Summary Record

Event ID 995163

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Summary Record

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/995163

The Covent and its church were recorded by RCAHMS Threatened Buildings Survey in August 2013. Initially it was recomended for recording due to the proposed closure of the Convent but the Roman Catholic Bishop of Aberdeen invited The Dominican Sisters of St Cecilia from USA to continue the work of the Convent. The opportunity was taken to record the building whilst the building was being prepared for the arrival of the new nuns.

The present buildings were erected for "Observantine Friars" of the Franciscan Order by Bishop Innes in 1479. The Monastery was inhabited by monks until 1560 when at the Reformation the property fell to the Crown. Towards the end of the 16th century Greyfriars was used as a "Justice House" and as a meeting place for the Incorporated Trades. William King, Provost of Elgin, became the owner in1684 and turned part of the former priory into a mansion. The King family lived there for 120 years - their tombstones can be seen in the Church - which in their time was used for Episcopalian services - but the uninhabited buildings were allowed to fall into ruins. From 1818, the property was owned by the Stewart family, then they passed into the hands of Colonel Leslie of Kinninvie. In 1891 he auctioned the ruins of the Franciscan Monastery and Church which were bought by the Elgin Community of the Sisters of Mercy. At this time, the Sisters were living in cramped conditions in St Mary’s, the original convent, which occupied the site of St. Sylvester’s School in Elgin. They had no money to restore the ruinous complex and after a plea from one of the nuns of the Elgin Community of the Sisters of Mercy, John Patrick 3rd Marquess of Bute acquired the buildings in 1895 with the idea of restoring them and giving them to the Sisters. Lord Bute turned to John Kinross to restore the church and the monastic buildings for use as a Convent. Kinross investigated other Franciscan buildings in Aberdeenshire. He recognised many similarities with King’s College, Aberdeen which he used as the main reference point for the details of his restoration. Unfortunately Lord Bute died whilst the work was underway but his youngest son Lord Colum and Kinross continued the work which was completed in 1908. The attention to detail which is a hallmark of the work of John Kinross is clearly evident throughout the building. Although some stonework had survived Kinross created the beautiful interiors for example all the woodwork including the ceiling in the chapel is designed by Kinross. Lord Colum gifted the convent to the Sisters of Mercy who lived and worked here until 2010.

STG 2014