Old High St Stephen's Church

Welcome to the spiritual heart of Inverness. As we stand here on the elevated ground known as Michael's Mount, we are treading upon layers of history that stretch back over fourteen centuries. …

To understand the profound significance of the Old High Church, we must peer back into the sixth century, a time when the Highlands were a patchwork of Pictish territories. Saint Columba, having established his monastery on Iona,…

The most harrowing chapter in the history of the Old High Church unfolded in the wake of the Battle of Culloden in April seventeen forty-six. Following the defeat of Prince Charles Edward Stuart's Jacobite army, Inverness was…

We have now moved to a specific and somber location in the churchyard, situated between two particular gravestones that served a lethal purpose in seventeen forty-six. In the aftermath of Culloden, the government did not merely…

Moving toward the south side of the church building, we encounter further evidence of the military occupation and the violence that followed Culloden. The stonework around the south entrance is pockmarked with small, irregular…

While the history of the Old High is often dominated by the events of seventeen forty-six, we should not overlook the architectural significance of the building itself. Most of what you see today, excluding the ancient tower,…

The tower of the Old High Church is, in many ways, the most fascinating part of the complex for the architectural historian. While the rest of the building has been repeatedly modified and eventually rebuilt, the lower sections…

As we conclude our exploration of the Old High St Stephen's Church, we find ourselves back where we began, on the sacred heights of Michael’s Mount. We have traversed centuries of history, from the early missionary zeal of Saint…