Edderton
Associated Chapels: (none known.)
Parish Church: OS Ref: NGR NH 711850 H.E.S. No: NH78SW 4 Dedication: (unknown)
At Edderton, in addition to the fine cross-slab in the churchyard, fragments from at least one other monument of Pictish date were recovered in 1993. This suggests that the site occupied by the present church dates from the 7th or 8th century, and that it was, at that time, a sufficiently prestigious establishment to attract local patrons to purchase such sculptures as an act of piety or commemoration.
The parsonage, along with that of Tain, was assigned to the Sub-Dean of Ross as his prebend. This was done as part of the reconstitution of the Chapter of the cathedral, which was confirmed by Pope Alexander IV in 1255/6. A vicar was in-post by 1274 but the vicarage remained independent of the Sub-Deanery which continued to hold the garbal teinds only of the parish.
The present building was constructed in 1743, and it is on an old site at Ardcronie near Balinlich (or Ballioch) on the Dornoch Firth. It is now called "Edderton Free Church" and is one of the finest surviving examples of a 17th-century church building in the country. Although originally thatched the church is now securely roofed in Easedale slate.
By 1841 the church was considered too small to accommodate the parish congregation of the day and a new church was built nearer the centre of Edderton. This opened its doors for its first service on 5 October 1842. But in 1843 the Free Church broke away from the Church of Scotland and in Edderton a large part of the congregation followed the Minister to become part of the Free Church.
Above: Edderton Old Church. © Undiscovered Scotland
Above: The Pictish Cross-Slab in the graveyard.
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