The Kirk was completed in 1930. Up until 2019, the kirk had 4 chandelier lights in the Nave and a little bit of lighting beside the exhibition area. After dusk the building becomes quite dark, gloomy and atmospheric, but you can’t see very much!

In 2018 we engaged Paul Covell Lighting Consultants to help us with the problem and he has prepared a lighting scheme that would bring out the best of the Kirk and bring it up to modern standards with emergency lighting and exits signs. Paul is an experienced designer of churches, theatres and other buildings. With recent technological developments meaning dimmable LEDs, wireless controls and amazing track systems the proposed scheme would be able to optimised to highlight features such as the roof, the walls, windows and more such as the Chapels, the Iona Abbey Window. We obtained Listed Building Consent in 2018.

Chancel and Nave with Roof and Wall lights

The approximate cost of the full scheme was approx £80,000. In Summer 2019, we were awarded a LEADER Rural development grant fund of £21,492 to fund half of the costs to light the Nave and South Aisle. The majority of the balance of the project was funded by several years of fundraising by the Friends of st Conan’s Kirk.

In November 2019 the Kirk was closed for 3 weeks to allow the lighting to be installed and we are incredibly pleased with the results! We still have the rest of the scheme to complete, with the chapels, chancel and apse all needed lit. Although a good deal of the infrastructure to light these areas was installed in 2019 we will still need to raise approximately £40,000. If you would like to donate please visit our Donate page.