Inverness Cathedral

Inverness Cathedral stands beside the River Ness in the Highland city of Inverness. Built between 1866 and 1869 of red Tarradale stone with Peterhead granite columns, it serves as the seat of the Bishop of Moray, Ross and Caithness. The foundation stone was laid by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Longley, in 1866. It is the northernmost diocesan cathedral on mainland Britain, with Dornoch, Fortrose and Elgin no longer functioning in that role. The cathedral congregation began as a mission on the east bank of the river in 1853. The architect was Alexander Ross, who lived and worked in Inverness. The cathedral contains one of the world’s most northerly rings of change-ringing bells. The ten bells form the most northerly peal of its kind in any church, with the tenor bell weighing 17 cwt. The great Western window shows Christ in Majesty at the Last Judgement and was installed in memory of Bishop Robert Eden, who chose Inverness as the cathedral’s location. The stained glass was designed and made by Hardman & Co. The cathedral’s musical tradition is long and continuous, with organists including John Henry Gibbons-Money and Ena Margaret Barrett. Visitors enter a nave lined with granite columns and look up to the great Western window. Ten bells hang ready for change-ringing, the heaviest sounding over the city. The stained glass fills the interior with coloured light, especially in the Western window’s depiction of the Last Judgement. The building’s red stone contrasts with the grey river and the green hills beyond. The cathedral remains a working place of worship and music, with a current director of music and organist continuing the line of musicians that began in 1869.