Our church building is situated in the Smithton area, 8 km east of Inverness, in the Highlands of Scotland.
Inverness is the administrative capital of the Highland local government area and has a population of around 60 000. In recent years it has become one of the fastest growing cities in the European Union.
The current population of the Smithton-Culloden parish is about 12 000. Within the parish are four main residential areas: Balloch, Culloden, Smithton and Cradlehall/Westhill, each with its own primary school. One secondary school, Culloden Academy, serves the whole area, which also has a very attractive rural hinterland.
Although most residents live in homes built in the last 35 years, this is a parish steeped in history. Culloden Battlefield is the site of the last battle fought on British soil. On 16 April 1746 the Jacobite forces of Charles Edward Stuart were defeated by the Government army under the leadership of the Duke of Cumberland.
The parish also contains the historic Culloden House, which was sold by the Mackintoshes to Duncan Forbes of Culloden, Provost of Inverness, in 1626. Bonnie Prince Charlie is reputed to have spent three nights here before the Battle of Culloden. After the original house was partially destroyed by fire, the present mansion was built in the Adam style by a later member of the Forbes family between 1772 and 1788. The house is now a tasteful hotel, while some of the estate buildings also survive as landmarks in twenty-first century Culloden.
The old estate barn and granary now provide a place of worship for The Barn Church, a congregation of the Church of Scotland.
The coach house and stables have been converted into apartments.
The octagonal estate dovecote has been restored. It would once have provided a supply of fresh meat for the winter months.
In the days before refrigeration, food was stored in the ice house.
Look out also for Home Farmhouse and the former Loch Lann kennels. The primary school in Culloden is called Duncan Forbes Primary School, demonstrating the enduring influence of the Forbes family on this community.
Statistical Accounts of Scotland
1845, Volume 14, County of Inverness, Parish of Pettie
Inverness Field Club
The hub of the Highlands: the book of Inverness and district
Edinburgh: Inverness Field Club and James Thin, The Mercat Press, 1975
Pollitt, AG
Historic Inverness
Perth: Melven Press, 1981
Inverness is the administrative capital of the Highland local government area and has a population of around 60 000. In recent years it has become one of the fastest growing cities in the European Union.
Where we are in Scotland
Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. Image reproduced with kind permission of Ordnance Survey and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.
The current population of the Smithton-Culloden parish is about 12 000. Within the parish are four main residential areas: Balloch, Culloden, Smithton and Cradlehall/Westhill, each with its own primary school. One secondary school, Culloden Academy, serves the whole area, which also has a very attractive rural hinterland.
Where we are in the Inverness area
Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. Image reproduced with kind permission of Ordnance Survey and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.
Although most residents live in homes built in the last 35 years, this is a parish steeped in history. Culloden Battlefield is the site of the last battle fought on British soil. On 16 April 1746 the Jacobite forces of Charles Edward Stuart were defeated by the Government army under the leadership of the Duke of Cumberland.
The parish also contains the historic Culloden House, which was sold by the Mackintoshes to Duncan Forbes of Culloden, Provost of Inverness, in 1626. Bonnie Prince Charlie is reputed to have spent three nights here before the Battle of Culloden. After the original house was partially destroyed by fire, the present mansion was built in the Adam style by a later member of the Forbes family between 1772 and 1788. The house is now a tasteful hotel, while some of the estate buildings also survive as landmarks in twenty-first century Culloden.
The old estate barn and granary now provide a place of worship for The Barn Church, a congregation of the Church of Scotland.
The coach house and stables have been converted into apartments.
The octagonal estate dovecote has been restored. It would once have provided a supply of fresh meat for the winter months.
In the days before refrigeration, food was stored in the ice house.
Look out also for Home Farmhouse and the former Loch Lann kennels. The primary school in Culloden is called Duncan Forbes Primary School, demonstrating the enduring influence of the Forbes family on this community.
> sources
Statistical Accounts of Scotland
1845, Volume 14, County of Inverness, Parish of Pettie
Inverness Field Club
The hub of the Highlands: the book of Inverness and district
Edinburgh: Inverness Field Club and James Thin, The Mercat Press, 1975
Pollitt, AG
Historic Inverness
Perth: Melven Press, 1981
Last updated: Wednesday, 22 November 2006
