Description

Alexander Reid, Elgin (after William Robertson), 1842-43; converted to dwelling 1990s. Gothic church with 6-bay buttressed long E and W elevations. Harled, extensive use of tooled ashlar. Gabled S entrance front with engaged 3-stage square tower with angle buttresses, crenellated wallhead and angle pinnacles (reduced in height 1953). Hoodmoulded round-headed entrance in base of tower with cusped panelled double leaf doors. Tall window above under perpendicular decorated hoodmould; round-arched louvred belfry openings in upper stage of tower. Long pointed-headed traceried windows flank tower in S gable; similar fenestration in E and W buttressed elevations, blind in each end bay. Lattice-pane glazing. Stepped angle buttresses each corner terminating with pinnacle; wallhead parapet; apex cross at N gable; slate roof.

Addition of small lanceted chancel and lean-to vestry at N gable and reconstruction of interior, J Alistair Ross, 1931.

INTERIOR: see Notes.

Statement of Interest

Ecclesiastical building no longer in use as such. Converted to dwelling 1990s.

The former Urquhart Parish Church is well designed and finely detailed, and forms an important part of the landscape. It is unusually orientated north/south. It stands on high ground, known as Gas Hill, on a site selected by the Earl of Fife.

Prior to conversion to a dwelling, the interior detail included a panelled S gallery, 1931 pews and pulpit, an open timber roof which replaced an earlier plaster ceiling, and a 1751 mural monument to the Rev Robert Tod from the earlier church.

Although attributed to the 22 year old Alexander Reid of Elgin, it is almost certainly the design of his uncle William Robertson whose practice Alexander had inherited the previous year, 1841. The S gable resembles an optional plan form by Robertson to the Heritors of Urquhart and Glenmoriston parish for a church at Kilmore, Drumnadrochit, of 1837, but is also recognised by McKean as being in the style of important Scottish architect Gillespie Graham. The church was built to replace an earlier building sited in the present burial ground in village, and is visible from Innes House, property of the principal Heritor the Earl of Fife.

When sold by the Trustees of the Church of Scotland in the 1990s, the new owner changed the name to Parrandier, a family name.

Statutory address, references and notes revised 2007.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17828495

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Hampshire: Winchester and the North (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy