A future for our past

Colonsay and Oransay Heritage Trust is very fortunate to have such an important building from Colonsay's past in which to create a centre for our future. The Baptist Church played a very important part in the lives of many islanders over many years. Since it was gifted to COHT in 2016 by the Baptist congregation it has become apparent that there is an urgent need to repair and renovate the building as a suitable location for our growing collections of artefacts, photographs, and papers as well as a hub for our talks and workshops. Our collections cover a wide range of topics including island archaeology and geology as well as the social and natural history of our islands. We continue to receive donations which require appropriate cataloguing, storage and display space.

Our initial target is to raise funds to replace the slate roof over the vestry and the existing roof light. We aim to reclaim as much of the original slate as possible to maintain the character of the building. The estimated cost is £9000, with a provisional starting date March '2020.

Once successful with this initial phase our next step is to refurbish the vestry interior to allow us to control temperature and humidity in order that we can store and display the more delicate artefacts in our collection and also include a library area for research.