LETTER: Restoration of ruined abbeys

From Ms Catherine Candlish

Sir: Your correspondent Mrs M. J. Fox (Letters, 1 February) wishes to have just one ruined abbey rebuilt. Obviously she is not aware that this was done years ago on the Scottish island of Iona.

Should Mrs Fox go there she will find no museum piece, however, such as might be put in place by Millennium funds; nor will she step back in time. Rather she will find a place of exquisite craftsmanship housing a forward-thinking, practical group of ecumenical Christians, whose feet are firmly on the ground.

The welcome she receives may be more than she bargains for, and the lessons she learns be more than historical.

Yours sincerely,

Catherine Candlish

St Andrews, Fife