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St Duthus's Collegiate Church, Castle Brae, Tain

A Category A Listed Building in Tain, Highland

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Coordinates

Latitude: 57.8126 / 57°48'45"N

Longitude: -4.0546 / 4°3'16"W

OS Eastings: 278026

OS Northings: 882187

OS Grid: NH780821

Mapcode National: GBR J8C2.FFG

Mapcode Global: WH4DT.PWFN

Plus Code: 9C9QRW7W+25

Entry Name: St Duthus's Collegiate Church, Castle Brae, Tain

Listing Name: St Duthus Collegiate Church, boundary wall, excluding scheduled monument SM2803, Castle Brae, Tain

Listing Date: 25 March 1971

Last Amended: 28 August 2018

Category: A

Source: Historic Scotland

Source ID: 388213

Historic Scotland Designation Reference: LB41843

Building Class: Cultural

Also known as: Tain, Castle Brae, St Duthus's Collegiate Church

ID on this website: 200388213

Location: Tain

County: Highland

Town: Tain

Electoral Ward: Tain and Easter Ross

Traditional County: Ross-shire

Tagged with: Church building

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Description

St Duthus Collegiate Church dates to the 14th century. It was re-roofed in around 1752 and later restored by Robert Matheson between 1849 and 1882 with further work carried out by Hippolyte J. Blanc in 1896.

The church is a rectangular 4 bay buttressed building with a stepped base course. The entrance is on the southwest with shafted reveals under pointed hoodmoulds with sculpted head label stops.

The church has a tall Y-tracery west window with flanking cupsed niches set high in the gable wall, the most northern panel has a figure of a bishop. There are lancets in the north walls under pointed hoodmoulds. The tall east window has renewed geometric tracery. There are three large windows in south wall, two with Y-tracery and that to the south-east with geometric tracery.

Inside the church is an elaborate oak pulpit with tester which is a late 19th century restoration, which includes fragments of the former 16th century pulpit. There is a triple sedilia in the south-east under a cusp recess. There is a cusped stoup near the centre of the south wall and a long round headed aumbry in the south corner of the east wall. The interior includes numerous memorials, including a marble classical monument to Arabella Margaret Rose, by Williams, Sculptor, of New Road, London. A tomb niche in the north wall contains an early recumbent figure. The stained glass is by James Ballatine and Sons, Edinburgh, 1880 and 1882.

There is a rubble retaining wall around the graveyard, with late 19th century spearhead railings to Castle Brae.

In accordance with Section 1 (4A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 the following are excluded from the listing: scheduled monument SM2803 (see separate designation record).

Statement of Interest

A well-preserved late medieval collegiate church with 18th and 19th century restorations. This church was in part built to provide a suitably splendid setting for the shrine of St Duthus and its architectural splendour reflects the significance of the devotion to this saint. The church was the focus of pilgrimage during the late medieval period and receive considerable royal patronage during the 15th century.

In accordance with Section 1 (4A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 the following are excluded from the listing: scheduled monument SM2803 (see separate designation record).

Statutory Address revised in 2018. Previously listed as 'CASTLE BRAE ST DUTHUS COLLEGIATE CHURCH WITH ST DUTHUS CHURCH, GRAVEYARD AND RETAINING WALL.

External Links

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