Avoch

Associated Chapels: Killen {NGR NH 673568}; Ormondhill {NGR NH 693538}.

Parish Church: OS Ref: NGR NH 702552 H.E.S. No: NH75NW 69.01 Dedication: (unknown)

The parish church was situated on a height at a small distance directly above the Fishertown. It was also known as 'Alvach' and 'Avache'. The church belonged to the Abbey of Kinloss (by 1274) and, by virtue of this possession, the abbot was, ex officio, a canon in the cathedral of Ross by at least 1324/5. The parsonage remained annexed to the Abbey at the Reformation. A stallar was maintained by the prebendary (the Abbot) in the cathedral from the teinds of the parish. The cure was served by a vicar perpetual.

Ormond Castle {NGR NH 696536} is said to have been a seat of Kings in Pictish times and was situated in the lordship of Ardmannach (a name resounding in echoes of Early Christianity). The stones of the castle are said to have been used in the building of the Citadel of Inverness in Cromwell's times.

The hill of Castletown, some 200ft above Munlochy Bay in Avoch parish, on the top of which are traces of an ancient fortress, is now known as Ormondhill or Ladyhill, in evident allusion to a chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin which was anciently associated with the Castle. The chapel in the Castle of Avoch was given to Kinloss Abbey in 1255 {Macrae}.

Killen: There is an ancient burying-ground, also said to be the site of a chapel, near the Killen Burn a little below Bog of Afterflow farm. Between the farm and the burying-ground is a petrifying stream.

On the farm of Arkendeith {NGR NH 695560} in this parish there is an old quarry, out of which the cathedral church of Ross is said to have been built.

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