Back in 2016, when I was researching my book Tin Tabernacles and other Corrugated Iron Buildings in Scotland, I pulled off the A9 road 16 miles or so south of Inverness to visit the former United Free Church in the village of Tomatin.
Erected in 1903 by Glasgow-based suppliers of corrugated iron kit buildings, Speirs & Company, the iconic green structure served as a mission for workers from both the railway and nearby distillery. It was perched on a grassy slope by the road just south of the railway viaduct and north of the village itself.
When the United Free Church joined the Church of Scotland in 1929, it became one of three parish church buildings serving Moy, Dalarossie and Tomatin. When I first visited, it was still in regular use and was well maintained with the grass neatly cut on the small plot, a green gate, and steps leading down to the road.
However, fast-forward a couple of months and the building closed due to the difficulties and cost involved in bringing the church up to date. To survive, it needed a full refurbishment with mobility access and new toilet facilities to meet the needs of the local parish. When I visited a second time, I pulled up outside to find a pair of men complete with van and trailer carefully dismantling the old tin church.
While efforts were made to find a new use for the church on its existing site, there were no takers so the building travelled on the back of the trailer to the nearby Balnespick Estate, five minutes from Tomatin, where it spent some time in storage before being restored as part of a self-catering property. The main body of the church serves as an open-plan living area with kitchen and dining area and a wood-burning stove, while other facilities are provided in an adjacent new-build extension.
Much like the former corrugated iron buildings transferred and restored at the Highland Folk Museum, in Newtonmore, Tomatin’s tin tabernacle lives on, albeit in a new home.
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