Inverewe Old Church, burial ground and symbol stone, Poolewe

Heritage listing

Date Added 17/11/1997 Type Crosses and carved stones: symbol stone, Ecclesiastical: burial ground, cemetery, graveyard; chapel Local Authority Highland Parish Gairloch NGR NG 86025 80958 Coordinates 186025, 880958 — The monument consists of the ruinous remains of a church, together with the burial ground in which it stands and in which lies a Pictish symbol stone. The roofless remains of the church, which is aligned NW-SE, measure 12.4m long by 5.1m wide over walls 0.9m thick and are divided into two enclosures. The NE wall stands to 1.7m high and has no apparent openings, although it shows different phases of construction of different character. The two openings in the SW wall reflect the two burial enclosures within: the western opening is featureless and may represent a breach in the wall, but the eastern opening retains the E jamb of a doorway, carved with a wave-moulding. In 1886 a stone basin, thought to have been a font, survived, together with other carved stones and the lintel of the doorway bore a date which may have read 1678. The church was purchased by the Rev Kenneth MacKenzie in the 17th century, but is said to have been partly pulled down in 1689. The alignment of the building and the character of the remains are consistent with a 17th-century date, but there is some suggestion that the site, and possibly even the building, may be of earlier origin, and the possibility that it originated as a chapel-of-ease to Gairloch parish church cannot be excluded. Several burial enclosures are built to the NE of the church and against its NE wall. There are turf-covered footings of what may have been a square enclosure built against its SW wall, but it appears possible that they run beneath the church in which case they may represent the remains of an earlier church

From Historic Environment Scotland under OGL v3.