Gaelic Chapel

Date Added: 01 January 2003 Contributor: Calum Davidson Year: 1900 Picture No: 310

From a book of photographs published by John Bain, Draper and Clothier, Cromarty, 1900.
Photographed by Valentines Dundee.

Albums: Buildings, Churches, Landscapes and Views

5 Comments

This is an attempt to create a timeline of images on one subject, in this case the Gaelic Chapel, standing at the top of the Kirkie Brae alongside the Hugh Miller monument.

The earliest picture of the chapel we have is in this Clark print - the chapel can be seen on the left of the picture with an additional small building to its east. The Hugh Miller monument has not been erected at this point, and there seem to be far fewer trees around the brae at this time, giving views of the chapel from around the town.

In this picture, dated 1900, only one of the current 4 graveyards seems to exist. The roof of the chapel is intact. The spire of the school can be seen at the left of the picture.

The next photo we have dated at 1905, though the lack of ivy on the walls compared to the previous pic could mean that it pre-dates it, or that the ivy has been removed.

This later pic from Robert Clyne's album was taken between 1915 and 1920. It shows the chapel after the next graveyard to the west has been built. More detail of the north side of the firth can be made out in the background.

We've dated the next pic at 1920 - some ivy on the walls, but otherwise the building seems intact.

Next we jump forward in time to (we think) the 1950s, with a view of the chapel from the west. At the right of the gate the 'new' wall of the west graveyard is visible.

Brings us to the 1990s - the roof has gone and the chapel is looking in a sorry state.

Comment left on 30 March 2004 at 22:58 by Garve Scott-Lodge

I know that there are several Bains buried at the churchyard there. I have found this out through my family tree Bain/Duff. Comment left on 09 November 2005 by Paul Thomas

Can any one tell me how the Gaelic Chapel is now? Has the roof and church been repaired?
My grandfather is buried in the churchyard and that is my interest.

Thanks for your help Comment left on 16 February 2007 at 10:14 by Suzanne McLean

Hi there, I've spotted another pic of the Gaelic Chapel, Cromarty that probably fits into this timeline somewhere. Check out "//www.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-299-994-933-C&scache=6hhaa5y42b&searchdb=scran" or "www.flickr.com/photos/mikebfoty/5128743387/in/set-72157625273751906/".

Hope it's not there somewhere already Comment left on 06 November 2010 at 22:21 by Michael Bradley

I visited the Gaelic Church June 2019 looking for some of my ancestors the Gilmours and Hebners. I found some of the Gilmours in the new graveyard but sadly a lot of the headstones in the original burial ground were unreadable. The Gaelic Church itself was in a very sorry state of repair, the roof is gone, the exterior walls are starting to decay, there is vegetation covering a lot of the walls. Comment left on 28 August 2019 by Cathy Monnington

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