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Summary

Description

St Mary's Church was built in 1837/8 and remodelled by A. R. Conlon around 1955. It is a 4-bay nave, rectangular-plan, church. Conlon added the gabled vestry to the west side and the gabled lady chapel, and a gabled porch and apsidal baptistry to the north gable. The nave has pointed arched windows. The roofs are slated and have straight skews and skewputts. On the north gable is a birdcage bellcote topped by a cross.

Statement of Special Interest

The rectangular plan form and steeply pitched roof is typical for churches of this period. The additions by a practice renowned for their Roman Catholic church work adds to the building's interest. Alexander Ritchie Conlon joined the architectural practice of Reginald Fairlie, becoming a partner in the early 1950s. Fairlie was a devout Roman Catholic and he was well known for Roman Catholic church design and renovation. His practice continued to design and remodel Roman Catholic churches after Fairlie's death in 1952.

Bornish is a small settlement characterised by scattered crofts and the isolated setting of St Mary's Church, overlooking Loch Bhornais, makes it a landmark building. In the Western Isles places of worship are often the most prominent historic building in its location or community.

While places of worship are not rare in Uist, St Mary's is a relatively early example of a Catholic Church in Scotland as it was built before the increase of numbers by the immigration of Irish Catholics following the famines of 1840s and 1850s. Although the Catholic Church was outlawed following the Scottish Reformation in 1560, Catholism survived in some remoter parts of Scotland, such as the southern Hebrides. The association of this denomination to South Uist is of relevance, as it remains the foremost faith.

St Mary's Church is similar in design to the nearby and slightly earlier, Ardkenneth Church (built 1826-9, listed at category B, see LB18779). Both of these churches originally had a priest's house, but at St Mary's the priest's house was remodelled as a chancel by Conlon.

St Mary's Church was previously listed at category B, likely in 1971 when the List for South Uist parish were first made statutory. In 1985 South Uist parish was 'resurveyed' whereby all existing listing designations were reviewed and new listings were added. Due to an administrative error in 1985 it appears that St Mary's Church was not transferred to the updated List of buildings of special architectural or historic interest for South Uist.

References

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