IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
MONTROSE, DD10 9SD

The photo shows a north-northwest view along Usan Road in the vicinity of Craigview House.

The photo shows Craigview House as seen looking northwest over a wheat field. Craigview House is a late Georgian country house which is believed to date from the late 18th century and it is shown on a map of 1792. In 1843, it became a Free Church Manse at the time of the Disruption when the Free Church broke away from the established Church of Scotland. In the mid 1970s, the house was acquired by the celebrated landscape painter James Morrison and his wife. The property contains an artist’s studio which was converted from a former dairy building.

Historic Environment Scotland record Craigview House as a B Listed Building which was built as a Free Church Manse in 1843. Craigview House was previously known as Free Church Cottage (1851 Census records) and Craig Cottage (1861 Census records) and it was first shown on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map (surveyed 1861-62, published 1864). The 18th May 1843 was a particularly significant date for the Church of Scotland because of the Disruption which took place at the General Assembly in Edinburgh. On the day of the Disruption, Rev. Dr. Welsh led a group of dissenting ministers out of the General Assembly and these included Rev. James Brewster D.D., who walked out, arm in arm, with his elder brother Sir David Brewster. By the act of separation and deed of demission, Rev. Brewster resigned Craig Parish Church, the manse at Kirkton of Craig and his stipend in an exchange for spiritual independence but an uncertain future. While the new Free Church of Scotland manse and church were being erected, he lived at Craig View House and he often preached in a tent or in a barn such as at Seaton of Usan.

The photo shows a northward view of part of a field of ripening wheat near Craigview House.

Looking north. Inchbrayock is close to this junction.

The photo shows Inchbrayock Manse viewed in a southeast direction from Usan Road. Inchbrayock Manse was shown as a Free Church Manse on the 1’st Edition Ordnance Survey map which was surveyed 1861 and published 1864. After the Disruption of 1843, Rev. James Brewster, of the established Church of Scotland, quitted the Manse of Craig at Kirkton of Craig and took up residence in Craig View House while Inchbrayock Manse was being built. His total ministry in the parish of Craig lasted for 45 years and sadly this much loved and respected minister was to die in Inchbrayock Manse. Rev. Hugh Mitchell LL.D., who succeeded Rev. Brewster D.D., as minister of the Free Church of Craig lived at Inchbrayock Manse for his 45 year ministry between 1848 and 1893. A headstone in Rossie Island Cemetery, which is the location where the former Inchbrayock or Inchbraoch Chapel once stood and where the Inchbrayock Pictish Stones were discovered, records the name of Rev. Hugh Mitchell LL.D., and that of his sister Margaret Mitchell who also died at Inchbrayock Manse.

This photo was taken by the roadside near to what is marked as Triangle Croft on the Victorian six inch to a mile map of Kirkton of Craig. The eastward looking view over a flat, arable field shows the present day Inchbrayock Manse. The Victorian six inch to a mile map marks this manse as the United Free Church Manse which was once the home of Rev Hugh Mitchell, M.A, LL.D. Rev Mitchell was a much loved minister who died in 1846 during the 46th year of his service there. In addition to his ministerial duties, he was a pioneering palaeontologist and the discoverer of the then named fossil fish Acanthodes Mitchelli. At the same Farnell location, he also found two new fossil fish which were named by Sir Philip Egerton as Climatius scutiger and Diplacanthus (Ischnacanthus) gracilis. Another new fish, Pteraspis Mitchelli was named after him by his friend James Powrie, F.G.S. of Reswallie, near Forfar. Both Sir Roderick Murchison and Sir Charles Lyell visited Rev. Mitchell at his manse, in the parish of Craig, to examine his extensive palaeontological and mineral collections.

The accompanying photo shows Inchbrayock Manse on Usan Road which is the residence for the minister at Montrose South and Ferryden Church in Church Street, Ferryden. On the 3rd August 2023, a Service of Union involving Montrose South and Ferryden Church; Montrose: Dun & Hillside and Montrose: Old & St Andrews created the new Montrose Trinity Church. Montrose South and Ferryden Church (M S & F) was originally the Free Church, Ferryden, in the parish of Craig. This church came into being after the Disruption in the Church of Scotland, during 1843, when Rev. James Brewster, D.D., who had been the minister of Craig Parish Church at Kirkton of Craig, broke away from the established Church of Scotland and created a new Free Church building in the village of Ferryden. Rev. Brewster’s successor was the Rev. Hugh Mitchell LL.D., and he lived in the manse shown in the photo. In his spare time, Rev. Mitchell explored the geology of the local area and he became a pioneering, fossil collector who discovered new species of fossil fish in Angus. He was visited at his manse by the famous, geologists Sir Charles Lyell and Sir Roderick Murchison as they were eager to see his unique collection of specimens.

A sharp boundary between a field of barley to the left, and a field already harvested on the right.