Conon Bridge Churches
Attribution: photograph courtesy of W J McCulloch
Ferintosh Church of Scotland, Conon Bridge
This church, built in 1909, stands within the Parish of Ferintosh, formerly known as the Parish of Urquhart and Logie Wester.
“Logie” in Gaelic means “valley or hollow” and in the valley of the River Conon there was a small township adjacent to the present Conon House. The township church was known as Logie Wester to distinguish it from Logie in Easter Ross.
Near to Conon House can be found the foundations of Logie Wester Church, now overgrown, but calculated to be 66 ft by 50 ft. It was stone built, would have been thatched with heather and had a loft added, probably in the 17th century.
Sometime before 1490 the Parishes of Urquhart and Logie Wester were united and by the mid 17th century the original Logie Wester Church was finding it hard to compete with the more centrally situated Urquhart Church. In 1749-50 the Urquhart Church was rebuilt and enlarged as a result of which the church at Logie became disused and was in ruins by 1792. The rebuilt Urquhart Church of 1749 was struck by lightning and destroyed by fire forty years later. Its successor, also called Urquhart Church, was built nearby and opened in 1795.
The building of a bridge over the River Conon in 1810 led to the establishing of the village of Conon Bridge, further enhanced by the arrival of the railway in 1863. The Rev Walter Macquarrie became minister of Urquhart in 1891 and, that year, he began fortnightly evening services in Conon School. He saw the need for a “Mission Church” in the village and this was achieved by July 1906.
The Mission Church continued until 1961 when union with the former United Free Church of Ferintosh and Maryburgh took place and the united congregation took the name of Ferintosh.
Ferintosh Parish Church 1909 - 2009
Book written by Mhairi Mackenzie
“This booklet aims to recollect the life and times of our church here in our community; however, not only to look at how these recollections have shaped who and what we are today, but also how they might enable us to shape the life of our church here in the future.
It takes us through the history of the church in terms of its buildings, its ministers, its worship and its place within the community, and ends with all that is happening within the life of our church today. An appropriate way perhaps to end such a booklet, leaving scope and opportunity to look to the future as we seek to build on what we already have in place.” – Andy Graham
Attribution: Book written by Mhairi Mackenzie