Dornoch Cathedral

Dornoch Cathedral is a 13th-century cruciform building with a central tower and spire, significantly rebuilt over the centuries, and extensively restored by William Burn in 1835-37. The listed building excludes the scheduled monument SM10828.

The cathedral is constructed of rubble with ashlar dressings. The exterior includes a 4-bay nave (dating from 1835-37 and built on a medieval plan, incorporating an early west gable and window), a 3-bay choir, and 2-bay transepts, all featuring lancet windows grouped in threes in the east and transept gables, linked by a continuous string course, and with angle buttresses. The west door is recessed under a pointed arch with nook shafts, and above it is a large intersecting medieval Y-tracery window. A small porch, similarly detailed, is located in the south transept gable. The central tower rests on 13th-century shafted piers, with an early 17th-century corbelled parapet and rudimentary angle turrets. It is topped by an early 18th-century broached, slated spire, restored in 1835-37. Inside the tower, remnants of corbelled vaulting remain, likely supporting a roof that predated the spire. The clustered crossing piers, of irregular height with embryonic waterleaf capitals, represent an important example of transitional architecture in Scotland. Fragments of decorative arcading between the transept and choir windows reveal evidence of an elaborate original design.

The interior features a pilaster rib-vaulted choir and nave (dating from 1835-37), with rubble walls displaying some incorporated medieval masonry. Lath and plaster from the Burn period was removed in 1929. The choir lancets are linked by a continuous hood mould. The east window comprises three lancets with an additional lancet in the gable (inserted after the original building, but not altered by Burn). The west window follows the design of the original but was raised to accommodate the west door. The transepts are raised, and the bases of the crossing piers are still visible. The choir is elevated further, with the Sutherland burial vault located below, and is accessed by four steps. A recumbent effigy of Richard de Moravia, various mural monuments (including a classical monument to the 18th Earl and his wife on the south side of the choir), and a rich collection of 19th and 20th-century stained glass are also present. This includes windows commemorating Andrew Carnegie of Skibo (1835-1919) by Percy Bacon, Rosemary Millicent, Viscountess Edam, daughter of the 4th Duke of Sutherland, and her son by Morris and Co (1930), and to the 4th Duke in the east windows by Christopher Whall. A richly carved wooden Gothic octagonal pulpit, communion table, and choir seating date from 1911.