Historic Buildings

St Margaret’s Braemar – Regenerating a hidden Scottish masterpiece

Historic Churches Scotland and St Margaret’s Trust (SMT) are working in partnership to save and re-use St Margaret’s Church. Through our project we will create an inspirational next life for a nationally important historic building, supporting the community’s ambition for a better Braemar, and revealing a long-hidden masterpiece of Scottish architecture. By expertly conserving and extending the Category A listed church, we will create a vibrant, adaptable, environmentally sustainable and beautiful space for people to use and enjoy. In a regenerated St Margaret’s, SMT can deliver ever-more dynamic cultural and community events appealing to larger and more diverse audiences, while the building’s original life is sustained through occasional worship. We will offer people greater understanding, enjoyment and sense of place, whether they are locals or visitors. We will achieve this by working collaboratively with others to weave together the strands of Braemar’s story with that of St Margaret’s and the Cairngorms National Park, sharing this in accessible and engaging ways. Our project will prevent the loss of a nationally significant heritage asset and closure of a community resource in which local volunteers have invested countless hours. It will build on strong foundations laid by SMT who, since 2011, and despite few facilities, have successfully reanimated St Margaret’s with increasingly ambitious meanwhile uses. Their piloting of concerts, exhibitions, ceilidhs, farmers markets, youth music workshops, and national commemorations has proved viability and created new audiences. With the condition of the building now critical after 20 years on the Buildings at Risk Register, the imminent risk of loss is huge. At a time of crisis for places of worship in Scotland, with large numbers of churches closing, our project also aims to be a model for achieving the best possible next life, and a source of inspiration for others.