Alternative Names Rosskeen Old Parish Church; Old Church Of Rosskeen
Site type CHAPEL, CHURCH, MAUSOLEUM
Canmore ID 13618
Site Number NH66NE 13.00
NGR NH 68837 69250
Council HIGHLAND
Parish ROSSKEEN
Former Region HIGHLAND
Former District ROSS AND CROMARTY
Former County ROSS AND CROMARTY

Canmore Mapping
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Archaeological Notes

NH66NE 13.00 68837 69250

NH66NE 13.01 68868 69298 Churchyard
NH66NE 13.02 This site has been incorporated into NH66NE 13.00

(NH 68837 69250) Church (TU)
(NH 68868 69298) Church (TU) (Site of)
(NH 6885 6927) Chapel (LB) (In Ruins)
[Undated] OS map.

According to the Ordnance Survey Name Book (ONB, 1874) the published site is that of the immediate predecessor of the present parish church (built 1832), and the ruins are those of a yet earlier church.
Maclean (1886), however, implies that the ruins are those of the immediate predecessor of the present church. The ruin is now used as a burial-place of the Munros. Its triple lancet windows suggest that it might date from the 13th or 14th centuries.
Name Book 1874; R Maclean 1886; Anon 1937.

The existing church, erected in 1832, is no longer in use but the graveyard is still in use.
According to a plaque inside the building shown as a ruined chapel on the OS 25" map, it is a mausoleum of the Munro family, erected in 1664 and restored in 1908.
The site of the church, stated by the ONB (1874) to be the immediate predecessor of the 1832 church, is overlain by burial enclosures and a number of pre-1832 graves.
However, among the burial enclosures - six in all, five of which are unroofed - there is a ruined stretch of walling forming a side-wall (17.0m long) and an end-wall (6.5m long) of what could be the remains of an early church or chapel, orientated ENE by WSW. This walling, of which part of the N side of the long wall has been removed, varies between 0.6m and 1.0m in width, and is of uncoursed rubble with pinnings, bonded with shell mortar.
Resurveyed at 1/2500.
Visited by OS (R B) 24 March 1966.

Church / chapels; burial ground - stable condition, no threat.
CFA/MORA Coastal Assessment Survey 1998.

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Architectural Notes

NH66NE 13.00 68837 69250

REFERENCE:
Mr Hay, Moray Place states that he has recorded this to some extent.

Notes and Activities

1 June 1990

SITE MANAGEMENT

Project Buildings at Risk Register BARR

Notes Rectangular church in harl-pointed rubble with ashlar dressings, built by James Smith in 1830-1832 and with alterations and repairs by Andrew Maitland in 1853. The south elevation features a projecting square tower to the centre with round-headed windows and a Minister's entrance. Blind oculi sit at the second stage, surmounted by an octagonal belfry with rounded louvred vents, leaded dome and weathervane. The tower is flanked by 2 large round-headed windows that rise through 2 floors and display semi-circular upper lights and lower tripartites. The north, east and west elevations are symmetrically fenestrated with segmental headed windows. All 3 elevations also feature projecting piended porches to their centres. The interior features a panelled gallery supported on fluted cast-iron columns. It retains its pulpit and sounding board.

BARR website http://www.buildingsatrisk.org.uk/details/891557

Further details

Books and References

Anon (1936a) Official guide to Invergordon,
Page(s): 18

Maclean, R (1886) 'The Parish of Rosskeen', Trans Gaelic Soc Inverness, vol.12
Page(s): 337

Ordnance Survey (Name Book) Object Name Books of the Ordnance Survey
Page(s): Book No. 2, 107, 109 Held at RCAHMS Ref

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