HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

St. Peter's Seminary is a former Roman Catholic
seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...
near
Cardross, Argyll and Bute Cardross (Scottish Gaelic: ''Càrdainn Ros'') is a large village with a population of 2,194 (2011) in Scotland, on the north side of the Firth of Clyde, situated halfway between Dumbarton and Helensburgh. Cardross is in the historic geographical ...
, Scotland. Designed by the firm of Gillespie, Kidd & Coia, it has been described by the international architecture conservation organisation
DOCOMOMO Docomomo International (sometimes written as DoCoMoMo or simply Docomomo) is a non-profit organization whose full title is: International Committee for Documentation and Conservation of Buildings, Sites and Neighbourhoods of the Modern Movement. ...
as a modern "building of world significance". It is one of only 42
post-war In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period ...
buildings in Scotland to be
listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...
at Category A, the highest level of protection for a building of "special architectural or historic interest". It has been abandoned since 1987, and is currently in a ruinous state. In July 2020, the site was gifted to the Kilmahew Education Trust Ltd who plan to reinstate the educational elements of the Seminary Complex after a process of conservation and restoration. The wider Kilmahew Estate is to be brought back to its former glory with new landscaping and features but is currently closed to the public due to safety concerns.


History


Origin

Following a fire in 1946 at St. Peter's Seminary in the
Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...
suburb of
Bearsden Bearsden () is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the northwestern fringe of Greater Glasgow. Approximately from Glasgow City Centre, the town is effectively a suburb, and its housing development coincided with the 1863 introducti ...
, a new home was needed for the seminary. Discussions began with Gillespie, Kidd & Coia in 1953, but the plans for a new college in the village of
Cardross Cardross (Scottish Gaelic: ''Càrdainn Ros'') is a large village with a population of 2,194 (2011) in Scotland, on the north side of the Firth of Clyde, situated halfway between Dumbarton and Helensburgh. Cardross is in the historic geographical ...
were not finalised until 1961, when building began. The college had since moved from Bearsden to temporary homes. The seminary's philosophy students were transferred to Darleith House in Cardross and the theology students to Kilmahew House. The plan was for a new building to accommodate all the students at Kilmahew House. It was a baronial mansion at the centre of the Kilmahew estate, a Victorian designed ornamental landscape created by the Burns family in the late 1800s. The mansion, built in 1865–1868, was originally a family home for James Burns and his son John, and later the Allan family, from the early 20th Century until just after the war, when the estate was sold to the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Glasgow The Archdiocese of Glasgow ( la, Archidioecesis Glasguensis) is the metropolitan see of the Province of Glasgow in the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland. The episcopal seat of the developing diocese was established by Saint Kentigern in the 6 ...
. Gillespie, Kidd & Coia employees
Isi Metzstein Isi Israel Metzstein OBE (7 July 1928 – 10 January 2012) was a German-born architect who worked at Gillespie, Kidd & Coia and taught at the Glasgow School of Art. He became known for his postwar architectural designs working in the European mo ...
and Andy MacMillan developed a radical design in which the old house would become professorial accommodation, and around it would wrap a striking new main block, a convent block, a sanctuary block and a classroom block. The old house thus became one side of a quadrangle, creating a juxtaposition between old and new buildings. Also on the land are the ruins of Kilmahew Castle, likely to have been built in the 16th century. When approaching St Peter's Seminary from the west you have to cross an old bridge that spans across the small river, Kilmahew Burn.


Architecture

Determinedly
modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
,
brutalist Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...
and owing a huge debt to
Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...
, the seminary is widely considered to be one of the most important examples of modernist architecture in Scotland. Architecture critic Jonathan Glancey wrote:
The architecture of Le Corbusier translated well into Scotland in the 1960s. Although the climate of the south of France and west of Scotland could hardly be more different, Corbu's roughcast concrete style, could, in the right hands, be seen as a natural successor or complement to traditional Scottish tower houses with their rugged forms and tough materials.
By the time it was completed in 1966, the number of candidates entering the priesthood had begun to decline. As a result, the building never reached its full capacity of around 100 students. From the outset, the building was riddled with problems, including maintenance difficulties with such a unique structure and significant water entry; the architects and owners each blamed the other for these problems.


