend as Clach nan Tarbh, the Stone of the Bulls, the house-sized pyramid of rock on Loch Lomondside, south of Ardlui, has been hidden by dense wood for decades.
Its unique history has already been revisited by the Rev Dane Sherrard, minister of Arrochar and Luss, and his congregation, who gathered in the natural amphitheatre before the stone for communion in the pouring rain two weeks ago.
Friends of Loch Lomond, the campaigning group, now plans to cut back the oak, birch and alder scrub which hides the rock and will also approach the trunk roads authority about the possibility of having a lay-by built in the vicinity. It has the blessing of James Fisher, a farmer at Stuckendroin, who owns the land.
The rock was first used for preaching in 1825 after locals, mainly shepherds, in the northern part of Arrochar parish complained to the Rev Peter Proudfoot, their minister, about the eight-mile walk to and from their sabbath devotions.
If they built him a vestry and a pulpit, replied Mr Proudfoot, he would come and preach to them.
With money from two local worthies, Watson of Glenfalloch House and Grieve of Keilatur, the local men quarried out a 10ft-high hole in the face of the rock.
It was large enough to house the minister, an elder and the precentor who led the singing. Explosives were used, and a man called Robert MacFarlane was blinded by the blast.
A wooden platform with a pulpit was bolted to the rockface and a door was actually fitted to the hole in the rock, a metal hinge of which is still there.
Services were held during the summer months for 75 years, until a mission church was established at Ardlui in 1895. At some point, the wooden door and pulpit platform were used by tinkers for fuel.
In more recent times, tour bus drivers have mentioned the religious site in passing but the rock, about 100 yards off the A82, has been hidden from view.
Hannah Stirling, co-founder and president of Friends of Loch Lomond, said: ''I was first introduced to the history of the rock many years ago by Professor Sir Robert Grieve and it has fascinated me since.
''With the advent of the national park, restoring visibility and access to the Pulpit Rock has become our latest project. This is a vital part of Loch Lomond history which will add to the richness of any visitor's experience.''
For Mr Sherrard, who has been instrumental in the revival of Arrochar parish, the service at Pulpit Rock was one of a series of ''different'' observances he has devised while restoration work goes on at the historic Luss parish church, including one on board a Loch Lomond passenger boat.
''We intend to repeat the experience,'' he said. ''There is a long tradition in Scotland of outdoor worship, including the experiences of the Covenanters. This was much later but it was in that tradition.
''The service was greatly enjoyed by the 50 who attended, despite the rain and the midges.''
Mr Sherrard did not preach from the hole in the rock itself, but from a grassy knoll in front of it.
His congregation were on the slope above him - ''the way it should be'', he said.
He added: ''When Mr Proudfoot preached, the services could last a week.
''Family members would return home for communion, there would be preparatory services at the rock on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, communion on the Sunday and a thanksgiving service on the Monday.
''Behind the Pulpit Rock a stall sold bread, cheese and whisky which led someone to observe that 'the Lord is at the front, but the Devil is behind'.''
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