Church Overview

The Old High Church is situated on a low hill known as St Michael’s Mount, overlooking the River Ness. The landmark building was completed in 1772, to a plan by George Fraser of Edinburgh, on the site of a medieval church, reputed to be the location where St Columba converted Pictish King Brude to Christianity.

The lowest portion of the west bell-tower may is thought to date from the 16th century and, from 1703 onwards, a curfew bell was rung in the tower every evening. The porches, apse and chancel arch date from a reordering of the building undertaken in 1891 by the noted local architectural practice of Alexander Ross & Robert John Macbeth.

The interior was was remodelled in 1877 by the practice of A&W Reid and again during Ross & Macbeth’s works in 1891. It possesses a demi-octagonal gallery and modified box pews beneath a handsome open timber roof that springs from stone corbels. The church houses a fine two-manual pipe organ by Henry Willis & Sons, dating from 1895 and restored by Nicholson & Co in 2010. It also features some excellent stained glass from the celebrated stained glass workshops of Douglas Strachan, Stephen Adam, Gordon Webster and Ballantine & Gardiner.

The colours of the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders were hung in the church and the regiment’s official Books of Remembrance were also housed there. The walls of the church also contain many other interesting memorials relating local military figures, clergy and other former members of its congregation.

Following the Jacobites’ defeat at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, many prisoners were taken to Inverness and imprisoned in the church’s tower, with many subsequently hastily tried and sentenced in the church and then executed outside in the kirkyard. Musket ball impact marks can be seen on the tower walls and the church features in the Outlander series of historic fictional novels by the author Diana Gabaldon.

The decision was taken by the Church of Scotland to close and market the church for sale in 2023, during a period of rationalisation of the denomination’s national property portfolio. Members of the local community rallied to form The Old High Inverness SCIO, to find a new future for the venerable building and the charity took formal ownership in the Spring of 2026.

The group is currently taking plans forward to develop the building as a heritage hub and cultural centre for the city, opening its doors regularly once again to the public and holding regular public events.

The surrounding graveyard contains many interesting memorials and the neighbouring Leakey’s second hand bookshop, housed in the former Inverness Gaelic Church, is not to be missed by visiting bibliophiles.

Services

Occasional

Opening Arrangements

Check church’s own website for details.

Disclaimer

The information about churches in Scotland’s Churches Scheme has been provided by the congregations or taken from the Historic Scotland list and published sources, in particular, the Buildings of Scotland volumes and the RIAS Illustrated Architectural Guides. To contact this specific church please complete the Contact this Church form above. The information is not authoritative; please contact Scotland’s Churches Trust to let us know of any errors or omissions.