St Laurence Church

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This elegantly-spired neo-Gothic Church stands on a site of Christian worship since the 13th century when King Alexander III erected a chapel here, dedicated to St. Laurence, the patron saint of Forres, here in memory of his beloved wife. There followed a succession of churches on this site culminating in the construction of this magnificent place of worship in the early 1900s. Although the gardens are simple in design, being lawns edged with flower beds, the benches here do offer a nice sheltered place in the sun to sit and watch the hustle and bustle of the High Street. One exceptionally well-travelled Forres woman in particular must surely have appreciated the beauty of the church. Constance Gordon-Cumming was born in 1837.

She was a prolific and feisty travel writer and landscape painter. Her best-known books are At Home in Fiji and A Lady’s Cruise on a French Man-of-War. The latter book resulted from an invitation to join a French ship put into service for the Bishop of Samoa so that he could visit remote parts of his far-flung diocese, but that’s another story. The present building is relatively modern as it’s foundation stone was laid on 17th August 1904 with the building first opened for worship on 28th February 1906, prior to which the congregation worshipped in Cumming Street Church (now Logie’s store).

The interior of the church has many features not commonly found in a Church of Scotland building. The marble Baptismal Font (a copy of its prototype is in Dryburgh Abbey) is situated in what is effectively a private Baptistry. The marble Communion Table and the great brass Eagle Lectern are in design and position more likely to be found in an Anglican church. All of these reflect the ideas of Rev Alexander C. Buchanan, minister of the parish from 1899 – 1912, who later left the Church of Scotland to become a priest in the Scottish Episcopal Church. The Earlier Church, King Alexander III’s chapel, was probably followed by a later church built near the beginning of the 15th century, but there are no reliable records to confirm this.

The immediately previous church on this site (illustrated alongside) was built in 1775/76. It was very small because, it is said, the heritors, being under pressure from the Kirk Session to replace a previous building which was in a dire state of repair, were reluctant to spend more than was necessary. The Session also voiced disquiet with the Town Council who too had to pay for their share in the work. The heritors reluctantly added galleries, but they took their revenge by charging exorbitant rents for the seats, obviously intending to use the new church as a profitable investment.