It is built on the site of one of the most famous religious conversions in Scottish history, but the cost of insuring a historic Highland church could now force its closure.
It is built on the site of one of the most famous religious conversions in Scottish history, but the cost of insuring a historic Highland church could now force its closure.
The Old High Church, Inverness??s oldest church, was completed 1772 on the site of a mediaeval church above the River Ness. This was where St Columba is said to have converted the Pictish King Brude in 565.
But today the congregation is urgently seeking partners who could help keep the historic building open.
Its minister, the Rev Peter Nimmo explained: "Although we have been very good at keeping building costs down, there has been a huge rise in insurance costs in recent years.
??Other similar congregations in the city pay around £4,000 per year in insurance, but we have an annual bill of £10,500. As charity trustees, the Kirk Session cannot see how that situation can continue.??
He said that it was a draw for tourists and locals alike with some 1,500 people visiting the Old High Church during weekday openings this summer, and hundreds attending concerts in the building throughout the year.
The A-listed Old High Church also plays a significant role in the life of the Highland capital hosting traditional civic events such as the Kirking of the Council, an annual event with a colourful council procession from Inverness??s Town House to the Old High Kirk for a special service.
Mr Nimmo said the kirk session was considering a Friends of the Old High Church scheme to raise funds and it planned discussions with Inverness Presbytery and the Church of Scotland, as well as outside partners such as Highland Council and Historic Scotland.
He said: "The nationally-important Old High building is a hidden gem at the heart of our city. As concerns grow about the state of the Old Town of Inverness, we need to find ways to develop this vital part of the cultural and spiritual heritage of the city. We have to make sure that economics don't mean that the most important building in the Old Town is left empty and unused
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article