Fortrose Cathedral: Medieval Episcopal Seat of Ross
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.5
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Kingdom of Scotland
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Cathedral
On this page15 sections
History
Fortrose Cathedral is a medieval cathedral in Fortrose, United Kingdom, built for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ross in the Late Gothic style during the first half or early-to-mid thirteenth century. Founded around 1200 and probably complete by about 1300, it became the seat of a diocese established by David I of Scotland in 1126. The diocese was an ecclesiastical district governed by a bishop, and its original center was probably at Rosemarkie.
From Rosemarkie to Fortrose
By the thirteenth century, the bishops and canons had moved the diocesan seat a short distance south-west from Rosemarkie to Fortrose, then also known as Chanonry. Bishop Robert commissioned the relocation, and Pope Gregory IX confirmed it in 1236. The new cathedral was served in its early years by Céli Dé, or Culdees, religious communities whose institutional relationship to later cathedral clergy varied across medieval Scotland and Ireland.
The cathedral chapter was reorganized in the 1250s. It then contained twenty-one prebends, which were income-producing ecclesiastical holdings assigned to chapter members, with revenues connected to thirty-one churches. The bishop held Nigg and Tarbat, while the archdeacon held Fodderty and Killearnan. Ardersier and Kilmuir belonged to the dean, Kinnettes and Suddy to the chanter, Urquhart and Logiebride, also called Logie Wester, to the treasurer, and Edderton and Tain to the sub-dean. Inverferan and Bron, later joined as Urray, were assigned to the sub-chanter. Tain subsequently passed to the provost of its collegiate church.
The chancellor appears initially to have had no fixed prebend. He later acquired Kilmorack and, in the sixteenth century, exchanged it with the chanter for Kinnettes and Suddy. Rosemarkie and Cromarty were divided among the dean, chanter, chancellor, and treasurer, while Applecross, Gairloch, Kintail, Lochalsh, Lochbroom, and Lochcarron were held jointly by the chapter. Further prebends came from Alness, Contin, Cullicudden, Dingwall, Kilchrist, Easter Kilmuir, Kiltearn, Kincardine, Kirkmichael, Logie Methet, or Logie Easter, and Rosskeen with Nonakiln. By the early fourteenth century, the abbot of Kinloss was a permanent chapter member because he held the rectorship of Avoch in perpetuity.
Medieval expansion
The cathedral was enlarged during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Euphemia I, Countess of Ross, commissioned a south-eastern chapel, aisle, and porch in the late fourteenth century, probably replacing an earlier structure. Her work formed part of a broader expansion that added chapels, a southern wing or aisle, a porch, and a tower to the original building.
The cathedral also became associated with important burials. Tradition places Euphemia and Bishop Robert Cairncross in the eastern chapel, while a tomb in the western chapel is identified with Bishop John Fraser. Alexander of Islay, Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles, was buried at the cathedral, although the position of his grave is unknown. The nineteenth-century historian Alexander Mackenzie also identified the cathedral at Chanonry as the burial place of leading Munro family members for more than four centuries. His list included Robert Munro, 2nd Baron of Foulis, who died in 1164; Donald Munro, 3rd Baron, who died in 1192; Robert Munro, 4th Baron, who died in 1239; Hugh Munro, 9th Baron, who died in 1425; John Munro, 11th Baron, who died in 1490; and Hector Munro, 13th Baron, who died in 1541.
Reformation and decline
The Scottish Reformation ended the cathedral’s status in 1560, but the building continued as Fortrose parish church. In June 1572, Lord Ruthven received permission to take the lead from its roof for sale. This accelerated the deterioration of the structure. Repairs followed during the seventeenth century, with work recorded in 1615, around 1626, and about 1649. In 1626, Charles I ordered repairs as part of an effort to give the Church of Scotland an organization resembling that of the Anglican Church.
During the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell requisitioned masonry from the nave for the construction of a fort at Inverness. The cathedral consequently continued its decline into ruin during the later sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. By the eighteenth century, the surviving chapter house and sacristy were being used for meetings of local officials. They later became meeting rooms for the town council and a courtroom, a use that continued until 1939. The former cathedral grounds remained a burial ground.
Excavation and protection
The government assumed responsibility for the cathedral’s care in 1851. Excavations in 1873 revealed much of the plan of the vanished cathedral complex, and Kirkdale Archaeology carried out further excavations between February and March 1996. Fortrose Cathedral is now a scheduled monument and a Category A listed building, and Historic Scotland manages the site.
Remains
Fortrose Cathedral was built mainly from red sandstone. Its Late Gothic design resembles contemporary work at Elgin Cathedral, probably because Bishop Alexander de Kylwos had previously been Dean of Moray. The first building was comparatively small for a medieval cathedral, measuring about 185 feet in length and 25 feet in width. It appears to have begun as an extended rectangle with a tower at the north-west, while the chapter house and sacristy stood north of the choir. The surviving fabric consists chiefly of the chapter house, sacristy, and southern part of the nave or south aisle.
Chapter and liturgical buildings
Chapter house and sacristy
The chapter house and sacristy stand north-east of the surviving nave section. The lower part of the chapter house, dated to about 1235, is the oldest visible part of the cathedral. A sacristy, a room for storing liturgical vessels, vestments, and other equipment, survives alongside it. Most of the other visible sections belong to the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, reflecting the building’s medieval expansion.
Southern aisle and chapels
Eastern chapel
The southern aisle contains two separate chapels and several burials. The eastern chapel is associated with the reputed tombs of Euphemia, Countess of Ross, who died around 1400, and Bishop Robert Cairncross, who served as bishop of Ross from 1539 to 1545. Three of the five easternmost arches contain chest tombs with effigies. From east to west, these are associated with Euphemia, Cairncross, and Bishop John Fraser, who served from 1498 to 1507.
Western chapel
The western chapel contains the tomb traditionally identified as that of Bishop John Fraser. Two heraldic ceiling bosses represent Alexander, Earl of Ross, and Bishop John Bulloch. These features belong to the surviving late-medieval architectural and memorial arrangement of the southern part of the cathedral.
Former altar area
An altar formerly stood beneath the east window. Its associated piscina, a basin used for washing the chalice and other vessels during Mass, remains in place with an ambry, a cupboard or recessed storage space for sacred objects. A late-medieval baptismal font stands in front of the former altar position.
Nave memorials and burial ground
Mackenzie and Seaforth memorials
Tombs and memorials occupy much of the western part of the surviving nave. They commemorate members of the Mackenzie and Seaforth families, including a prominent memorial to Sir Kenneth Mackenzie. The monument depicts Death together with Redcastle, his castle.
Surrounding graveyard
The surrounding graveyard contains further Mackenzie family tombs, including a memorial to General Alexander Mackenzie. The small bell tower is a later addition rather than part of the cathedral’s original construction.
