St Dubhthach's Church

Heritage listing

Date Added 13/12/2000 Type Ecclesiastical: burial ground, cemetery, graveyard; church Local Authority Highland Parish Kintail NGR NG 94635 21042 Coordinates 194635, 821042 — The monument consists of the former parish church and burial ground of Kintail (dedicated to St. Duthae or Dubhthach who is thought to have died about 1065). Nothing is otherwise known of the origins of the church. It was used in 1719 as a hospital for the Jacobite wounded in the Battle of Glenshiel and, in consequence, was burnt by the Government forces (perhaps shelled by Hanovarian ships). It was later repaired and was still in use in 1836 and probably remained so until the present church was built in 1856. The area inside the church walls is the burial ground of the chiefs of the clan Macrae. The church is orientated E-W with the four walls still standing to roof height. The structure is a simple unicameral oblong, constructed from random rubble with roughly dressed quoins. The S wall is pierced by a doorway with chamfered jambs perhaps dating to the 16th century. There are square-headed windows, now robbed of their dressings, in the S wall and the gables. There are extensive remains of plaster on the interior of the west gable, which appears to show the position of the post-reformation pulpit. The area to be scheduled includes the church and the old burial ground, in which associated archaeology can be expected to be found. The area is irregular with maximum dimensions of about 79m from its eastermost point to its westernmost, and 30m transversely as marked in red on the attached map. All modern burial lairs still in use, within and without the church, are excluded from the scheduling.

From Historic Environment Scotland under OGL v3.