There is Mass every Sunday at 12:30pm in All Saints Episcopal Church (in the middle of town, with the enormous bell tower).
The parishioners of St Margarets are extremely grateful to the Espicopal Church for permitting us to worhip in this very beautiful and historic church.
With acknowledgement to “All Saints Church, Inveraray, Argyll” by Donald McKechnie, printed by the Oban Times in 1978, the following provides some information on the Church.
The Church of All Saints situated in the beech avenue of Inveraray, dates from 1886
and was instigated by the marriage of George Douglas Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll to
Amelia Anson, daughter of the Bishop of St Albans.
Whilst the 8th Duke was a staunch Presbyterian, his wife used her persuasive powers to
obtain from him the land on which to build an Episcopal Church in which she could worship
and on 23 September 1886, the new Church was consecrated by the Bishop of Argyll and
the Isles. The building is constructed of red granite quarried locally, and cost £1,599 to build.
There is an interesting report regarding the Consecration of the Church which was written by Meil Munro
According to a report written by Neil Munro in the Glasgow Evening News at the time, considerable alarm was caused to the local residents, generally of the Auld Kirk, the Free and UP Churches, who viewed the grand procession of chanting clergy and bishops through the town towards the Church ion the day of Consecration as very proof of the degeneracy of the times. They "och-oched” with Celtic horror at the sight of the bishop’s crosier which “was an uncanny symbol of the Pope” as observed by one old Free Kirker "with a moist eye and a smell of Ferry House whisky on his breath”
To make matters worse and cause greater resentment, the font in the new Church was an ancient baptismal font which predated the Reformation. The octagonal font, still in the Church today, had been hollowed out in 1560 on the underside to form another basin in which children of avowed Protestants were baptised. The original basin was reserved for children of those who still loved “the Old Faith.
Despite misgivings of the time, the congregation of All Saints Episcopal Church flourished through most of 20th century, no doubt strengthened by the support of Amelia and
subsequently by Niall Diarmid Campbell, 10th Duke of Argyll, who provided much of the furniture, linen and many of the brasses seen today in the Church. It was also Niall Diarmid Campbell who was instrumental in the building of the Tower between 1923 and 1931 as a memorial to those who fell in the Great War and whilst the original plan was to extend the Church to incorporate the Tower, this was never carried out. As a result, the Tower at 126 feet high, hosting bells with the 3rd largest peal in the world, still stands alone. Campanologists travel to Inveraray from all parts to participate in the ringing of the bells and visitors can climb to the top in summer months to obtain some excellent views of the loch and surrounding area. In 1965 with the permission of the Vestry, Roman Catholic services have been held in All Saints Church, an agreement which continues to the present day.