St Margaret's Episcopal Church, Castleton Terrace, Braemar

St Margaret's Episcopal Church, Braemar

This is a significant Gothic Revival church designed by Sir J Ninian Comper and constructed between 1899 and 1907. It stands in a prominent, elevated position overlooking the main road through Braemar village on Castleton Terrace. The church is a five-bay, near-cruciform structure with low crenellated tower, complete with nave, chancel and south aisle. It represents an important example of Comper's work in an English Gothic style, executed using local squared and coursed polychrome granite rubble, which creates a distinctive polychromatic effect across the exterior.

The building is oriented east to west. The west entrance elevation features a gabled end with a large five-light intersecting traceried window, diagonal offset buttresses, a louvred opening above the window, and a cross-shaped finial at the gable head. A low, flat-roofed crenellated porch sits to the left. The south elevation includes an aisle with intersecting traceried windows. The east gable elevation displays a large five-light traceried window divided by a trefoil-headed transom with quatrefoil detail, a single louvred lancet above, and a cross-shaped finial at the apex. The north elevation shows a large blind arch below the tower with harled surround and a hood-moulded rose window above. All windows feature Gothic tracery with hoodmoulds throughout. The roof is covered in grey slate with cast iron rainwater goods and hoppers bearing the mark of the Mar Estate.

An elaborate cast iron gate arch and lamp, dated 1894 and made by McFarlane and Co, Saracen Foundry, Glasgow, stands at the entrance.

The interior is particularly refined. Walls are rendered with exposed ashlar dressings. The nave is covered by a timber barrel-vaulted ceiling with a pair of castellated tie-beams; a similar arrangement appears in the south aisle. The tower has stone ribbed vaulting, and the chancel features a decorative cradle-vaulted timber roof. The floor is timber with a central stone aisle. Single wooden seats line the nave.

The most prominent internal feature is an ornate rood-screen of dark stained oak with Gothic vaulting and armorial panels, surmounted by a painted and gilded crucifix flanked by statues of the Virgin and St John. A turnpike stair leads from the vestry to a wall-set pulpit and rood-loft above. Carved timber stalls with decorative bench ends are positioned in the chancel. The altar is stone with railings but the reredos and hangings are missing. An aumbry is set in the wall to the left, and a piscina to the right. A simple Gothic font and oak lectern with octagonal base and revolving two-sided desk complete the furnishings.

The church was built to serve a congregation of English tourists during the summer season, replacing a timber church by Pirie and Clyne from 1880. The south aisle was used for smaller winter congregations. The construction cost £8,000, paid for by Eliza Schofield or raised through congregational and friends' donations. The first meteorological station in the village was housed at the top of the tower.

Comper was a nationally important Gothic Revival architect responsible for churches throughout the United Kingdom and was an expert in stained glass. His symbol, a strawberry, appears frequently as a motif in his work. This church is regarded as one of his finest examples, demonstrating expert knowledge of different phases of Gothic style and an assured ability to blend them into a harmonious whole. The building is a rare survival of Comper's work in a substantially unaltered state, combining external architectural quality with an exceptionally refined internal scheme.

The church is no longer in ecclesiastical use but remains owned by the Scottish Episcopal Diocese of Aberdeen. As of 2005, it was in poor repair, with some furnishings missing, failing mortar pointing in places, and severe damp penetration.