Post-seminary

In February 1980, the buildings closed as a seminary. The Archdiocese of Glasgow moved St Peter's College to
Newlands Newlands may refer to: Places Australia * Newlands, Queensland, a locality in the Whitsunday Region New Zealand * Newlands, Wellington, a suburb of Wellington South Africa * Newlands, Cape Town, a suburb of Cape Town * Newlands, Johannesbu ...
in southern Glasgow. St Peter's College, Newlands, remained until November 1984 when it was closed and transferred its students to Chesters College in Bearsden, Glasgow. The Cardross site subsequently became a drug rehabilitation centre in 1983. Due to maintenance problems with the modern buildings, their attempted use ended by 1984 and vandalism to them began soon afterwards. The drug rehabilitation centre, now confined to Kilmahew House, closed in 1987. Maintenance of Kilmahew House ended in the early 1990s, higher palisade fencing was erected in 1992 in an attempt to curb vandalism. In 1995, a fire so badly damaged Kilmahew House that it was deemed too unsafe to stand and was demolished. The remaining modern buildings had been Category A
listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...
by
Historic Scotland Historic Scotland ( gd, Alba Aosmhor) was an executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage, and promoting its understanding and enjoyment ...
in 1992, and in October 2005 was named Scotland's greatest post-WWII building by the architecture magazine ''Prospect''.


Restoration efforts

Nonetheless, the building remains a ruin. Most of the woodwork and glass is now gone, although key aspects of the original design are still clearly visible. According to the architecture writer
Frank Arneil Walker Frank Arneil Walker OBE is a Scottish architectural academic and writer. He is emeritus professor of architecture of the University of Strathclyde. He writes regularly on architectural and urban history, is author of ''The South Clyde Estuary ...
, "nothing prepares one for the sight of the new grown prematurely old." Attempts to convert and reuse it, or even protect it from further damage, have come to nothing – hampered by the unique design of the building and its remote location. Plans have included building a 28-unit housing development in the building's grounds, and stabilising the structure by stripping it back to its concrete skeleton, possibly fully restoring a small cross-section. This is a source of concern for conservation bodies including the
Twentieth Century Society The Twentieth Century Society (C20) is a British charity which campaigns for the preservation of architectural heritage from 1914 onwards. The society's interests embrace buildings and artefacts that characterise 20th-century Britain. It is for ...
, who have placed it on their Risky Buildings Register, arguing that this would destroy much of the remaining fabric of the building. Funded by
Historic Scotland Historic Scotland ( gd, Alba Aosmhor) was an executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage, and promoting its understanding and enjoyment ...
and the Archdiocese of Glasgow, Avanti Architects were appointed to undertake a Conservation Assessment of the buildings and landscape. In June 2007, it was announced that the building was to be included in the
World Monuments Fund World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a private, international, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites around the world through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and trainin ...
's 100 Most Endangered Sites list for 2008. Also in 2007, developer Urban Splash became involved. Urban Splash worked with architect
Gareth Hoskins Gareth Dale Hoskins OBE (15 April 1967 – 9 January 2016) was a Scottish architect. Biography Born in Edinburgh on 15 April 1967, Hoskins attended George Watson’s College and the Mackintosh School of Architecture at the Glasgow School of Ar ...
, and in 2009 environmental arts group NVA were awarded a grant by the
Scottish Arts Council The Scottish Arts Council ( gd, Comhairle Ealain na h-Alba, sco, Scots Airts Cooncil) was a Scottish public body responsible for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland. The Council primarily distributed funding from th ...
to develop temporary and permanent artworks as part of the redevelopment of the building and surrounding woodlands. In 2011, Urban Splash pulled out of the project due to viability issues, and the Archdiocese of Glasgow reiterated its view that no commercial scheme will be viable for the site. NVA, however, continued their involvement with the site, working with local community groups, raising funds and developing plans for the partial restoration of the seminary buildings and interventions in the surrounding landscape. In 2010, NVA presented these plans at the 12th International Architecture Exhibition at the
Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...
. In 2012, the Scottish Government gave £500,000 for the building's regeneration by a
Historic Scotland Historic Scotland ( gd, Alba Aosmhor) was an executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage, and promoting its understanding and enjoyment ...
building grant. Also in 2012, NVA began working in partnership with the Universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Strathclyde on the 'Invisible College', a research network which aims to radically reinvent the college's original teaching function for the present day. A 'college without walls', the Invisible College has involved organised events bringing together academics, local residents, architects, artists, and other interested parties on site for debate, discussion, and collaborative investigations in the landscape. There have been public talks about ruins, architecture and landscape in the nearby villages of Cardross and Renton, and in the Lighthouse in Glasgow. The college has also produced an 'audio drift', a sound work layering together environmental recordings and interviews, designed to be listened to on portable MP3 players whilst walking through the landscape, and a guided walk around the Kilmahew estate, in collaboration with the Royal Geographical Society. Local residents from Cardross have begun cultivating food in the ruined walled garden of the former estate, which once supplied food for Kilmahew House and later the seminary. Following on from this, in 2013, the Invisible College organised a series of events exploring the horticultural and food-producing aspects of the site. The Invisible College has been funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). A planning application was submitted in February 2013 by Avanti Architects and ERZ Landscape Architects for the regeneration of the Seminary. Funding was secured from the
Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...
and
Creative Scotland Creative Scotland ( gd, Alba Chruthachail ; sco, Creative Scotlan) is the development body for the arts and creative industries in Scotland. Based in Edinburgh, it is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government. The or ...
. In early 2015, the site was handed over to artist Angus Farquhar, with the intention that part of it would become an arts venue. A major clean-up was completed in 2016 which included the cleaning and de-risking of the buildings, consolidating salvageable vaults and documenting the surviving buildings. NVA presented a sound and light event for the public which was sold out. However, in June 2018, NVA closed down, saying the challenges facing the company were compounded when a core funding bid to
Creative Scotland Creative Scotland ( gd, Alba Chruthachail ; sco, Creative Scotlan) is the development body for the arts and creative industries in Scotland. Based in Edinburgh, it is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government. The or ...
failed. In 2019, the
Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, owner of the building, said it had been degraded by fire, rain and vandalism and described the building as a "ruin". Ronnie Convery, director of communications of the Archdiocese of Glasgow, said that the building was an " albatross around the neck" of the archdiocese, which had the responsibility to maintain, secure, and insure it, and that they could not sell it, give it away, or demolish it. He added that public funding was the only way forward for the A-listed building. Architecture expert Alan Dunlop said that he "would be happy to tell he governmenthow extraordinary it is and how architects from around the world would want to come and see it". The government responded that the future of the building was the responsibility of the archdiocese, but that potential options for its future were under consideration. Article has many photographs of the building in its current state. Many undated images of the ruined building were published illustrating a January 2019
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadc ...
article. In July 2020, the site was transferred at no cost to the Kilmahew Education Trust who aimed to "develop a viable vision, with education at its core" for the site. The building was the subject of the Pleasure Scene Exhibition at Trafalgar Avenue, London, from 11 June to 25 July 2021, with a range of artworks and photography. The building featured in the tv series Abandoned Engineering, series 8, episode 8.


