The Barn Church is a parish church of the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

at Culloden, in the Presbytery of

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

. Although the congregation is relatively young, and only received full status as a parish church in its own right in the late 1980s, the building is of considerable historical interest. It was originally built as a

tithe barn A tithe barn was a type of barn used in much of northern Europe in the Middle Ages for storing rents and tithes. Farmers were required to give one-tenth of their produce to the established church. Tithe barns were usually associated with the ...

for the estate of Culloden House, and in 1746 it was used by the Jacobite army as accommodation on the night before the

Battle of Culloden The Battle of Culloden took place on 16 April 1746, near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. A Jacobite army under Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force commanded by the Duke of Cumberland, thereby endi ...

. During the 19th century it was used as a blacksmith's workshop, before being taken over by the East Church of Inverness as a mission station in the early 20th century. When it was granted the status of a

church extension Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

charge in the 1970s, the congregation erected a new church called "the New Barn" (designed with architectural "barn metaphors") which is joined to the old building; the historic building (the "Old Barn") today serves as the church hall. Interesting architectural features of the Old Barn include the slit windows for defensive purposes and the parallel doors which can create a wind tunnel required for

winnowing Winnowing is a process by which chaff is separated from grain. It can also be used to remove pests from stored grain. Winnowing usually follows threshing in grain preparation. In its simplest form, it involves throwing the mixture into the ...

. The Church serves the Culloden, Balloch, Smithton, Westhill and Cradlehall areas on the outskirts of Inverness. On Friday, 14 November 2014, the new minister, the Rev. Mike Robertson, was ordained and inducted. The previous minister, the Rev. Jim Robertson, had served for about 20 years.

External links

Barn Church Facebook PageInverness Presbytery

Barn Church Website
Barn churches in the United Kingdom Culloden Culloden -Scotland {{Scotland-CoS-church-stub

See also

External links