Those in the know, will have heard of the special relationship that exists between Dunbar’s Abbey Church and its big sister the Bedlam Church in nearby Edinburgh, both built in the mid 1800s by the architect Thomas Hamilton for the Free Church. More elegant and refined, and altogether much better loved, Bedlam is looking smarter than ever, as its very expensive makeover was completed earlier this year. Even the railings have been rejuvenated and look splendid. I recommend you take a look.
As in the fairy tale, the Abbey Church is getting a different sort of treatment. Neglect. During a recent storm one of the pinnacles was taken down as it rocked perilously above. There seems to be no immediate prospect for this building as the bureaucrats and architects argue over technicalities. Is it derelict – is an economic restoration now even possible? Meantime new plans are also running into the sand.
Even if you don’t like the building – and I don’t care much for gothic churches – it is locally important. I’d argue that the prominent position and the interesting blend of rustic rubble walls (check out the rear – it is bloody marvellous, as the Bishop of Truro once of observed!) combined with the ashlar frontage, do set it apart from its big sister and make it worthy of attention. It is hard to conceive a replacement that would not completely detract from the Conservation Area.
If the private development proposals do not find favour, we probably need to find a different commercial use for the building. As I see it we lost an opportunity for an iconic piece of imaginative modern architecture, as a single private dwelling. Such a development, with the appropriate conditions in place (listed building consents that is), could have wrenched Dunbar from its relative obscurity in darkest East Lothian to the centre stage. East Lothian is far from being preserved in aspic, but is increasingly riddled with ugly housing developments which are mostly unsustainable and utterly unimaginative – thanks mostly to volume builders, meanwhile the Conservation Area in Dunbar is being progressively eroded by a tyranny of small decisions and weak enforcement.
But maybe we could come up with an audacious alternative, architecturally and aesthetically, and an imaginative solution that stimulates the local economy? A boutique hotel? A hostel for walkers? An emporium and market for the growing band of upcyclers and purveyors of vintage (check out the Old Dairy in Ford for inspiration)? Bedlam in Dunbar? Yes please.