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Publication Account
Date 1986
Event ID 1017245
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1017245
Perched on a ledge above the Dee, this tall cruciform church is the work of A Marshall Mackenzie; it replaces a church of1804. From the west door, the first impression of the interior is deceptively simple: a rather dull kirk with bare grey walls, dark woodwork and high, bright windows. On approaching the crossing, Mackenzie's skill becomes evident. He has contrived a space of generalised ecclesiastical intent (nodding to several different traditions), which can function as a place of public worship for the Royal Family when at Balmoral. The royal pew is in the south transept, entered from a wooden porch. The wide, shallow chancel is decidedly Anglican in inspiration, being approached up four steps and containing a grandiose marble 'communion table' (equalled in the Scottish Kirk only in the metropolitan splendour of St Cuthbert's, Edinburgh) and a hexagonal pulpit that is also a minor lapidarium (fashioned from 18 different granites and bearing pebbles ofIona marble wllected by HRH Princess Louise). Crathie's secondary, and compelling, function as a royal ancestor shrine is seen most clearly in the central space, the crossing, whose pillars contain canopied recesses for portrait busts of Queen Victoria, King George V and King George VI.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Grampian’, (1986).