Documentary

The 20-minute documentary ''Space and Light,'' filmed during the seminary’s heyday, depicts the life of seminarians inside the building. Director Murray Grigor was granted access to all aspects of life inside the building, including classes, study, recreation, meals, and worship, but the focus is the building itself.


See also

* Blairs College near Aberdeen, another former seminary * DoCoMoMo Key Scottish Monuments * List of Category A listed buildings in West Dunbartonshire *
List of post-war Category A listed buildings in Scotland __NOTOC__ This is a list of Category A listed buildings in Scotland which date from after 1945 (the post-war period). The majority of these buildings are examples of Brutalist architecture or related modernist architecture which was ambitiously ...
* Prospect 100 best modern Scottish buildings


References


External links


Kilmahew Education Trust website


Bibliography

*McVicar, C. and Suau, C. (2008) 'Neglectfulness in the Preservation and Continuity of Late-modern Architecture: the case of St Peter's Seminary by Gillespie, Kidd and Coia', in D. van den Heuvel (ed.) ''International DOCOMOMO Conference: The Challenge of Change – Dealing with the legacy of the Modern Movement''. Amsterdam: IOS Press. *Rodger, J. (ed) (2007) ''Gillespie , Kidd and Coia: Architecture 1956–1987''. Glasgow: RIAS. * *Watters, D.M. (1997) ''Cardross Seminary : Gillespie, Kidd & Coia and the architecture of postwar Catholicism''. Edinburgh:
Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) was an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government that was "sponsored" inanced and with oversightthrough Historic Scotland, an executi ...
. *Wenell, K. (2007) 'St Peter's College and the Desacralisation of Space'.'' Literature and Theology'' 21 (3), pp. 259–275.


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Peter's Seminary Category A listed buildings in Argyll and Bute Religious buildings and structures completed in 1966 Brutalist architecture in Scotland Defunct universities and colleges in Scotland
Cardross Cardross (Scottish Gaelic: ''Càrdainn Ros'') is a large village with a population of 2,194 (2011) in Scotland, on the north side of the Firth of Clyde, situated halfway between Dumbarton and Helensburgh. Cardross is in the historic geographical ...
Christian organizations established in 1966 Educational institutions established in 1966 1966 establishments in Scotland Modern ruins