Rosslyn was originally built as a Collegiate Chapel in the 15th century but was never completed. The exclusive remit of its monks was to pray in perpetuity for the souls of the builder and benefactor Sir William St Clair, Prince of Orkney, and his family. Sacked during the Reformation, the building fell into disuse and disrepair until, in 1862, it was re-consecrated under the auspices of the Scottish Episcopal Church.
That Church emerged from the crucible of Scottish history. Its origins lie well before the Acts of Union in 1707. The MacDonald’s of Glencoe, for example, were probably Episcopalians. It is part of the Anglican Communion but is not, as is often assumed, merely the ‘English Church’ in Scotland.
The congregation benefits enormously from the maintenance of the Chapel being carried out by the Chapel Trust, towards which the congregation makes a contribution, but which allows the congregation to look outwards beyond the building to support charitable causes.