Guthrie Heritage & Guthrie Church

15/10/2026

Just over a week to go until our 200th anniversary celebrations at Guthrie Church!

We're really looking forward to opening our doors on Sunday 25th October to welcome members of Clan Guthrie USA, the local community, family and friends as we celebrate 200 years since the opening of the present church in 1826.

There's lots happening behind the scenes as we get ready for this special day! We'll be unveiling a commemorative plaque recognising the wonderful people who donated so generously and helped us save the church. We'll also be sharing more of our history through our new displays, and enjoying performances from pipers and dancers.

Once again, a heartfelt thank you to everyone who donated and supported our efforts to save Guthrie Church. We're especially looking forward to seeing so many of you in person and having the opportunity to thank you properly.

We hope it will be a celebration to remember!

Will you be joining us on Sunday 25th? Do let us know in the comments – we'd love to hear from you! ❤️

09/10/2026

*Generations of baptisms at Guthrie Church*

Just imagine how many babies and children have been baptised at Guthrie Church over the centuries – generations of Guthrie families and members of the local community, each marking an important moment in their family's story.

The beautiful carved wooden baptismal font in the church dates from 1901, when it was presented by George Reid, a banker, and Sarah Forbes MacLaren.

Inscribed around the font are the words:

"Suffer the little children to come unto me."

But the tradition of baptism at Guthrie goes back much further.

Our second photograph shows a much older, simple stone font, now kept in the historic Guthrie Aisle. This font was used for baptisms in the parish over the centuries and would originally have stood on a stone plinth inside the church, probably with a silver bowl to hold the water used during baptisms.

Together, these two fonts show a connection between past and present, reminding us of the many families who have gathered at Guthrie to welcome new generations into the church.

Were you, or perhaps someone in your family, baptised at Guthrie Church? We'd love to hear your memories.

22/09/2026

What a wonderful photo of the Guthrie Church and its yew trees from the 1950s-60's. It's amazing to see how the trees have flourished (as shown in the last post). Thank you to Angus Archives for sharing.

📸 This photograph shows the entrance to Guthrie Church. In the background, the main body of the church is visible, with a roof gable adorned with small decorative crosses. A woman is sitting on the low stone boundary wall to the left of the steps. Dated, c. 1950-1969.

Angus Archives Ref: 747/37/19

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18/09/2026

*A living reminder of a Royal Coronation*

If you walk through the gates of Guthrie Church, you pass between two magnificent yew trees. They have stood there for almost 90 years – and the small plaque beside them tells us why.

The trees were planted by Colonel Ivan Douglas Guthrie of Guthrie, 20th Clan Chief, on 12 May 1937, to commemorate the Coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother).

For Colonel Guthrie, there was also a personal connection to the Royal Family. He was a member of the Royal Company of Archers, the King’s Bodyguard for Scotland, serving as the King's personal bodyguard when the Royal Family were in Scotland. Ivan and his wife Mona also knew the Royal Family personally, and family photographs show them together on a number of occasions.

The planting seems particularly fitting because Colonel Guthrie was also a passionate gardener. At Guthrie Castle, he created a wild garden with sweeping areas of rhododendrons and azaleas, roses and blue meconopsis poppies among its planting. The Guthries were also among the first families to open their gardens to the public.

Today, the yews planted in 1937 still frame the entrance to Guthrie Church – a living reminder of a Royal Coronation, the Guthrie family's connection with the Royal Family, and Colonel Guthrie's love of gardens and trees.

11/09/2026

*The many ministers at Guthrie Church through the centuries*

Just inside the door of Guthrie Church hang two wooden panels recording the ministers who have served here across the centuries.

The first reaches right back into the church's early history, recording its pre-Reformation clergy and showing just how long this has been a place of worship. It is also striking to see how many Guthries appear among the names, reflecting the family's long connection with the church.

The second panel takes us from Patrick Lyell in 1655 right through to Rev. Brian Ramsay in 1984 – almost 330 years of history on a single panel.

As we prepare to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the present Guthrie Church, one name is particularly interesting. Rev. James Bruce, shown from 1818, was the minister when the old church closed and the present building was constructed. He conducted the first service in the new church on 3 December 1826.

And at the bottom of the panel is a wonderful link between past and present. Rev. Brian Ramsay served here from 1984 until his retirement in 2022. He continues to conduct services at Guthrie Church when needed, as well as serving the wider community, and is now a trustee of Guthrie Heritage SCIO.

Two simple wooden panels, but an extraordinary record of the people who have served Guthrie Church through the centuries.

04/09/2026

*Remembering eleven soldiers of the First World War at Guthrie Church*

These beautiful memorial vases were presented to Guthrie Kirk by the Guthrie Guild in 1918, at the end of the First World War.

