Work to turn 5th Century church into museum to begin

Restoration work on the grounds of a Glasgow church which dates back to the 5th Century is set to begin.

The Govan Heritage Trust aims to turn the area's Old Parish Church into a museum and business complex that can also serve as a community hub.

The group has faced considerable financial hurdles since acquiring the property 10 years ago, but now believes it is "now closer than ever to realising its original goal" after securing new funding in the past year.

The site is home to the famous Govan Stones - Viking-age monuments that sat in the churchyard for more than 1,000 years, while the yard itself is considered to be one of the oldest places of Christian worship in Scotland.

In 2007 Govan Old Parish became part of the Govan and Linthouse parish and congregation due to an amalgamation with other churches.

After nearly a decade of uncertainty, the church was taken over by Govan Heritage Trust in 2016, when they announced plans to "develop the church into a self-sustaining community-run cultural, museum and business complex".

However financial difficulties - fuelled by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 - meant the idea has been slow-developing.

Pat Cassidy, a member of the trust, and the managing director of Govan Workspace which will project manage the development, said there had been "a lot of stops and starts" with the project.

He added: "In the early days, we enjoyed some quick successes in fundraising and were able to deliver a small first phase of work, but that quickly ended with the calamity of Covid when everything came to a shuddering halt.

"By the time it was over, our tight project budget was blown apart by post-pandemic inflation, and all progress frozen."

Last year saw new backers come forward, which has given the development new life.

Cassidy explained: "We're building an extension onto the old church in order to give it facilities, such as disabled access and toilets, that are essential for it to function for the first time as a lettable public venue.

"We're also creating business space that will generate rental income and contribute to running costs. Both of these are critical to viability."

He said the start of construction and recent funding mean that Govan Heritage Trust is now "closer than ever to realising its original goal".

Community volunteers have allowed the church to remain open to visitors who want to see the building and the Govan Stones.

The funding sources include a contribution from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, which identified the churchyard as worthy of special attention, and a two-year programme promoting community engagement in archaeology.

The Dig Where You Stand programme will be led by Glasgow university's professor of historical archaeology, Stephen Driscoll, and give members of the public the chance to get hands-on experience of an archaeological excavation.

Driscoll said he hoped to welcome hundreds of people to the site over the next two years.

In 2019, as part of a separate dig in the churchyard, a 14-year-old schoolboy found one of a set of lost gravestones from the Middle Ages.

Mark McGettigan's discovery led to two more sculpted gravestones being found shortly afterwards.

The Govan Stones themselves are from a period of history before the nation of Scotland existed, with rival warlords battling for control of the British Isles, and against rampaging Viking forces.

At the time, Govan was the major religious centre in the Kingdom of Strathclyde.

Several churches have been built on the site since then, with the current building constructed between 1884 and 1888.