Fortrose Cathedral

The Cathedral dominated the town of clergyman that was built around it. At its peak, 21 canons and five vicars served here.
Each canon had a manse in Fortrose while the powerful Bishop of Ross lived in a palace.
Mary Queen of Scots and her royal court stayed for several days in 1564.

A brass ewer filled with 1,100 silver groats was found on the edge of the cathedral green in 1880. It had probably been buried for safe keeping in the late 1300s or early 1400s, a time of unrest.
Just the chapter house and aisle remain in John Slezer's drawing of fortrose in 1693.

REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE
In 1572, after the Protestant Reformation, William, Lord Ruthven, was given the lead from the cathedral roof. Oliver Cromwell's army supposedly stripped stone and wood from its buildings for a fortress at Inverness in 1653.
Public services continued to be held in the south aisle. A clock turret was added from which the cathedral's recast 1449 bell still rings. The first floor of the chapter house became a courtroom and council chamber with a prison below.

GLOBAL PESTILENCE
Legend tells of a flying ball of mist-like plague that the canons caught in a sheet.
They buried the threat with a bell, book and candle' on the cathedral green.

GUARDIAN OF SCOTLAND
Sir Andrew Murray, Guardian of Scotland, was buried here in 1338 before his remains were moved to Dunfermline Abbey. His father led the Scottish army alongside William Wallace at the battle of Stirling Bridge.Read more