Dingwall Churches

Attribution: unknown (Greenhill street  in Dingwall looking North)

Castle Street Church of Scotland

The Castle Street Church of Scotland is situated in Castle Street opposite the National Hotel. Built in 1909 as the United Free Church (a result of the Union of Free and United Presbyterian Churches in 1900), the architect was William Mackintosh.

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01 Dingwall Churches

Attribution: unknown

St Clement's Church of Scotland

This, the parish church of Dingwall, was completed in 1803, the previous building having fallen into a state “unworthy of repair.”

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02 Dingwall Churches

Attribution: unknown

The Free Church of Scotland

The Free Church is situated opposite the railway station. Built in 1870 to replace the old Free Church in Castle Street. The architect was John Rhind, and the church is built in French Gothic style, although the octagonal dome on the spire is extremely uncommon in Gothic buildings. The church will seat 1,000 people comfortably, and was opened by the famous London preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, a good friend of the first minister, the well-known Rev. John Kennedy. The building has long been admired for its beautiful interior, and particularly for its magnificent 16 foot high, stained glass ‘rose window’. A new hall was built at the rear in 1987. The congregational list includes around 180 homes, and services are held twice on Sunday with a weekly Prayer Meeting and Bible Study, as well as other meetings designed for the different age groups in the congregation.

03 Dingwall Churches

Attribution: unknown

The Free Presbyterian Church

The Free Presbyterian Church is situated in Hill Street. Built in 1959, the architect was J. Lyon of Matheson and Mackenzie. It is a harled buttress box with rubble gable, it replaced the original 1904 church (now Kirkholm) in Greenhill Street. The interior of the church is deliberately austere in keeping with the early reformed church tradition. Seating capacity – 350.

04 Dingwall Churches

Attribution: unknown

The Scottish Episcopal Church

The Episcopal Church is situated in Castle street. The Episcopalians have worshipped in the town since the Sixteenth Century, first at St. Clements and later in private houses until the first chapel was built in Castle Street in 1806. The present building, with a capacity of 128, is the fourth to be built on the site. Erected in 1871 it is of simple and sturdy gothic design, consisting of a three-bay nave with lower one-bay nave. There are stained glass windows on four walls. An organ was installed in 1872 and there is a small choir. The parish stretches from the Black Isle to Achnasheen. The Davidson Mausoleum (to the right of the church) has been located elsewhere, the hall behind the mausoleum was demolished and a new hall erected in 2005.

05 Dingwall Churches

Attribution: unknown

St. Lawrence's Roman Catholic Church

Opened 1902. The architect was William C. Jones. It was built in plain Gothic style. Above the altar there are three stained glass windows by Dom Ninian Sloane O.S.B., of Pluscarden Abbey. The Church has been refurbished. 

08 Dingwall Churches

Attribution: unknown

Cille Bhrea Chapel

Lemlair, Dingwall. [NH. 576614 – Nat. grid ref.]

The information given below, and the associated photograph, is taken from notes provided by AOC Archaeology Group, with additional details by the unknown “T.W.”

Cille Bhrea, on the north shore of the Cromarty Firth, was established by 1228 as the parish church of Lemlair and continued in use until the early 17th century. A cross inscribed slab was recovered from the foreshore and, although of uncertain date, it may suggest an earlier origin for the Christian use of the site. During the life of this parish church it became famous as the first place in Easter Ross where the Reformed Doctrine was preached by Dr. Munro of Castlecraig, who crossed the Cromarty Firth to do so. After the abandonment of the chapel in the early 17th century, the graveyard was used intermittently during the 18th and 19th centuries, with the most recent burials being from a cholera outbreak in 1836.

