The place
St Andrew's, the Scottish church in Funchal
The small neo-Gothic church in a Funchal garden where the guitar quartet plays: what its plaque says, how it came about and how to tell it from the English church.
Book the guitar concert ↗Quick answer
St Andrew's is a small neo-Gothic Presbyterian church in a garden in Funchal. An information plaque at the site calls it the Scottish Church and says the temple dedicated to St Andrew was inaugurated in 1895. Its Presbyterian roots go back to Robert Reid Kalley, a Scottish physician who arrived in Madeira in 1838. It is not the Anglican Holy Trinity church, known as the English Church.
A church with a plaque
An information plaque at the church carries two texts, one in Portuguese headed Igreja Escocesa and one in English headed Scottish Church. Both sit beneath the heading Núcleo Histórico, S. Pedro e S. Clara. Together they are the best short account of the building, and the facts below come from them. A photograph of the plaque, taken in 2012, is on Wikimedia Commons, and the texts match what the visitor sees: a small, neat church in a quiet garden.
How Presbyterians came to Madeira
The plaque says the Presbyterian church in Madeira goes back to about 1847 and to the time of Reverend Robert Kalley, when complicated situations with the Catholic Church led to a mass emigration of his followers, mostly to Demerara in South America. Wikipedia says Kalley, a Scottish physician born in Glasgow, first went to Madeira in 1838 and stayed eight years, and that on 8 May 1845 he founded the first Presbyterian church of Portugal, in Funchal. Wikipedia adds that the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Portugal grew out of evangelistic effort in Madeira between 1838 and 1846, and was formed in 1944.
The temple of 1895
According to the plaque, in 1895 the temple dedicated to St Andrew was inaugurated as a Scottish Presbyterian church, and some of the original furnishings still exist. St Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, which explains the dedication. The booking page for the guitar concert calls the venue both the Presbyterian Church of Funchal and St Andrew's Church. The Portuguese text repeats the dedication: a church dedicated to Santo André, an Igreja Presbiteriana Escocesa.
The architecture
The plaque calls the building an interesting piece of neo-Gothic religious architecture, set in a small garden. It describes a rectangular plan with a single nave and a lateral entrance through an interesting doorway, and an interior with a high ceiling of exposed timber and a gabled roof. A visitor sees all of that: a pointed doorway framed in grey stone against pale yellow walls, a roof of diamond-patterned slates and narrow pointed windows.
Inside
The plaque says the church holds a large quantity of furnishings, including an organ with carved details in the neo-Gothic taste of the late nineteenth century, all in a very well-composed setting. It dates the stained glass, by Ricardo Leone, to about 1930. The nave has dark wooden pews and a high roof of exposed beams, which gives a close, warm room for four guitars, and the church has a chancel with a pulpit and a cross between pointed windows.
Not the English church
Funchal has another church that visitors sometimes mix up with this one. Holy Trinity, known as the English Church, is Anglican. Visit Madeira says it was built in 1822 by the British consul Henry Veitch, that it is neoclassical with a square plan and that Mass is celebrated in English there. St Andrew's, on Rua Conselheiro José Silvestre Ribeiro, is Presbyterian and neo-Gothic. Check the address on your booking.
What the church is today
St Andrew's is the venue for the Funchal Guitar Quartet's concert, according to the booking page. It stands in the São Martinho parish, and Wikipedia says São Martinho includes the Lido hotel zone. The setting suits chamber music: a small nave, a garden for the welcome drink and a close, quiet room. Remember the rules for visitors: no cameras, no recordings, no bare feet, a few stairs at the entrance and no restroom. Wikipedia calls São Martinho highly urbanised.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Scottish Church in Funchal?
A small neo-Gothic Presbyterian church. A plaque at the church says the temple dedicated to St Andrew was inaugurated in 1895 as a Scottish Presbyterian church.
Who was Robert Kalley?
A Scottish physician and Presbyterian born in Glasgow, who went to Madeira in 1838 and, Wikipedia says, founded the first Presbyterian church of Portugal in Funchal in 1845.
Is it the same as the English Church?
No. The English Church, Holy Trinity, is an Anglican church built in 1822. St Andrew's is a Presbyterian church.
Who made the stained glass?
The plaque says Ricardo Leone made the stained glass, which dates from around 1930.
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