The Luss Glebe Project

Luss Glebe is one of the most beautiful places in Scotland. Almost twenty-five acres in size, it sits on the banks of Loch Lomond across the Luss Water from the Church. Because there was no access to the glebe after the bridge was washed away in 1993 until 2006, the land has returned to its natural state. There is meadowland and oak forest, there is wet land and river bank and, of course, there is loch shore.

The situation of this land is particularly important because so much of the land on the banks of Loch Lomond is no longer available to ordinary folk. Travelling north from Balloch the visitor passes the extensive grounds of the Cameron House Hotel and then two golf courses, one which is reckoned to be as exclusive as any in the world, before reaching the lands of Luss Estates from where visitors are, where possible, discouraged. Arriving in Luss, however, the visitor will find both a welcome and an invitation to explore.

To celebrate 2010, when Luss Church celebrates fifteen hundred years of Christian presence here, the visitor can cross the bridge and be led off on a Pilgrimage Walk. The main walk circumnavigates the meadow and alongside the walkway are poems and sculptures designed to challenge the pilgrim. These have been left or commissioned by folk from all over the world who have laboured on building the pathway.

In addition, there are smaller pathways branching off from the main path, some leading to the loch-side, others along the river bank or meandering through the trees. Each of these walks has a theme – love, loss, faith and challenge – and again the pilgrim’s thoughts are both guided and challenged by all that there is to see – the beauty of the loch-side and the wild-life, the verses and artefacts along the way, the peace and the quiet providing an island in so many busy lives.

At its core, the Glebe project is about building on the story of Luss – a traditional place of pilgrimage – by welcoming the many visitors who come here today and giving them the opportunity to become pilgrims. As such it is beautifully placed to become a missionary outpost to the seven hundred and fifty thousand visitors who come to Luss each year and a worthy successor to MacKessog who chose to come here because it was where the three ancient kingdoms met and therefore an important place for the Gospel of Jesus to be preached. Later this year we shall introduce productions of the ancient mystery plays to augment the pilgrimage experience. Situated in one of Scotland’s most-loved settings, in a place filled with visitors looking for something special, there is no doubt that there are opportunities for us here which are quite unique.

Early in 2008 a Remembrance Garden was created as part of the Glebe project. Those for whom Loch Lomond is a special place may plant a tree as a way of remembering someone or something which is special to them, and our pottery creates a small pottery plaque to accompany the tree and mark the commemoration.