One bears a Roll of Honour, with the names of eleven soldiers carefully engraved into the metal. The other carries a particularly poignant dedication:

“In Memory of the Soldiers who from Balgavies House returned to the Front and were Killed.”

During the First World War, Balgavies House, in Forfar near Guthrie, served as an auxiliary hospital, where soldiers who had been wounded or fallen ill during their wartime service were cared for and given time to recover. Some recovered enough to be considered fit for active service and were sent back to the Front, only to be killed after returning to the fighting. It is these men that the inscription remembers.

Their names are also remembered on the First World War memorial in Guthrie Church, alongside others from the wider parish who lost their lives.

More than a century later, these vases remain in the church - a meaningful reminder that behind every name is an individual story, and of how important it is that those stories continue to be remembered.

We will remember them.

28/08/2026

Making space for the next chapter at Guthrie Church

There’s been a little more activity behind the scenes at Guthrie Church recently, as we continue preparing the building for its future.

Thanks to the wonderful support of members of our local community, a number of pews at the back of the church have been carefully removed, creating a more open and accessible space.

This area will eventually form part of the Guthrie Heritage Centre, with displays sharing the fascinating history of the church, the local community and the Guthrie Clan. Work on the stories and displays is already well underway, and we’re really excited to see it beginning to take shape.

A huge thank you to members of the local Guthrie community who generously gave their time and resources to make all of this possible. We’re incredibly grateful for your continued support.

It’s another exciting step forward as we prepare for the church’s bicentennial celebrations this October, and look ahead to the launch of the Guthrie Heritage Centre next year.

More to come!

21/08/2026

From one small corner of Angus… to Guthries around the world!

Guthrie Church has been the heart of the Guthrie story since the 13th century, and we're so pleased to now be sharing that heritage with all of you. Because over the centuries, the name has travelled a very long way from here.

Today Guthries can be found in around 80 countries worldwide. The largest number by far are in the United States, roughly 40,000 people, concentrated most in Texas, California and Florida. There are also strong numbers in Australia and England, alongside the Guthries who remain here in Scotland where it all began.

You don't have to look far for evidence of the journey. Inside our own church hangs a stained glass window, "The Sower," commemorating Guthrie family members who joined the 1849 California gold rush, bearing the Guthrie coat of arms. And the name itself shows up in unexpected corners of the map too: Guthrie, Ontario in Canada, the Hundred of Guthrie, a historic district in South Australia, and the Guthrie Corridor Expressway in Malaysia, named after a company with Scottish roots.

The name has even made its way into American music, carried by Woody Guthrie and, in turn, his son Arlo.

So we'd love to know, wherever you're following us from: where did your Guthries end up?

Please tell us in the comments...

14/08/2026

Did you know Guthrie Church has a connection to one of Scotland's greatest engineers?

The church you see at Guthrie today was built in 1826 to a design by Thomas Telford. Telford is one of the great names of Scottish and British engineering, responsible for over 400 bridges, 1,500 miles of road, the Caledonian Canal and the Menai Bridge, among countless other achievements.

In that same period, Telford was also overseeing a Parliamentary scheme building 32 churches across the Highlands and Islands, funded by an Act of Parliament to bring worship to remote communities that had none. Guthrie's church was built in that same year, and Telford is believed to have had a hand in its design too, though it's not officially one of the 32. Guthrie's own foundations go back much further than that.

The Guthrie church's story goes back nearly a thousand years, and the church was built using stone from the medieval church that came before it. The Guthrie Aisle, a remnant of that earlier building, still stands in the churchyard today.

We'll be celebrating in both October and December, marking two hundred years since the church's dedication in 1826. More on this as we get closer.

07/08/2026

Every church has a story... But its greatest legacy is the people who filled it

Last week, we shared how Guthrie Church was carefully recorded as part of the Scotland's Churches Trust national recording project. Alongside documenting the building itself, volunteers also captured something just as important – the memories of the people who worshipped here and the role the church played at the heart of village life.

The stories they recorded remind us that Guthrie Church has been far more than a historic building. It has been a place of baptisms, weddings, Sunday School, harvest celebrations, Christmas services, community gatherings and lifelong friendships, creating memories that span generations.

The recording project also captured some wonderful memories of village life. One of the stories was from 1953, when most homes in the village still had no electricity. Colonel Ivan Guthrie, the Clan Chief, arranged for electricity to be installed in the Village Hall, where two televisions were provided for the community. But first, everyone had to attend church! The church was full, and one local resident, Alison, even arrived on horseback.

These are the kinds of memories that bring history to life. They remind us that preserving our heritage isn't just about protecting old buildings – it's about remembering the people, traditions and moments that made them so special.

Do you have a memory of Guthrie Church or the village of Guthrie? We'd love to hear it. Please share it in the comments below or send us a message. Every memory helps us preserve the story of Guthrie for future generations.