Statues of Faith, Hope and Charity in Inverness.
The history of these statues begins with the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA). Beginning in London in 1844, the YMCA opened branches in towns and cities across the United Kingdom in the years that followed. A branch opened in Inverness in 1859, the ninth such branch in Scotland.
It originally occupied a room at 3 High Street and also ran an evening school in a building in Davis Square. However, as the organisation grew and its activities became more popular, larger premises were required.
A site was selected for a new building in Inverness on the corner of High Street and Castle Street. Local architect John Rhind (1836 – 1889) was chosen to design it and he produced a blueprint for an ornate building in a classical style with Roman composite columns. It was noted how well it complemented the Bank of Scotland which stood on the opposite side of the street. The foundation stone was laid by Lord Ardmillan on 22 April 1868.
The YMCA commissioned local sculptor Andrew Davidson (1841 – 1925), of Messrs D & A Davidson, to sculpt three figures depicting Faith, Hope and Charity – Christian virtues much valued by the Victorians – to stand on top of the new building.
The building was also adorned with busts of the heads of various religious leaders in the spaces between the ground and first floor windows. One of these was of John Wesley, later removed to the Methodist Church in Union Street and finally to the new Methodist Church in Huntly Street.
The Association Buildings, as it was known, was later bought by William MacKay and became MacKay’s Tartan & Tweed Warehouse and, thereafter, Grant’s Tartan & Tweed Warehouse.
It was demolished in 1955 with Faith, Hope and Charity removed to the Burgh Surveyor’s yard where they remained until 1961, when they were bought by an antique collector from Orkney.
They remained there until the Council purchased them, with funding from Inverness Common Good Fund, for the City of Inverness in 2007. A ceremony was held in October 201 1 to mark the rightful return of these prominent statues to Inverness at their present location.
Faith, Hope and Charity are the three virtues referred to by the Apostle Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians in the Bible. The characters shown in the statues are personifications of these.
Locally, the tatues have always been referred to as Faith, Hope and Charity although they were never erected in that order. Indeed, they have been erected on this plinth in the same order as they were on top of the Association Buildings. That is from left to right: Charity, Faith, Hope.