Efforts begin to identify men who died during kirk construction
Could your family have a connection to a tragic event in the history of the Stromness Community Centre?
Built as the new St Peter’s Parish Kirk over 200 years ago, tragedy struck during its construction, and three men lost their lives.
A memorial stone was built to commemorate them, but the passing decades have seen the letters worn from its surface.
With major renovation plans for the centre moving forward, now is the time to clear up the mystery, and identify the men who tragically lost their lives.
Stromness Community Development Trust took on the running of the building from Orkney Islands Council in March.
Beyond the ambitious plans to revamp the centre as a hub for community events, the trust is also hoping to pay homage to the history of the building.
Janette Park, a member of the trust, is looking to create an interpretation board or panel about the centre’s history as St Peter’s Kirk — including the men whose lives were lost all those years ago.
“I would like to be able to give these men a name in it, so they are commemorated,” said Mrs Park, who is also honorary curator at Stromness Museum.
“That was obviously the thought at the time, and now it has worn off.”
The memorial stone to the men who died during the 19th century construction work sits to the left of the community centre.
Before the Church Road building, the original St Peter’s Chapel was located at Warebeth at Monkers Green, which was an early monastic site. Part of a single wall still remains of the building.
When it fell into disrepair, the heritors of Stromness built the new kirk (now the community centre), which was completed in 1718 for a congregation of 800.
It was then rebuilt in the 1810s, with the expanded premises having room for a larger congregation of 1,200 people.
The building was then converted into the community centre in the 1960s, with the congregation moving to the church in Victoria Street.
The kirk hall hosting a Burns supper in the 1950s.
It was during the 19th century building works that the three men died, their lives acknowledged in the commemorative stone which sits to the left of the community centre.
In her efforts to find the names of the men, Mrs Park has turned to a number of sources, but so far they’ve haven’t been found.
Cairston Presbytery Minutes, searched by Orkney Library and Archive, has allowed a detailed history of the planning and building works to be pieced together.
A plan for the new church was requested in April 1813, before being approved in 1814.
The estimated cost was over £1,900, with a Robert Crookshank and George Humphrey appointed as overseers of the project.
It wasn’t until June 1817 that the keys were handed over to the presbytery.
A letter of November 28, 1816, complains about delays, and references the “surviving Overseer” Mr Humphrey.
But the records don’t make any mention of deaths during the construction work.
Mrs Park hopes that the relatives of the men who died might be able to clear this up and ensure their names are not forgotten.
Anyone with information can contact her on J.Park@stromnessmuseum.org.uk
