Pulteneytown Parish Church
Pulteneytown, prior to 1878 was in the bounds of the Old Parish Church which is now known as St Fergus and as Pulteneytown expanded and it’s population grew, it was obvious that a church was needed for the expanding area. The formation of the new congregation formed from four denominations, the United Reformed Church, the Reformed Presbyterian Church, the Free Church and the Church of Scotland.
At the time of the their formation, they met in the assembly hall of Pulteneytown Academy and in 1838 the Caithness presbytery received a petition from the Rev. Robert Phinn explaining the need for a church building to be erected in the expanding area of Pulteneytown. Funding for the new church came from organisations such as the British Fisheries Society and the Church Extension Committee in Edinburgh as well as magistrates, heritors and local people. The foundation stone was laid in 1841 and the building was completed in November the following year. It is located in Argyle Square in Wick and the cost of the building’s erection was £1,700 but the full cost of the establishment was not met until 1878. This was a new church erected for the Pulteney side of Wick and it’s official opening took place on Sunday the 6th of November 1842 where the Rev. Charles Thomson who was pastor of Wick Old Parish Church (now St Fergus) preached a sermon on Exodus 20:24. According to the newspapers, the people of Pulteneytown compared the new church to the Old Parish Church on the Wick side where it was mentioned that the new church was well ventilated where the so described “big kirk” had patched windows and ear-piercing draughts and it was high time that the windows were mended although a large sum of money had been spent on repairs in the Manse. Pulteneytown had a population of about five thousand in 1874 and three hundred and fifty people out of that population attended, there was also a number of thirty communicants as well as ten teachers and one hundred and twenty scholars in the Sunday school. In 1876 there were requests for an evening service to held and it was decided that this should happen once a month and once the cost of heat and lighting were met, the rest of the offering went to the minister. Three years later the debt of the church had eventually been paid off. An old church sign which was beside the main door when the Rev. William Wallace (Bill) was the minister.
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Argyle Square in the early 1900’s during a parade. The church building can be seen in the background to the right. The Johnston Collection.
Not even a year into the new church’s opening and the majority of the congregation left due to the distruption of 1843, they later formed Pulteneytown Free Church which soon became Wick Central Church. With a brand new church for the expansion of the town, expectations were high and with that the pastor Mitchell left and took up a vacancy in St Luke’s Free Church in Glasgow. As the remaining people of the fellowship continued, missionaries and visiting preachers conducted the services and eventually in 1852 the Rev. Archibald Milligan was inducted, despite serving less than a year as the minister he took up a charge in Montreal in 1853. In 1871 the church had a rising debt of £614 and of course people were not too wealthy. The gallery’s front pews were let at two shillings and sixpence per annum and the grass surrounding the front of the Church was let at three shillings per annum.
Altogether there was a total of of five churches of Scotland in the town; two on the Wick side and three on the Pulteney side, and although at this time they weren’t two seperate parishes there was a question as to why there were five churches representing the Church of Scotland in a town the size of Wick, and so on the 28th of May 1878 Pulteneytown was disjoined from Wick with the Pulteney Parish boundaries being on the main bridge. In the congregation’s early days, the church was partly funded and administered by The Baird Trust which organisation had a say in the appointment of ministers to the charge. This was because the church was not a parish church. Once the boundaries in Wick were re-aligned it meant that the Pulteneytown church became a Parish Church and now had the right to call its own minister and so the first person they appointed was the Rev. William Anderson who was known as Harley.
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Pulteneytown Church had no Manse for sixty three years until 1905 when a Mr Ross had written to various parties outwith Caithness explaining how the poor people of Pulteney had a church but no Manse. It seems that Mr Ross had raised the funds completely himself for the building of the new Manse to begin. The Pulteneytown Church Manse stands at No. 2 Coronation Street. Mr Robert is said to have been a well known character in the town and he is reputedly known for being a usual visitor on someone’s door step on a Monday morning if they were not seen at worship on the Sabbath, he was also often known for saying “I wonder what will happen to my Kirkie when I go”.
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The church Manse in Coronation Street, Wick.
In 1990, Wick Central Church closed its doors and merged with St Andrews Church to create what is now Pulteneytown Parish Church. The organ from the Central Church building which is located in the opposite street was moved into Pulteneytown Church. In the late 1990’s Pulteneytown Parish Church underwent renovation work with the pews being removed and replaced with more modern individual seats, a new colour scheme was added as well as carpet, a sound system was also installed. In 2002 a large glass reception area was added as well as other new facilities.
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Above- the exterior of the church undergoing renovation work.
Left: The church as it is today Jayden Alexander Photography.
Middle: A drawing of the church building and extensions.
Right: Graveside of the Rev. George Ramage, pastor of St Andrew’s Church.
Middle: A drawing of the church building and extensions.
Right: Graveside of the Rev. George Ramage, pastor of St Andrew’s Church.