Observatory hopes for former Ayrshire church

Faced with an empty church with its stunning stained glass windows locked behind closed doors, locals have now drawn on heavenly inspiration in their search for a new use for the building that was once the beating heart of their community.

Dalmellington Parish Church could become a community run observatory (Image: Dave Hancox)

If all goes to plan, the church doors will be thrown open again, this time to offer visitors a glimpse into a celestial world of heavenly stars, planets, asteroids and constellations.

In one of the most innovative ideas yet to breathe new life into just one of the hundreds of church buildings closing around Scotland, locals in the East Ayrshire village want to create an observatory on the church roof, complete with powerful telescope and video links to other observatories around the world.

The idea includes an auditorium with planetarium that could double up as a village cinema, with images from 14’’ telescope - set 20m off the ground within a purpose-built dome - live streamed so viewers across the globe can also tune in.

The village is in the heart of Scotland’s "dark skies" countryside, with few buildings or streetlights in the area to intrude on stunning night-time displays of the Milky Way, shooting stars and the Northern Lights.

As well as solving the problem of the empty church building, the observatory idea is locals’ response to their dismay surrounding the 2021 loss of the Scottish Dark Sky Observatory, a purpose-built five-metre observatory dome with rotating and retractable roof and state-of the art telescopes.

Having operated for just nine years during which time it became one of the area’s top tourist attractions, it was destroyed by fire.

Hopes that it might be rebuilt on its original site close to the village have become increasingly unlikely.

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It led to a campaign and petition calling for the board of trustees of the Scottish Dark Sky Observatory to consider the educational, economic, academic, conservation and cultural benefits it brings to the area.

 Scottish Dark Sky Observatory was destroyed by fire in 2021

Now the vacant church building has offered a potential solution and raised hopes it might put Dalmellington back on the dark skies map - just as Scotland’s space sector revs into gear with rocket launches, satellite manufacturing and spaceports.

In the coming days, Scotland will host a global space conference that will see with more than 50 delegates from the international community arrive to exchange ideas on lunar exploration.

The annual European Lunar Symposium (ELS) is being held by the Open University (OU) in Dumfries and Galloway and is expected to attract some of the world’s most prominent lunar scientists.

The mysteries of space – from alien life forms to Mars exploration – have recently returned to the headlines with new openness from Nasa's UFO researchers and fresh discoveries arriving from space expeditions and via super-powerful telescopes.

“It was a great shame that the observatory was lost, and the hope was that it would be replaced in the same place, which was on a country estate,” said local councillor Drew Filson who has been involved in the observatory plan.

“That doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.

“To take this treasured attraction away from Dalmellington was a blow. But I think we can create something better and also make use of the church.”

Dalmellington’s Category B-listed parish church, also known as Kirk o' The Covenant, was built in 1846 and features towering and brightly coloured stained glass windows. Its bright red front doors are said to symbolise the blood of the 17th-century Covenanting martyrs.

Dalmellington church could become the site of a new observatory (Image: Dave Hancox)

Dalmellington Parish Development Trust has applied for funding to help it take over the church building and develop its plans, named When The Heavens Meet The Stars.

Its proposals include a café and florists within the church building and retaining many of its original features so it can operate as a wedding and funeral venue.

The group wants to create a local history museum which would explore the area’s covenanters’ history and provide a focal point for tourists and genealogists.

It hopes to access additional funding from South Kyle Wind Farm’s Community Benefit Fund.

To address energy costs linked to the building which were a key factor in the decision to move its congregation to a 1960s church, the trust wants to fit 74 solar panels, air-source heat pump, and EV electric charging points.

Plans have been drawn up to put an observatory on Dalmellington Parish Church roof (Image: Dalmellington Parish Development Trust)

Figuring out how to make use of scores of church buildings dotted around the country no longer required by the Church of Scotland has been at the forefront of many communities’ minds, said Dr DJ Johnston-Smith, director of Scotland’s Churches Trust.

The trust has been co-ordinating a nationwide project at churches earmarked for closure, with volunteers documenting their contents to ensure that there is a public record to show what once took place within their walls.

With waves of closures now under way and question marks hanging over dozens of other churches, communities have faced a race against time to try to figure out if they might be able to take them on and what to do with them.

He said the Dalmellington Parish Church idea is “one of the most innovative community-led visions for a closing church” he’s so far seen.

“So many communities are now in the early foothills of their aspirations to seek a new and sustainable future for their beloved local closing churches, many are looking for inspiration,” he adds.

For some, that might come from The Govan Stones Project in the former Govan Old Parish Church. Faced with the church’s closure, a local charity, the Govan Heritage Trust, was hastily founded to take on the building.

The vision of creating a community hub, academic research centre and venue for showcasing the medieval monuments was a success.

“It is using the archaeology and history of the site to engage with its community and beyond and is fast becoming an important tourist attraction, driving visitors to a part of Glasgow that has long been missed off any tourist trails,” added Dr Johnston-Smith.

Govan Old Parish Church is now the setting for a collection of medieval carved stones

A similar rural example, he said, is St Conan’s Kirk in Argyll.

Built in 1881 in the village of Lochawe, it features almost every style of church architecture including a Norman doorway, Gothic flying buttresses and Celtic cross – much of which could have been hidden from public view if it had fallen in to private hands.

Now run by the St Conan’s Church Trust, it has become a key tourist attraction in the area.

Museums and community hubs are often main suggestion from communities seeking to take over their closed church, he added.

This includes Grade A-listed St Munn’s Church in Argyll, which was acquired by local community charity Historic Kilmun from the Church of Scotland in 2021.

The church features a rare water-powered organ and stained glass created by renowned artist Stephen Adams, while alongside is the Argyll Mausoleum  and the burial place of Dr Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman in the UK to be on the General Medical Register.

Along with former Episcopalian church, St Margaret’s in Braemar, now in the care of Historic Churches Scotland and a local community trust, it has become a venue specialising in offering heritage, arts and music.

In Fife, The Falkland Society is currently involved in efforts to save its local parish church building with suggestions it, too, could become a centre for arts, crafts and spirituality.

And on the Black Isle, an effort has begun to explore buying the now closed Avoch Parish Church, which is the burial place of fur trader and explorer Sir Alexander Mackenzie, who gave his name to the Mackenzie River in Canada.

The Dalmellington observatory idea, however, appears to be unique – so far.

Dr Johnston-Smith added: “It's always very welcome news to hear about another emerging local-interest community group in the wings, anywhere in Scotland, with a clarity of purpose, vision and direction, hoping to lead a beloved and historic local church building into the next chapter of its long story.”