Kirkton Church with gravestone of Farquhar Matheson

Kirkton Church with gravestone of Farquhar Matheson

ID: PC_TAYLOR_LOCHALSH_1_009 DESCRIPTION: A photograph, taken in 2008, of Kirkton Church. The gravestone of Farquhar Matheson is visible in the foreground. Farquhar Matheson MB, JP, born in Dornie 15th May 1840 and died in London in August 1905 There has been a church building on or near the present site of the church at Kirkton since the mid-17th century. References were made in Presbytery records of an old church, which by 1803 was in such poor condition it was demolished. The landowner at the time, Sir Hugh Innes, was ordered to build a new church capable of seating 800 people and the new church was eventually opened for worship on 13 August, 1807, much as it appears today, although it seats only about 150 people. Seat rents were levied at that time, and it appears that Sir Hugh, having spent a large amount of money on the new building, tried to recoup some of it by setting high rents. For a short time, men with sticks were employed to ensure payment and evict non-payers from the church. Fortunately, the practice was stopped. The interior may have been remodelled in Victorian times. A small stone baptismal font was found by workmen in the churchyard in the 1950s, and was redressed by a member of the congregation. The Kirkton building was the only Presbyterian Church in Lochalsh until 1827 when a church was built in Plockton. Until then, people walked many miles each Sunday to attend services. When the railway was extended to Kyle of Lochalsh in 1897, a further church was built there to cope with the increasing population. Services are normally held in all three churches in the parish every Sunday. This information is from a leaflet available at the church. PLACENAME: Kirkton DISTRICT: South West Ross OLD COUNTY/PARISH: ROSS: Lochalsh CREATOR (AV): Andrew Taylor DATE OF IMAGE: 2008 PERIOD: 2000s SOURCE: Andrew Taylor Asset ID: 42698 KEYWORDS: