St Mary's R.C. Church, Eskadale is a Grade B listed building in the Highland local planning authority area, Scotland. First listed on 5 October 1971. 1 related planning application.
St Mary's R.C. Church, Eskadale
- WRENN ID
- tired-eave-river
- Grade
- B
- Local Planning Authority
- Highland
- Constituency
- Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross MP: Jamie Stone (LD)
- Country
- Scotland
- Date first listed
- 5 October 1971
- OS grid reference
- NH 453 398
- Coordinates
- 57.42297, -4.57704
- Source
- Historic Environment Scotland listing
Description
St Mary's Roman Catholic Church is an 1826 building constructed in the Norman style, with subsequent alterations and additions made in 1881 by Peter Paul Pugin. The church is a symmetrical, rectangular gable-fronted structure oriented east to west, with slightly lower and shorter five-bay aisles to the north and south. The exterior is white harled with broad, splayed, tooled ashlar margins and dressings. A round-headed entrance is centrally positioned within the west gable, mirrored by similar entrances in the north and south gable returns. Flanking lancet windows are found on the west gable, above which are three round-headed paired-light lattice-pane windows, the central one being taller. Similar windows are repeated in the gables and the five-bay flanks. A circular window with geometric tracery, dating back to 1881, is located in the centre of the east gable, with a small occulus above it. The east gable apex features a cross finial, while square, stumpy finials are present elsewhere, all beneath a slate roof.
The interior is spacious, with aisles separated from the nave by a Neo-Norman arcade. A small gallery is located at the west end and features a simple cast-iron balustrade. An ornate Gothic reredos, created in 1881, is situated centrally, flanked by niches containing statues. A Gothic canopied tomb chest is embedded in the north wall of the chancel, also dating to 1881. The church contains late 19th-century pews with "poppy head" ends, along with mural memorials.
The church is set within a simple, walled burial ground containing 19th and 20th-century tombs. A Lovat burial enclosure is located to the west of the church. The building remains in ecclesiastical use. The church was described in 1841 as a "neat Roman Catholic chapel erected a few years ago by Lord Lovat at considerable expense.” The reredos and tomb, executed in 1881 as a memorial to Thomas, Lord Lovate (died 1875), are the work of Peter Paul Pugin, with carving performed by Boulton of Cheltenham.
Local climate
St Mary's R.C. Church, Eskadale sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,220 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 92% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 78% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 67 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 99% of listed buildings. Of these, 49 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.2°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 1 application
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.