Auld St Peter's Kirk is a ruined
parish church on Wilson Lane, in
Thurso,
Caithness, Scotland. Dedicated to
Saint Peter, it dates to at least 1125, and at one time was the principal church for the county, administered by the Bishops of Caithness.
It became a
scheduled monument in 1929
and from 1975 until 2016 it was also a
Category A listed building.
History
The church of Thurso is dedicated to Saint Peter. Though unnamed in the charter of
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...
Gilbert, it was one of the six reserved by him to the
bishopric
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...
. Early in the 16th century, the
vicarage of Thorso was held by Sir John Mathesoun chancellor of Caithness, on whose demission or otherwise
Queen Mary in 1547 presented Master John Craig to the
benefice. Master Walter Innes, who appears in record in 1554, was vicar of Thurso in 1560, and continued to hold the vicarage between 1561 and 1566. About 1567, John Rag was minister, and in 1574, Alexander Urquhart was minister of Olrik and Thurso, and John Davidsoun was reader at Thurso. In 1641, Alexander Monro, minister at Durnoch had from King Charles I, a grant of 800
marks Scots or of eight
chalders victual in augmentation of his stipend from the rents of the bishopric in the parish of Thurso and elsewhere.
Old St Peter's, still standing, was disused since 1832 when a replacement church was built for the parish.
That church,
St Andrew's and St Peter's, is of Gothic style and was built to a design by
William Burn.
Architecture
It is
cruciform and in the pointed style. A 1726 record states, "Above a vault looking into the east end of the church is a
session house, but by the permission of the
kirk session, it is used by the sheriff and magistrates of Thurso for a court house and prison; and above a dungeon likewise allowed them is a steeple and common clock".
The now roofless structure was built using local rubble stone.
Grounds
The structure is situated on the left bank of the
River Thurso, close to the seafront. It is enclosed behind a rubble-slab wall.
A complaint was made in 1786 regarding dung and rubbish being dumped on graves.
In 2013, five gravestones were toppled and smashed.
References
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Thurso, Old Saint Peter
Listed churches in Scotland
Churches in Highland (council area)
12th-century church buildings in Scotland
Scheduled monuments in Highland
Old Saint Peter
Buildings and structures in Caithness