St. Mary

Introduction

St Mary's in Fort William, within the Diocese of Argyll and the Isles, was designed by the architect Reginald Fairlie, a Scottish architect known for his prolific output of Roman Catholic churches in Scotland from the 1920s to the early 1950s.

History

Construction of St Mary's began in 1933, and the church was blessed and opened on Sunday, 14th October 1934 by the Bishop of Argyll and the Isles. In the centre of the oak reredos at the far end of the Lady Chapel is a fine statue of the Madonna and Child.

Marija was welcomed into the family of the church. Paul and Ann Marie Macdonald celebrated 44 years of marriage and were present in Saint Mary's.

Architecture and furnishings

The nave is constructed of grey granite, and the tower is faced with grey granite enlivened by pink granite stones placed in a not quite regular nor entirely random pattern. The interior has a semi-circular tunnel vault with a concrete ribbed ceiling, and the chancel is dominated by a huge black, gold and red baldacchino, or canopied altar. In the north east corner of the nave, a two bay arcade of columns gives access to the Lady Chapel, whose columns have capitals with Celtic carvings and which has a flat ceiling panelled in wood.

A massive tower at the north-eastern end, reminiscent of a castle keep, dominates the church. External features include a porch at the south-west end, a narrow half-octagonal tower at the junction between nave and main tower, large buttresses at the tower's end, and a small semi-circular baptistry near the south-west end. The Sunday morning Mass is sung, accompanied by the church's organist and choir.