Doors Open event at 900-year-old Thurso kirk and plans for its future
Old St Peter's Kirk Preservation Association (OSPKPA) has an open day event on Saturday, June 29 and hopes that visitors will soon be able to go inside the 900-year-old building after it was closed off for health and safety reasons.
Alison Smith, from Murkle, an OSPKPA trustee, said that there have been many extra visitors to the ancient edifice on Wilson Lane since the North Coast 500 route took off but they have not been able to access the church interior until work can be carried out.
“The council, as owners of the kirk, closed off the inner door until a structural survey could be done and it is made safe for all the thousands of visitors,” said Alison.
“It was stalled due to funding considerations. In the last year, the association has commissioned three reports. Visitors enjoy the graveyard and walking around the kirk’s walls but our intention is to get the door opened again in the near future.”
She said there has been a conservation architect’s report carried out along with a structural stability report and a laser survey as well. OSPKPA is now in a position to seek capital funding to help stop further deterioration of the building.
“We’ve had funding from the Scottish Government's Community Led Local Development Fund which is administered by Highland Council. In addition, we’ve got Caithness and North Sutherland Fund which has contributed a small amount to the reports and helped us build a website.
“Baillie Windfarm Community Benefit Fund has also paid for a big chunk of the laser survey. We’ve had great public support for getting the reports done and we’ve had a petition with over 2000 signatures for gaining access to the full building. We now need to get plans together for a phased build and approach funding organisations again. Because it’s a scheduled monument we need permission from the owners, Highland Council, and also Historic Environment Scotland.”
Alison says that it may take until next year before the necessary work is completed so that the building can be reopened. The open day on June 29 will provide a chance for the public to visit the iconic building which she says has been of great historical importance within the county for over 800 years. “We want to tell people that we appreciate the support we’ve had to date and we want to tell them about the full connection between the kirk and the town.
“The kirk history is intertwined with the history of the town. The start of it goes back to Viking times and there are runic stones within it. There is probably evidence of earlier structures underneath the chancel and the tower. It’s very likely there was a Celtic chapel there before. When the Earl of Orkney wanted to build a principal church in Thurso he would choose a site that was already sacred and on consecrated ground.”
She said the building may date from the 12th century and its ratio is half that of St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall, the Earl of Orkney’s principal church. “As Thurso expanded so did the church. Notable families who paid for extensions are still names that you find around the area.”
Thurso historian Alan McIvor, who has many years of knowledge about the ancient building, said: “Thanks to the meticulous research of the late George Watson, the church is estimated to date back to around 1125. His name is forever linked to the building, and he educated many about its history, myself included.”
Alan said that the date was based on the runic inscriptions found at the site. “It’s possible that it was built on the site of an earlier chapel or graveyard,” he added.
Old St Peter's has a long and colourful history. Residents of Thurso fought off an Irish raid near the church in 1649. Led by Sir James Sinclair, the locals armed themselves and defeated the raiding party headed by Donald Macalister Mullach who was said to have been killed by one of Sinclair's servants cutting a button from his master's coat and firing it from a musket.
Old St Peter's kirk session would hold hearings and decide how people whose actions were deemed to be criminal should be punished. In 1701, a woman who had been "intimate" with the mate from a Dutch ship had her head shaved and was paraded through Thurso by the town's hangman.
Later records detail young boys in the congregation sitting in the rafters to listen to sermons. In 1726, the records tell of some boys endangering themselves and disturbing worshippers below by falling from the beams.
The kirk session also received a letter in 1786 complaining about dung and rubbish being dumped on graves.
More info on the Old St Peter's Kirk Preservation Association Facebook page.
The open day on Saturday, June 29 is from 10am until 3pm.
Refreshments, guided tours and activities will be available.