Exterior Description

The Church is a beautiful and typical example of the earlier   churches of the Diocese of Ross.  It is one of the three most important buildings of its kind in the North of Scotland, being built, like the churches of Nigg and Tarbat, on ancient religious ground and being associated with a Christian symbol stone. 

It was constructed in 1743 on what was very probably the site of a pre-Reformation church.  It has a lime-harled exterior, under an Esdale slated roof (which replaced the heather thatching in 1758), and is in T-plan form,  with a long low main nave and a later north aisle. 

The south facing domestic-scale dormers with astragalled windows probably date from the repairs of 1851, as does the over-large fleur-de-lis finial on the north gable. 

The west gable is crowned by a birdcage bellhead, with cornices and obelisk finials.  The front façade, with its square headed windows and plain doors at either end, is quite unspoilt. 

The north aisle laird’s loft is approached by an extraordinary stone  fore-stair and gabled porch. 

The windows, almost throughout, are of small clear rectangular panes in folded zinc.