Fearn Abbey

Fearn Abbey is a building with an early 14th-century core, originally a monastic structure. The abbey was restored and remodelled in 1771 by James Rich, who served as Surveyor at Cromarty, and subsequently altered in 1841. Further alterations and repairs were undertaken in 1857 and 1871 by Alexander Maitland, and in 1899 by W C Joass. A further restoration occurred in 1972, carried out by Ian Lindsay and Partners. The building is largely constructed of coursed dressed rubble with ashlar dressings. It features four symmetrical lancet windows in each gable, with blocked Venetian windows from 1771 positioned above. Angle buttresses accentuate the exterior. The west gable also includes three lancets, again with blocked Venetian windows above, and a bellcote at the gable apex. The south wall was mostly rebuilt, exhibiting two large Gothic windows with intersecting tracery. The main entrance is situated in the southwest corner. Two ruinous chapels project from the south wall: St Michael's aisle contains an ogee mural tomb with a recumbent figure of Abbot Finlay (who died in 1385) and an aumbry in the east wall; an SE aisle, likely of 16th-century origin, incorporates some restoration. The Ross burial aisle, dating to the late 16th or early 17th century and built of ashlar, projects from the north side. It is now roofless but retains two of the original six pointed arches that once supported the roof. A north window displays Y-tracery, and a 17th-century mural monument bears the Ross arms.

The interior presents a simple design with a raised floor, plain 19th-century seating, and a renewed ceiling installed in 1972. A piscina and sedilia are linked under a continuous pointed hoodmould in the southeast corner. A plain font, dating from approximately the 1920s or 1930s, is also present. A sunken memorial chapel exists at the east end, dedicated to the Ross family of Balnagown. It houses various mural memorials, including a monument to Admiral Sir John Lockhart Ross (1790), designed by John Baxter II and featuring Ross arms and a depiction of a square-rigged ship. This ecclesiastical building is currently in use as a Church of Scotland parish church. Founded in 1221 by Farquhard, Earl of Ross, at Edderton – before relocating to the current site (New Fearn) in 1238, it functioned as a daughter house of the Premonstratensian Order at Whithorn, transitioning to a parish church following the Reformation. A tragic event occurred in 1742 when the roof collapsed during a service, resulting in approximately 50 fatalities. The abbey was subsequently rebuilt in 1771, largely prompted by Admiral Sir John Lockhart Ross.