Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Heritage group hopes to secure funding to help restore Aberdeenshire church

David Fleming inside the church prior to its closure.
David Fleming inside the church prior to its closure.

A heritage group will learn next week whether they will be awarded £6,000 to help repair an historic church.

St James’ Episcopal Church in Stonehaven has been closed since June to allow restoration work to be carried out.

The structure of the grade A building has been severely damaged due to dry rot.

But now, church officials are hoping to secure a portion of the overall total of the work, which is worth more than £40,000.

The application has gone before the Kincardine and Mearns area committee which meets on Tuesday.

The cash would be used to install a permament exhibition space at the rear of the newly refurbished site, dedicated to John Wardele and the Victorian organ.

Mr Wardele built the impressive instrument in 1881 and was the organist and choir master for 58 years.

David Fleming, buildings convener, said: “At the moment, when the church is open, people come in and have a quick look around at the interior and leave.

“The idea for this would be that they would stay longer, learn more about the history and then recommend the exhibition to their friends.”

The rot was first spotted on the south section of the roof, but on closer examination by specialists, it was discovered it had spread across the structure.

Workers have been forced to remove the rotten wood with strong scaffolding in place to support the church.

The refurbishment work is ongoing, but is taking longer than originally expected.

Mr Fleming added they hope the doors will be opened again in three to four weeks.

Meanwhile, an application worth £1,836 has also been received by Portlethen and District Men’s Shed to help repair the town’s former block.

The group was previously granted a community asset transfer of the building some time ago and is close to finishing off the work, but requires funds to install a new doorway and a disabled toilet.

The coastal town’s community council has applied for £4,000 towards purchasing and restoring a disused and derelict lock-up garage to store Christmas lights and other items.