Inverness Faith, Hope, and Charity Statues

These Victorian era statues on the Ness riverside are actually misnamed.

     The YMCA established itself on the British Isles in London, initially opening in 1844. The Inverness branch first opened in 1859, and was the ninth such branch on Scottish soil. Originally occupying a single room, the chapter grew quickly and was in need of its own building.      A site was selected on the corner of High Street and Castle Street, and a local architect by the name of John Rhind was chosen to design the Association building. Rhind produced an ornate design for the new building, complete with three story tall classical Roman columns. Busts of various religious leaders filled spaces between the ground and first floor and the YMCA commissioned a local sculptor by the name of Andrew Davidson to sculpt the centerpiece for the top of the new building; Faith, Hope, and Charity. The cornerstone for the YMCS’s new Inverness home was laid on the 22nd of April, 1868 by Lord Ardmillan.      By the early 20th Century, membership in the Inverness YMCA chapter had been slowly dwindling and the Association chose to find a better location to attract more membership. The Association building would go on to serve as a Scottish clothing warehouse and retail space. The building was demolished in 1955 and Faith, Hope, and Charity ended up in the possession of an antique collector from Orkney. There they remained until the Inverness City Council purchased them in 2007 and returned them to Inverness in October of 2011, now just situated approximately 1100 feet from their original lofty perch. 

     Locally, and on their current plinth, the statues are referred to as Faith, Hope and Charity; but they never were erected in that order. They have always been Charity, Faith and Hope.