Redrock Presbyterian Church

History

The congregation was formed in 1799 by a group that broke away from the nearby Markethill congregation. Its own history records that the reason is uncertain, and that the split may have followed a dispute within that congregation or simply a wish to attend a church closer to home. Building permission was obtained from the local landlords, the Earl of Charlemont and Lord Gosford, work began almost immediately, and Mr Harvey was ordained in 1799. The early years are recorded as coinciding with starvation, fever, political strife and widespread emigration.

Harvey retired in 1836 and the charge remained vacant until the ordination of William John Brown in 1858. Brown travelled in America to raise money to buy a manse and rebuild the church, and preached widely during the 1859 revival, when the communion roll rose by 16 per cent. He died in 1898.

Thomas Roulston was installed in 1906, following two years of ministry in New Zealand. Financial difficulties after the First World War and partition raised fears that the congregation would lose its minister, and a proposed union with another congregation was averted by door to door collecting. Roulston left in 1923 and a union with Druminnis followed in 1924. A second ministry of Joseph McKee, from 1926, saw the heating system overhauled and new stalls placed in the church; he resigned in 1941 and died in 1965.

Notable features

A war memorial, for which the congregation raised money in the 1940s, was unveiled in 1951. A gallery, first proposed in 1859 to provide extra room for the congregation, was installed in the 1980s. A time capsule was sealed in 1999, when the congregation marked its bicentenary.