A History of St Luke’s

The church is of Scottish Gothic design, is built of local stone, and is harled and slated. It accommodates around 150 worshippers in total. A high pointed arch gives entrance to the chancel and sanctuary areas. The church is a category B listed building, and has a number of unusual architectural features, such as the windows on the north side of the nave being of a different design to those on the south side, and the chancel being slightly offline to the nave. The architect was Gilbert Ogilvy, a member of the founder’s family, and the total cost of construction was £2,400. The church has always been lit by electricity, power first being supplied by a turbine and generator driven by the Dighty Burn.

Consideration was given in the 1920s to building a house for the Priest-in-Charge, and after various fund-raising activities and the securing of a loan, the present Rectory was built on ground to the east of the church.

House-building in the area after the second-world war brought an increase in membership, and in 1953 a hall was constructed in the church grounds at a cost of some £6,000.

Major changes were instituted in the mid 1980s. The 1982 (blue book) liturgy and a nave altar were introduced, the pulpit and some 70 chairs were removed, and a Praise Team with guitars and piano was introduced to lead the congregation in praise songs alongside traditional hymns and a sung liturgy. The former organ chamber was adapted as a Prayer Corner, and major repairs were effected to the fabric and services of the church, hall and rectory.

In 1988 a very fine and sizeable Wadsworth pipe organ, dating from 1883, was installed in the north-west corner of the church as a self-help project to replace a worn-out electronic instrument. Although not yet complete, (organ restoration is very expensive!), the new organ produces a fine sound to enhance the worship. More information about the organ will be available shortly.

In recent times the hall has been extensively modernised and upgraded, thanks to work instituted by St Luke’s Childcare Services.

St Luke’s Scottish Episcopal Church  was the brainchild of Sir Reginald Ogilvy. He turned the schoolroom at Baldovan House into a chapel, and on Easter Sunday 1896 St Luke’s Mission opened under the Rectorship of the Revd. J G Simpson of St Paul’s Church in the City Centre (now St Paul’s Cathedral). The Mission prospered, and Miss Ogilvy laid the foundation stone of the present church on St Andrew’s Day, 1901. On the Feast of the Epiphany 1903, the congregation moved into the new building for its dedication by Bishop Richardson.