It took the patient removal of seven layers of paint and the careful removal of a splinter to bring the old kirkyard gates at Rathen, site of the Grieg ancestral gravestone, back to their former glory. But, for local volunteer and maintenance expert, Alex Buchan, it was worth it. And, thanks to his dedicated work, a Grieg Society of Scotland visitor signboard has a grand new home on the gates, too.
It all started when Alex, recently retired from working offshore in the North Sea, obtained permission from Aberdeenshire Council to mount our Grieg Society of Scotland signboard on the gates to St Ethernan’s kirkyard at Rathen, where composer Grieg’s paternal ancestors lie buried.
We had previously presented the signboard to the community at a little ceremony at Rathen West Parish Church, with the local primary schoolchildren and Troldhaugens Venner (Friends of the Edvard Grieg Museum, Bergen) in attendance. Now the sign was going to find its outdoor home.
A major task
But what looked to Alex a simple job to fix the signboard to the gates turned into a major task. ‘I was dismayed at the condition of the gate coatings, they looked terrible’ Alex tells us. Years and years of Scottish weather had caused the paint to crust and peel. And so, resolving to remedy the situation, he set to work. But that meant the removal of 4 layers of black paint, 3 of green and 1 orange to get back to a good surface from which to begin repainting, a process that took, as Alex remarks ‘much longer than I anticipated’!
Magnificent result
It also cost him a small injury – a splinter of old paint necessitating surgical removal. But what a magnificent result! And thanks to Alex’s great practical skills, visitors to Rathen can now learn about Edvard Grieg’s local forebears and their gravestone in the kirkyard, all from our signboard.
It’s a job very well done. Yet it’s not the end of the story. More needs to be done, and soon, to conserve and develop the tiny north-east Scottish village’s unique cultural heritage and links with Grieg.
And that work involves major financial investment.
An emerging new challenge
Alex, who hails from nearby Cairnbulg, has lived in Rathen for 25 years and not only takes an active interest in Rathen’s old kirkyard but was, up until this year, an Elder and also Fabric Maintenance Convener at Rathen West Parish Church, which the Grieg Society of Scotland has been privileged to use both as venue to welcome visitors and occasional base for its activities.
But the future of the building is uncertain, and that brings an emerging new challege.
The church, an imposing granite building with tall spire, stands on an elevated spot close by the old kirkyard. You can see it from the gates. Cherished by the community for over 150 years since its construction in 1870, when it replaced the old and much smaller St Ethernan’s kirk Grieg’s forbears knew, it’s the village of Rathen’s biggest, most iconic building and visible for miles around.
Yet, in July this year, came, as Alex reflects, a ‘very sad day’ – the church’s closure. Younger folk are no longer interested in religion and the Church of Scotland’s congregations are dwindling. Society is changing, and its needs are changing too, so, like many other kirks across Scotland, Rathen’s immaculately-kept kirk will be put up for sale.
Tragic loss or new beginning?
Unless action is taken, the building, as a public space, will be lost to the community altogether.
Yet it was to attend services in the old kirk at Rathen that Grieg’s great-grandfather, Alexander, regularly returned from Norway. So the building provides an important focus. The Grieg Society of Scotland would like to see it made into a music and heritage venue – a home for Grieg! – but that will take resources and a separate, dedicated organisation to make it happen.
The restoration of Rathen’s old kirkyard gates was achieved by a single volunteer. But saving the newly-closed kirk building for the community will take coordinated effort on a much larger-scale.
Will we be looking at a tragic loss, or a new beginning?
Author: Dr Sally LK Garden (Honorary Director) (Sep 2024)