A mysterious blaze that destroyed a village kirk founded by Rupert Murdoch’s grandmother has burnt out the heart of the community, a councillor said last night.
The West Church in Hatton’s Main street was gutted by a major fire on Wednesday morning and the empty shell of the 130-year-old structure is now fenced off.
The disused church is understood to have been empty at the time.
No one was killed or seriously injured, and a joint police and fire investigation is ongoing.
Councillor Anne Allan used to be able to see the now collapsed church spire from her home.
Last night she spoke of the village’s sadness.
“It was a shock for us all when we woke up to find the church on fire,” she said.
“It was the centre of the village – it’s why the village is here. The Free Church broke away in the 1840s and parishoners from Cruden moved here and built this new church.
“Although it had been closed for many years, we weren’t ready for it to go like this.”
The first stone in the foundations of the West Church was laid by the Annie Murdoch, grandmother of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, before the building was completed in 1884.
Although it had been closed for almost a decade and was put up for sale by the Church of Scotland, firefighters on the scene revealed power cables to the structure were still live.
Investigators would not be drawn on the cause of the blaze.
Last night a spokesman for Scottish Fire and Rescue said: “The joint fire investigation is still ongoing.”
A spokeswoman for Police Scotland simply said: “Inquiries are ongoing.”
Emergency services were scrambled to the north-east village at around 7.30am on Wednesday and at the height of the blaze 35 firefighters were on the scene.
Emotional locals gathered at the police cordon and gasped as the slated roof spire toppled into the remains of the church, and again as the historic bell fell through two floors and into the tower doorway.
Main Street in Hatton remains closed and locals face a 13-mile diversion via Toll of Birness.