IPC
Inverallan Church history
Inverallan is the old name for the district around the town of Grantown-on-Spey. The name Inverallan is taken from the well, ‘Tobar Allain’, from which there flows a burn. This burn flows into the Glenbeg burn which in turn enters the River Spey near the old Inverallan Church and graveyard.
We hope that you will find peace and calm in this sacred building.
There has been a Christian witness in this area for many centuries. A well in nearby Glenbeg is called St Columba’s well and is believed to be the most easterly point ever reached by the famous missionary. It is not known how long after this visit that St Figgat came to preach the gospel on the banks of the Allan. It is believed that his bones lie beneath the Priest’s Stone in the old Inverallan churchyard. This stone has been inscribed with ancient Celtic crosses.
In the meadow of the lower part of the Kylintra Burn, there has been recorded a well called after St. Figgat.
There was a mediaeval church near the Inverallan burn and recorded in the register of the Bishopric of Moray. The rough stone mediaeval font was discovered when the later Old Inverallan Church building was demolished and still stands in the Kirkyard. This Church was a simple stone building with a thatched roof and may have been built in the post reformation time. After the new town of Grantown-on-Spey was developed in the later 18th Century, residents faced a long walk out to Frognal and down the old church road , alongside the Kylintra Burn (and passing St. Figgat’s well) to the Inverallan Church and Kirkyard.
Thus a new church was proposed on the north side of Grantown. This opened in 1803 and was initially called Grantown Church but in 1816, due to popular request to retain the old name, Abernethy Presbytery agreed to the Church being renamed Inverallan Church. Now we are in the 3rd Inverallan Church. The present building was erected at a cost of £7000 by Caroline Stuart, Countess of Seafield, in memory of her husband John Charles Grant (7th Earl of Seafield) who died in 1881 and also in memory of her son Ian Charles Ogilvie Grant (8th Earl of Seafield) who died in 1884.
This present Church was officially called the Seafield Memorial Church of Inverallan at its opening on 1st May 1886. The cost of £7000 was met by Caroline Stuart, Countess of Seafield, in memory of her husband John Charles Grant (7th Earl of Seafield) who died in 1881 and also in memory of her son Ian Charles Ogilvie Grant (8th Earl of Seafield) who died in 1884.
This 3rd Inverallan Church was built immediately behind the 1803 Church which was a rectangular, rather plain and unprepossessing edifice. On its demolition, the stones from he 1803 Church stones were preserved and used in the building of a Mission hall (now the current Church Hall) which opened in 1887. The timber for the new hall was donated by the Countess and the old timber given to the poor of the Parish. The additional cost of this building was borne by the Parishioners. The adjacent Church hall was constructed from materials recycled from the previous Church. It is used regularly by various community groups.
In 1960, Inverallan Church was united with Grantown South Church (a Free Church originally) and again its name reverted back to Grantown-on-Spey Church. However in 2003, the congregation voted to return the name to Inverallan Church. You can read more about Inverallan Church artefacts in our downloadable document.