2 The Chapel, Chapel Street, Evanton

This is an early 19th century building, constructed in a style influenced by James Smith. It is a two-storey, five-bay structure originally intended as a church. The building is constructed from rubble stone with dressed ashlar detailing.

The plan is almost square in shape. The central bay projects forward and features a hoodmoulded entrance for the minister, approached by steps. This bay rises as a slender, rectangular tower with two shaped stages and an ashlar clock face. The tower is topped with a moulded corniced platform, supporting a pilastered bellcote with an ogee cap and a worn weathervane. A pair of doors are located in the outer bays, with roundheaded windows above them. Similar roundheaded windows are found in the inner centre bays; these formerly rose from the ground floor but were later divided horizontally to create flat-headed windows within the second and fourth bays of the ground floor. Later corniced wallhead stacks, rear windows, and a rear door have been added. The roof is piended and covered in slate.

The church was founded in Evanton, a settlement laid out around 1800 by Mr Fraser of Balconie. It was built to replace an earlier settlement of Drummond and marks the terminal point of the main street in the planned village. The area has a strong tradition of church secession, and the church served the Kiltearn Parish from 1770 until the Disruption of 1843. It was subsequently used as a Free Church School, as documented on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1870. The building is currently empty and in poor condition. A significantly altered building to the west is not included as part of the listing.

References detailing further information include the New Statistical Account (1845) and Ian R M Mowat’s ‘Easter Ross, 1750-1850, The Double Frontier’ (1981).