What do the University of Edinburgh’s King’s Buildings, electromagnetism, and a small Scottish village have in com-
mon?
The impact of Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell. If you have been around the King’s Buildings campus and
wandered beyond The Nucleus, you must have encountered the JCMB named after the aforementioned pioneer who unified electricity and magnetism and showed that light is electromagnetic radiation. His work laid the foundation for radio and mobile communications, yet relatively little is known of him outside his legendary equations.
A piece of his story is being preserved, however, as locals in the tiny Scottish village of Parton have successfully raised
£50,000 to purchase an old church. Parton Kirk and its historic churchyard are where James Clerk Maxwell and his family are buried. Maxwell was born in Edinburgh and studied at the University of Edinburgh before completing his degree at Cambridge. But Parton Kirk was more than his final resting place; Maxwell and his family attended the church and had their own pew at the back.
The building was previously owned by the Church of Scotland but when they no longer had use for it, they decided to
sell. The locals were given a deadline to reach the £50,000 target or else the church would go on the open market.
The local community came together and raised the money in just over two weeks, with donations from more than
a thousand supporters from around the world. The fundraising is not over yet, with the project still needing another
£20,000 to secure the building and protect against wind and water. In the future, there is hope to build a science and
community centre within this church. It will serve as a haven for schoolchildren and visitors. This communal effort has given Maxwell’s resting place a new life, bringing together future generations in the name of science.
Parton, The old kirk – geograph.org.uk – 2114252” by Dr Neil Clifton is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