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09 Dingwall Churches

Attribution: AOC Archaeology Group

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Dingwall » Dingwall History » Dingwall Of Old
26 Dingwall of old
26 Dingwall of old
Still at the end of High Street, where the road continues to Strathpeffer, and now adjacent to the Highland Council offices, stood "the boys' hostel" where generations of boys from the west coast of the county lived while continuing their secondary education in Dingwall Academy. This originally was the home of Provost Robertson whose daughter married Prime Minister William Gladstone.
09 Dingwall of old
09 Dingwall of old
Dingwall seen from Ferry Road leading to bridge over railway.
05 Dingwall of old. [Photo DMT]
05 Dingwall of old. [Photo DMT]
Burgh Court House c.1890.
25 Dingwall of old
25 Dingwall of old
The opposite end of Dingwall High Street in the 19th century, looking east.
34 Dingwall of old
34 Dingwall of old
Across from the Cromartie memorial was Dingwall Academy - staff and pupils c.1880.
26 Dingwall of old
26 Dingwall of old
And the same view c.1956.
10 Dingwall of old
10 Dingwall of old
Cambrai Cross of WW1 outside railway station.
11 Dingwall of old
11 Dingwall of old
After the Free Church, the former Post Office and the Commercial Bank, c.1918. On the left of the photograph is the future site of Dingwall's war memorial in the grounds of the National Hotel.
32 Dingwall of old
32 Dingwall of old
A few yards down Tulloch Street we find the Cromartie Memorial before it was rebuilt.
33 Dingwall of old
33 Dingwall of old
And an explanation comes from this postcard courtesy of the lateMiss Anne Fraser. The postcard was in the possession of Miss Fraser's aunt, who wrote: "Leaning tower re Earls of Cromartie. Taken down 9th March 1917 because it was leaning dangerously. New shorter tower erected."
13 Dingwall of old
13 Dingwall of old
Across from the Free Church, this building was the National Bank, then headquarters of the North of Scotland Hydro Electric Board and, currently, the Highland Theological College.
Dingwall of old
Dingwall of old
Ross Memorial Hospital, Ferry Road.
16 Dingwall of old
16 Dingwall of old
A quick trip down Castle Street finds St. Lawrence's RC Church.
01 Dingwall of old
01 Dingwall of old
Clerk's print of 1824 with main road arriving at Hill Street.
07 Dingwall of old.
07 Dingwall of old.
Dingwall harbour, August 1913, SS Jesmond.
02 Dingwall of old
02 Dingwall of old
Dingwall and Cromarty Firth from Hector Macdonald memorial.
13 Dingwall of old
13 Dingwall of old
The National Hotel, c.1920. Car registration is 1105.
14 Dingwall of old
14 Dingwall of old
The National Hotel again. By this time the war memorial is in place.
38 Dingwall of old
38 Dingwall of old
Going back to Dingwall High Street in 1932 ....... Man on left is standing outside what is now Boots, chemist. Shop on right became shoe shop (Easifit), later Pullars (drycleaners) and in 2010 is a Pizza supplier. The door on High Street became a single window during post-War alterations when the corner with Tulloch Street was replaced with a pillar and the entrance was a diagonal between the two streets. The building was refurbished in 2008-09 following the closure of Pullars and the entrance in 2010 has reverted to that of pre-War.
22 Dingwall of old
22 Dingwall of old
Gladstone Building in later years. Now the Royal Hotel with Restaurant on the ground floor.
12 Dingwall of old
12 Dingwall of old
Turning round and looking towards the Royal Hotel, the Commercial Bank is on the left, followed by ?Park House? On the right, beside the war memorial, is Archie's bus. Archie (Macrae?) was the owner of a bus which plied between Kessock and Dingwall. Photo c.1946.
36 Dingwall of old
36 Dingwall of old
Shortly afterwards we reach Craig Road, c.1918. A house would have stood at the foot of Kinnairdie Brae and on the ground which later became the extensive garden of Willie Logan's house. Next to it is "Marsule" followed by "The Gables".
15 Dingwall of old
15 Dingwall of old
The National Hotel c.1935 with Cormack, bootmaker, and Campbell's cycle shop on left.
06 Dingwall of old. [Photo courtesy of Dingwall Museum Trust]
06 Dingwall of old. [Photo courtesy of Dingwall Museum Trust]
Dingwall Court House pre-1905.
37 Dingwall of old
37 Dingwall of old
Finally, we leave Dingwall, heading north and looking back along Craig Road.
35 Dingwall of old
35 Dingwall of old
At the end of Tulloch Street we find Dingwall canal with Dingwall Castle on the right.
11 Dingwall of old
11 Dingwall of old
Dingwall Free Church beside the railway station.
21 Dingwall of old
21 Dingwall of old
Advert for David Macleay's shop. [Courtesy of Lou Tsiotinos.]
24 Dingwall of old
24 Dingwall of old
Fraser Brothers shop, showing staff and produce, just round the corner from the Royal Hotel entrance. The Fraser family is still serving the public in the 21st century but their produce is subject to strict rules of refridgeration!
30 Dingwall of old
30 Dingwall of old
At the junction with Tulloch Street was Lewis Fraser, saddler. [Ross and Cromarty Heritage Society is grateful to the late Miss Anne Fraser, Dingwall, daughter of Lewis M Fraser, for permission to copy the postcards which she owns.]
31 Dingwall of old
31 Dingwall of old
This would have been the view from the front of Fraser the Saddler's shop. On the right is the Bank of Scotland with the manager's house above and his garden extending to what became Mackay's Garage, with Dingwall Academy and its bell tower in the distance. Are these Dingwall Academy pupils, or is it a festive occasion? (There are girls in hats and dresses and boys in kilts.) [Photo courtesy of the late Miss Anne Fraser.]
17 Dingwall of old
17 Dingwall of old
Across the road from St. Lawrence's were the tennis courts ...... [Photo RCHS]
18 Dingwall of old
18 Dingwall of old
...... where Dingwallians of old gained exercise ..... [Photo RCHS]
03 Dingwall of old
03 Dingwall of old
HLI camp in Jubilee Park 1908.
28 Dingwall of old
28 Dingwall of old
Inside Frew's shop. [Photo RCHS]
29 Dingwall of old
29 Dingwall of old
Inside Frew's shop. [Photo RCHS]
19 Dingwall of old
19 Dingwall of old
...... beside the poplar trees lining the canal. [Photo RCHS]
04 Dingwall of old. [Photo courtesy of F W Urquhart collection]
04 Dingwall of old. [Photo courtesy of F W Urquhart collection]
Building of Hector Macdonald memorial.
Dingwall of old
Dingwall of old
Mackay's Garage in 1985. [Photo courtesy of Jim Macdonald.]
39 Dingwall of old
39 Dingwall of old
Munro Stewart in September 2011. [Photograph courtesy of Uisdean Menzies - uisdean@fraser-menzies.fsnet.co.uk]
20 Dingwall of old
20 Dingwall of old
Gladstone Buildings 1880s (later the Royal Hotel) and David Mcleay, silk mercer. The two policemen are standing outside what would become Dewar & Hay, chemist (later Lloyds pharmacy).
27 Dingwall of old
27 Dingwall of old
Walking back along High Street we find Frew's chemist shop, now the Museum.
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