Bid to buy 'forgotten Einstein' church hits purchase price

A community bid to buy a south of Scotland church with links to the man described as "Scotland's forgotten Einstein" has raised enough to meet its purchase price.

Villagers in Parton only started their fundraising at the start of the month but have already reached more than the £50,000 agreed to acquire the building from the Church of Scotland.

Scientist James Clerk Maxwell - whose work paved the way for mobile phones, radio and television - is buried in the church graveyard.

It is hoped a further £20,000 can be raised to ensure the building is wind and watertight while plans are developed to turn it into a science and community centre.

A local fundraising campaign started a little over a fortnight ago in an effort to meet a 1 November deadline set by the Church of Scotland.

Failure to meet that would have resulted in the property being placed on the open market.

Campaigners said they were deeply grateful for the "extraordinary support" received from the local community and much further afield.

They now need less than £20,000 to reach the target they have set to stop the church deteriorating while plans are developed to turn it into a centre celebrating Clerk Maxwell.

Paul Hodson, who organised the fundraising appeal on behalf of the community, said: "The generosity of people has been fantastic, with over a thousand people supporting us from all over the world.

"We now need to bring this initial fundraising effort to a close by 31 October, reach the full £70,000 target and secure the building."

The group said that if the purchase goes ahead any plans would be developed through "further public consultation and careful planning".

Local resident John Simpson, who is a supporter of the campaign, added: "The response from Parton, across the UK and around the world has been extraordinary.

"It shows how strongly people value both Parton Kirk and James Clerk Maxwell's legacy.

"We are immensely grateful to everyone who has donated, shared the appeal or offered support."

Clerk Maxwell was born in Edinburgh in 1831 but moved to Galloway as a child.

The concept of electromagnetic radiation originated with him and is credited as paving the way for Einstein's special theory of relativity.

He died in Cambridge in 1879 but was buried back in Parton.