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The Patronage Act of 1712 attempted to reintroduce a system of Patronage into the Church of Scotland. This meant that the local landowner, or Patron, and not the people would choose the minister of a church. This was highly unpopular with the congregations as the patron did not always have the best interests of the church at heart. In 1843 this conflict caused the church to split. Almost 500 ministers walked out of the Church of Scotland General Assembly to form the Church of Scotland Free (later the Free Church of Scotland).

The Free Church was faced with the huge task of providing churches, manses, schools and ministers for all its congregations. These problems were added to by some local landlords who refused to grant the new church land to build. Many services were held outside. The people of Strontian found themselves in the position of not having land to build a Free Church so they raised money and commissioned a floating church for £1400. The church could accommodate up to 750 people and was moored in Loch Sunart.

Illustration taken from 'Annals of the Disruption; with extracts from the narratives of Ministers who left the Scottish Establishment in 1843', by Rev Thomas Brown (1893)

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