Description

The monument consists of the remains of the old parish church of Thurso, originating in the 13th Century at the latest and unroofed since being abandoned for worship in 1832, and its surrounding burial ground. The church is recorded as being founded by Bishop Gilbert Murray (d1245), although it is suggested that it may have been in existence earlier than that. It was replaced by a new church in 1832.

The church consists of nave, vaulted chancel with flanking tower and 2 transeptal aisles. Access to the nave is gained by a S porch and door (originally mirrored by a N door, now blocked). The narrower chancel, which has a chamber (at one time used as a Session House) above a barrel vault, is apsidal internally but square externally. Nave and chancel are separated by a chancel arch, in the wall above which is a runic stone. A fragment of medieval wall-painting remains on the N wall of the chancel. The S aisle (the Bishop's or Murkle Aisle) opens from the nave by a wide segmental arch and has a 5-light transomed window in its crowstepped S wall. The N aisle (the Town Aisle) has a 3-light window in its N wall and blocked windows in its W and E walls. The two aisles are not aligned with one another; both date to the early 17th Century. An external stair by the porch gave access to a W gallery in the nave.

A tower is placed in the angle of the S side of the chancel and E wall of the nave. It is not aligned with the rest of the church, although it appears to be coeval with the construction of the nave and chancel, and it has semi-circular buttresses in the centres of E, S and W walls. The upper part of the tower has been altered subsequent to the Reformation.

The burial ground lies W and S of the church and is surrounded by a stone wall.

The area to be scheduled measures approximately 55m E-W by a maximum of 30m N-S. It includes the church and burial ground and the enclosure wall of the latter and extends 3m out from the walls of the church where these form the boundary of the enclosure. It excludes the surface and uppermost 0.3m of the surface of the modern road and pavement to the E and N of the church.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as the ruins of an important medieval church, founded no later than the 13th Century, and which it has been suggested may have acted as a proto-cathedral for the diocese of Caithness. Study of the standing fabric and of its associated below-ground archaeology has the potential to contribute to our understanding of medieval and later ecclesiastical architecture and organisation in Scotland, medieval and later burial practices, and Norse influence in early medieval Scotland.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as ND16NW 10.

References:

MacGibbon D and Ross T 1891, CASTELLATED AND DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE, Vol. 5, 188-191.

Hay G 1957, THE ARCHITECTURE OF SCOTTISH POST-REFORMATION CHURCHES, Oxford, 50-51.

Slade H Gordon and Watson G 1989, 'St Peter's Kirk, Thurso, Caithness, c. 1150-1832', PROC SOC ANTIQ SCOT 119, 297-325.

RCAHMS 1911, THIRD REPORT AND INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS AND CONSTRUCTIONS IN THE COUNTY OF CAITHNESS, Edinburgh, HMSO, 110-13.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland