Fortrose Cathedral

Fortrose Cathedral stands on a low ridge beside the Moray Firth in the Highland village of Fortrose, a short sail east of Inverness. The site was once the heart of the medieval diocese of Ross, moved here from Rosemarkie in the 13th century. By the 1250s the cathedral chapter managed twenty-one prebends spread across thirty-one churches. The bishop held Nigg and Tarbat, the archdeacon Fodderty and Killearnan, and the dean Ardersier and Kilmuir. Wealthy parishes like Rosemarkie and Cromarty were shared among the senior clergy. The building began as a simple rectangle of red sandstone in the early 13th century, with a tower at the north-west corner. A chapter house and sacristy stood north of the choir, while Countess Euphemia I added a south-eastern chapel and porch late in the 14th century. Bishop Alexander de Kylwos had earlier worked at Elgin Cathedral, so the new work shows similar lines. Excavations in 1873 uncovered the rest of the complex, revealing how the cathedral once stretched across the site. Visitors today find two standing sections: the chapter house and the nave’s south aisle. Inside the aisle are two chapels; the eastern one may hold the tombs of Countess Euphemia and Bishop Robert Cairncross. Heraldic bosses on the western chapel ceiling show the arms of Earl Alexander of Islay and Bishop John Bulloch. The graveyard still surrounds the ruins, and the ground plan of the lost choir and nave can be traced in the turf.