Fortrose Cathedral

The earliest ruins we see at Fortrose today date back to between 1214 and 1249, when the diocese of Ross seems to have relocated to Fortrose.

Euphemia, Countess of Ross initiated an extension to the cathedral in the 1300s. She probably intended to found a chapel where she and her first husband Walter Leslie might be buried and prayed for. But the diocese was never wealthy. At its height, the cathedral chapter comprised 21 senior clergy, or canons.

The cathedral remained at least partly in use after the Protestant Reformation of 1560. Tradition has it that Cromwell removed most of the masonry at the cathedral for his citadel at Inverness, but services still continued in part of the site.

The cathedral was a relatively modest building, and little of it remains standing. Only the south aisle and chapel and the older, two-storey north choir aisle survive.

The sacristy and chapter house were at ground level. There may have been a treasury and library on the upper floor.

Following the Reformation, the north aisle was used as the burgh’s tollbooth, or town hall and prison.

The elegant south aisle was added to the nave in the late 1300s by Countess Euphemia of Ross. It was probably intended as a chantry chapel, where prayers were said for her soul. Her fine canopied tomb can still be viewed in the chapel.

The south aisle contains fine masonry and the architecture resembles that of Elgin Cathedral. It's likely that the same masons worked on both buildings. Following the Reformation, the south aisle and chapel were heavily altered, most notably by the addition of the clock turret.