“1875 – 1928”
1876-1889 Rev Angus Maciver
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1878 – The architect William Mackintosh Senior (practised in Inverness from c.1870 until 1913) was responsible for the 1878 alterations which added pews and the vestry. [A reference in Inverness Courier, 24 January 1878]
1878 – The existing bell appears to be been installed during the alternations of 1878.
Photograph by Brian Gayton
From photographs taken a partial inscription on the bell reads ‘…C. WILSON &Co FOUNDERS GLASGOW ……’.
The only bell-founder who fits this inscription was John C. Wilson & Co. “of Gorbals Brass foundry, Glasgow, who first began to cast bells in 1838, when the foundry belonged to David Burges”. Source: The Church and other Bells of Kincardineshire, Eeles, 1897
“In 1854 Burgess retired and John C. Wilson took over the foundry. He cast bells under his own name until about 1874. In that year the firm became John C. Wilson and Co. and in 1896 became a limited company.” Source: The Ringing World, August 4, 2000 (p763)
This is confirmed in another source that says “John C. Wilson alone is found from 1854 till about 1873. From then till about 1895 the firm was called John C. Wilson & Co., and from then till 1928 it was a limited company.” The Church Bells of Renfrewshire and Dunbartonshire, Clouston, Proceedings of The Society, 1947-48 (p152) Michael Foulds’ 2011 publication ‘The Gorbals Brass and Bell Foundry’ (Link) provides a detailed history of the foundry where the current bell was made but sadly some of the records covering the 1878 period have been lost and no record of the bell on Baile na Cille has yet been found.
As the inscription runs around the back of the bell the photographs did not capture a date but its seems likely that the existing bell was cast around 1878 and installed as part of the alteration works undertaken at that time.
See 1829 for note on original bell.
1883, 11th May, Rev Angus MacIver’s statement to the Napier commission. (Link)
Followed on 4th June, by his testimony to the commission. (Link)
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1890-1905 Rev John Macphail
1890 – Rev John MacPhail …’was admitted minister of the Parish on 22nd April 1890’
1890, Thursday 3rd April, Scottish Highlander – Uig, Skye [sic] – Reverend John MacPhail, Benbecula, has been appointed minister of Uig Parish.
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1906-1919 Rev Allan Mackenzie
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1922-1927 Rev Murdo Macleod
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1920s – The plan below appears in the RCAHMS website;
(Link)
Nothing within the RCAHMS website or other sources explains the plan’s origin however the plan is unlikely to be from the 1820s as the 1878 alterations (pews and vestry) are included (although it is unclear why either is the bell bequeathed in 1829, or the replacement bell of c.1878 is not drawn).
If the plan was from the 1870s this might represent the proposals for the alterations undertaken in 1878. That said, this does not align with the manuscript style, there is no explanation for the different stair case constructions or the fact that the actual entrance from the vestry is directly behind the pulpit rather than to the left hand side.
Instead the plan’s manuscript style suggests a likely date of 1920s. And to speculate further, as there is no historical reference for any alterations around the 1920s the plan may be the work of an apprentice in the 1920s or perhaps the Church of Scotland had commissioned a survey of its properties.