Marydale Church
The Church of Our Lady and Saint Bean was designed by architect Joseph Hansom, also associated with the Hansom cab. Saint Bean or Beathan was a cousin of Saint Columba and succeeded him as Abbot in Iona; he is credited with bringing Christianity to Strathglass in the 6th / 7th century and with founding the original church at Clachan Comair. The church followed several earlier Roman Catholic churches and Mass-houses in Strathglass, located at Achnaheglish, Knockfin, Clachan Comair and Fasnakyle.
As indicated by the date on the original downpipes the church was completed in 1866, together with the associated presbytery, school (now the Parish Hall), schoolhouse and a walled garden. The building was ‘C’ listed in 1971.
The image below, undated, is from an old postcard and shows a view of the school and presbytery. The children appear to be well dressed and the man in the picture could be the priest, suggesting it was possibly taken after Sunday mass.
Father Colin Grant was living at Glassburn when the building works began, and he ‘sold off his cows and some furniture, and all the farm things’ to help meet the cost of the buildings, although he could not stretch to a new bell before the Solemn Blessing on 12th May 1868. Father Colin was consecrated Bishop of Aberdeen in 1889 and died six weeks later.
The church was built in the Gothic style, with lancet windows and an octagonal tower. In March 1929, the Church and the Presbytery were substantially destroyed in a fire, the result of a faulty paraffin heater, which also meant the loss of church records. However, with the financial assistance from the descendants of Strathglass families who had been evicted or “removed” from the area a century earlier, rebuilding was completed in a relatively short time and the Church reopened on 22nd October 1930.
The church at Marydale retains some relics of the old Highland mission, with a holy water stoup from Knockfin in the porch and, just outside the door, a cupstone, the Clach-a-Bhaistidh (‘baptismal stone’), mounted on a plinth. This cupstone, said to be used for baptisms in the glen from earliest times, was last used at Craskie, in Glen Cannich, during the Jesuit mission, notably by Father John Farquharson S.J (Maighstir Iain) in the aftermath of Culloden, when persecution of Catholics intensified. Maighstir Iain is commemorated on the plinth.
Very Rev Joseph Canon McLellan, the Parish Priest who had seen his Church and Presbytery destroyed by fire, left a considerable bequest to complete the Marble Altar.
In 1998 a new front Altar was cut from a 300-year-old oak. It was designed by parishioner and local artist Alastair Macpherson and built by woodworker Adrian Ellis and was consecrated and inscribed to the memory of loyal friend and benefactor Irene Mary Barder.
Site Information
SHA Site No: 4
Site Status: 
Location: NH 3414 3173 Landranger OS 26
Three words: stray.spun.notifying
Period: Modern
Date: 19th Century
Site Owner: Roman Catholic Diocese of Aberdeen
Open: Limited
Access: Driveway from A831
Grade: Easy
Parking: Car Park
Notes: Please ensure gate is kept closed. Grounds open 9am-5pm, church by arrangement.
Location
