Heylipol Church in 1900
Transcription of a letter from the Rev. Dugald MacLean to the Duke of Argyll about the condition of Heylipol Church in 1900.
Courtesy of His Grace the Duke of Argyll
In medieval times Tiree was divided in two parishes, Kirkapol in the east under the Bishop of the Isles and Soroby in the west under the Abbot of Iona. In 1618 the two parishes were united with Coll. In 1865 Coll was severed from Tiree and ten years later Soroby was severed from Kirkapol.
A church at Heylipol had been built in 1839 to serve the west of the island where the greater part of the population lived. In this letter of 1900, the Rev. Dugald MacLean describes the dangerous and dilapidated state of the church despite many repairs carried out over the previous twenty years.
A new church designed by William Mackenzie was erected on the site in 1902. Of cruciform Gothic design with a bell tower over the entrance porch and large enough to accommodate 365 worshippers, the church is still in current use.