History
Restenneth Priory has long been associated with a tradition that it may have been the site of a Pictish church from the early 8th century. However, it is more likely that the mission of St Boniface, to whom Restenneth’s foundation is traditionally ascribed, was centred on Rosemarkie and the political and cultural centres of the Pictish kingdom of Fortriu around the inner reaches of the Moray Firth.
The medieval monastery
Restenneth Priory appears to have been founded in the early 1100s, probably by King Malcolm III and Saint Margaret. Alexander I is said to have transferred the annals of Iona to the church here. The earliest dateable masonry, found at the bottom of the tower, shows there was a church here by his reign, from 1107-24.
David I's (1124-1153) grandson, Malcolm IV (1153-1165), is said to have established the priory of Augustinian canons, which later became a daughter house of Jedburgh Abbey. The priory suffered badly during the Wars of Independence with England in the early 1300s. By 1501 it was said there were just two canons in residence.
King Robert I ‘The Bruce’ buried his infant son John, twin of David II, here in the early 1300s.
Three periods of construction are evident in the splendid 14m high church tower. The first 3m is the oldest part of the church, and was likely built as a tower porch in about 1100. The tower was heightened later in the 1100s, and its octagonal splayed-foot spire was likely added in the 1400s.
The lowest, earliest portion is similar to the tower porch built at Dunfermline Abbey by Malcolm III and Queen Margaret.
The remainder of the church – its aisle-less choir and nave – dates from the 1200s.
