Hylipol Manse

Tiree

7^th March 1900

My Lord Duke,

I am much pleased and gratified that Your Grace is now convalescent after such a severe and serious illness, and I hope Your Grace’s health will shortly be [fully] re-established.

Knowing the deep interest you have always manifested in the prosperity and welfare of the Church of Scotland, and that more especially in the parishes and Congregations on Your Grace’s Estates, I venture after consultation with Mr Macdiarmid the factor, to submit a short statement of the Condition of the parish Church here believing that Your Grace would like to have such a Statement from me as Minister for consideration. According to the Petition presented by Your Grace and the Endowment Committee for the disjunction and erection of the parish Quoad Sacra the Church was built in 1839 when the Island had only the services of one ordained minister who preached on alternate Sundays at Kirkapol and Hylipol. The said Petition also sets [forth] that the larger portion of the inhabitants of the Island was situated within the boundaries of the proposed new parish and mentions the generous offer of Your Grace to make due provision for the maintenance of the fabric of the said Church.

The prayer of the Petition was granted in 1874 and a manse was built in 1880 for the maintenance of which provision is made by the Endowment Committee. About the same time a new wooden flooring was put into the Church, the pulpit remodelled and some other general minor repairs were executed. In 1890, the year of my induction as minister, the roof and gallery of the Church were found unsafe owing to the ends of the joists which rested on the walls having decayed through damp. New joists were then put in under the gallery and two heavy iron brackets were attached to the wall on the east side as supports under the two main couple or joists on which the roof rests. New windows were also put in, and a coat of paint was given to the pews for the first time but this part of the work was badly done with result that it gave trouble to the sitters, and in a short time became soiled and dirty in appearance. The walls were at the same time rough cast with lime in the hope that that would make them less porous and thus prevent much of the damp but the desired result did not follow. The expenses of these repairs amounted to about £160 towards which the Highland Committee gave the sum of £25.

About a year and a half ago, the Church internally being so unsightly in appearance owing to the effects of the damp upon the walls and the bad painting of the pews, an effort was made to remedy matters and a sum of £69 was raised (Your Grace giving £10 and the Marquis of Lorne £10) by means of which the pews and all the other wood work were well painted, and the inside walls received two coats of Duresco which is a special preparation for resisting damp. At the same time some repairs were done to the roof to make it watertight, the cost of which was met by Your Grace. The rain, however, continued to pour in copiously through the walls with the result that the appearance inside is now if possible worse then ever, while the new windows as also the new joists under the gallery and the old couples or joists supported by the iron brackets must be in an advanced state of decay thus rendering the building dangerous.

Having spoken to Mr Macdiarmid recently on the subject he agreed that the best course would be to get competent technical opinion, possibly that of the Clerk of Works at Inverary if he could come, on the state of the whole building with an estimate of the sum it would cost to put the roof in a safe condition and make the walls watertight as well as any other necessary repairs. Should such an estimate amount to a considerable sum of money it ought to be considered whether in the long run a new church would not be cheaper, as the Baird Trustees and other Committees of the Church would help us very liberally with a new building while we could get some contributions from friends of the Church as well as local aid in money and free labour.

One or two details such as a boundary wall might be mentioned but I am sure the necessary attention will be given to these in the proper time.

Apologising for thus troubling Your Grace

I have the honour to be

My Lord Duke

Your Grace’s most humble & obt. Svt.

Dugald Maclean

Minister of Hylipol