Campsie High Kirk Church: Historic church to reopen as community arts centre after £1 purchase

The 200-year-old Campsie High Kirk Church which was previously destroyed in a fire is set to begin a new chapter as a community arts centre after it was transferred to the local community.

Campsie High Kirk Church lay empty and without an owner for years after a fire in 1984. Friends of Campsie High Kirk acquired the building from the King’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer (KLTR) for just £1 in May.

The church, one of Scotland’s best-known kirks, was handed over to East Dunbartonshire Provost Gillian Renwick and is set to undergo a major restoration project to reopen as an open-plan space that can host community meetings, arts events, and theatre performances.

‘It’s not just about saving a building. It’s about something much bigger. It’s about communities being empowered by those in a position to give them the tools to make it happen,’ Craig Brooks, Chair of the Friends of Campsie High Kirk, said.

‘That applies from government right down to communities like ours.’

The move is the culmination of a flagship case for the new Ownerless Property Transfer Scheme (OPTS) launched last year by the KLTR.

The OPTS provides opportunities for properties which have fallen to the Crown as ownerless to be brought back into purposeful use for the benefit of local communities.

The innovative scheme allows local authorities and community groups to apply for ownerless properties to be transferred to them for a nominal sum. To be successful, applicants must clearly demonstrate that the planned use is supported by the community, sustainable and in the public interest.

‘The Friends of Campsie High Kirk presented a really compelling case for not only rescuing this magnificent building from further decline but also providing a community arts hub with the potential to give a huge economic and cultural boost to the Lennoxtown area,’ John Logue KLTR said.

‘We are delighted to see the opportunities provided by the OPTS used in this way and look forward to watching the transformation.’

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