Holy Trinity Church, Spynie was until 1735 the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

Spynie Spynie was a seaport, burgh and ancient parish in Moray, Scotland, that survives as a small hamlet and civil parish. It is the location of the ruins of Spynie Palace, which was the principal residence of the Bishops of Moray between the 12th and ...

Moray Moray () gd, Moireibh or ') is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Between 1975 ...

in north-east

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, and served as the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

of the

Diocese of Moray The Diocese of Moray was one of the most important of the medieval dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland. Its territory was in central northern Scotland. History It was founded in the early years of the 12th century by David I ...

between 1207 and 1224. No trace of the church can now be seen, but its graveyard remains near

Spynie Palace Spynie Palace, also known as Spynie Castle, was the fortified seat of the Bishops of Moray for about 500 years in Spynie, Moray, Scotland. The founding of the palace dates back to the late 12th century. It is situated about 500 m from the locat ...

, and its site is occupied by two burial vaults, with a cross marking the location of the church's eastern end. The graveyard is the burial place of former British Prime Minister

Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the first who belonged to the Labour Party, leading minority Labour governments for nine months in 1924 ...

History

The church at Spynie dates back to the 12th century, and possibly earlier. The early

Bishops of Moray A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

had no fixed cathedral, moving between the churches of Spynie, Birnie and

Kinneddar Kinneddar is a small settlement on the outskirts of Lossiemouth in Moray, Scotland, near the main entrance to RAF Lossiemouth. Long predating the modern town of Lossiemouth, Kinneddar was a major monastic centre for the Pictish kingdom of Fortri ...

. Between 1172 and 1174 King

William the Lion William the Lion, sometimes styled William I and also known by the nickname Garbh, "the Rough"''Uilleam Garbh''; e.g. Annals of Ulster, s.a. 1214.6; Annals of Loch Cé, s.a. 1213.10. ( 1142 – 4 December 1214), reigned as King of Scots from 11 ...

agreed with Bishop

Simon de Tosny Simon de Tosny (Toni, Tonei, Toeni, Toeny, Toney) was a 12th-century Cistercian monk and prelate. Simon was a monk of Melrose Abbey, and served there until he moved to become Abbot of Coggeshall Abbey in Essex. He resigned this abbey in 1168, and ...

to grant all of his

teind In Scotland a teind () was a tithe derived from the produce of the land for the maintenance of the clergy. It is also an old lowland term for a tribute due to be paid by the fairies to the devil every seven years. Found in the story of Tam Lin as ...

s from the

"to the church of the Holy Trinity of the bishopric of Moray and to Lord Simon, Bishop of Moray". Bishop Simon reached a similar agreement with

Freskin Freskin (died before 1171) was a Flemish nobleman who settled in Scotland during the reign of King David I, becoming the progenitor of the Murray and Sutherland families, and possibly others. Origins Freskin was said to have come to the Lowlands ...

Duffus Castle Duffus Castle, near Elgin, Moray, Scotland, was a motte-and-bailey castle and was in use from c. 1140 to 1705. During its occupation it underwent many alterations. The most fundamental was the destruction of the original wooden structure and it ...

regarding the woods and mosses of Spynie and Findrassie, and Simon's agreement with the King was confirmed by his successor

Richard de Lincoln Richard de Lincoln was a medieval Anglo-Norman prelate. Although of English origin, he was a royal clerk in the administration of King William of Scotland. With royal support, he was elected Bishop of Moray on 1 March 1187 and was consecrated at ...

in 1187 and 1199. Bishop Richard, however, adopted Kinneddar as his cathedral, and began to provide the see with a constitution. Cathedral churches of Moray

The cathedral of the see of Moray was moved from Kinneddar to Spynie by Bishop Richard's successor

Bricius de Douglas Bricius (sometimes anglicized as Brice, died 1222) was prior of Lesmahagow and afterward bishop of Moray (Gaelic ''epscop Muireb''; Latin ''episcopus Moraviensis''). In this period, the name ''Bricius'' is more often a Latinization of the G ...

as part of a radical reorganisation of the diocese. A papal bull was issued by

Pope Innocent III Pope Innocent III ( la, Innocentius III; 1160 or 1161 – 16 July 1216), born Lotario dei Conti di Segni (anglicized as Lothar of Segni), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 to his death in 16 J ...

in 1207 confirming Spynie as the seat of the cathedral and explaining that this decision had been taken on the advice of the "chapter and other wise laymen" on the basis that Spynie was conveniently placed for administering the diocese, but also not in a dangerously exposed location. A new constitution was introduced based on that of

Lincoln Cathedral Lincoln Cathedral, Lincoln Minster, or the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln and sometimes St Mary's Cathedral, in Lincoln, England, is a Grade I listed cathedral and is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Lincoln. Constructio ...

that established a small chapter of eight canons, including a

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

, a

precentor A precentor is a person who helps facilitate worship. The details vary depending on the religion, denomination, and era in question. The Latin derivation is ''præcentor'', from cantor, meaning "the one who sings before" (or alternatively, "first ...

, a

treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury o ...

, a

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

and an

archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...

. It is not known how much progress had been made on building Bishop Bricius' cathedral at Spynie by the time of his death in 1222. On 19 July 1224, however, Bricius' successor

Andreas de Moravia Andreas de Moravia (or Andrew of Moray) was a 13th-century Scottish bishop. He was a younger son of Hugh de Moravia, from the family of Flemish origin who were lords of Duffus and other areas in the Greater Moray region in this period. In the t ...

moved the seat of the diocese to the south to Elgin, citing Spynie's exposure to the dangers of war, its isolation and the problems of supplying it with the needs of divine worship. The endowment for the fabric of the church at Spynie was also transferred to Elgin, but Spynie remained the parish church and a

prebend A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of the ...

of Elgin cathedral, and nearby

remained the principal residence of the Bishop. The seat of the parish of Spynie was moved to New Spynie in 1745, with the new church being built in 1736 partly with stones taken from the old one. The last remaining part of the old church was a gothic gable which fell in 1850. The foundations were traced in 1924 and found to indicate a small church building of by , with the structure apart from the eastern gable being built largely of clay in a simple style.

References

Bibliography

* Butler, Dugald (2007). ''Scottish Cathedrals and Abbeys''. BiblioLife. . * * * {{authority control Churches completed in 1207 13th-century church buildings in Scotland Listed cathedrals in Scotland Medieval cathedrals in Scotland Roman Catholic cathedrals in Scotland Churches in Moray 1207 establishments in Scotland Former cathedrals in Scotland