Although the balm of autumn has been blown away, an area of high pressure remains over Caithness. With my bicycle working again, yesterday I took a bicycle ride to Dunnet from Thurso.
I marked my turn-back point with Dunnet Parish Church. Part of the central grouping of parishes for the Caithness Presbytery of the Church of Scotland, it is nestled by St John’s Loch at the base of Dunnet Head; making it the most northerly church on mainland Britain.
Records of a Christian site date from between 1223 and 1245, and the present building with a W tower is assumed to have been constructed by the 16th Century at least before Reformation due to the number of gravestone of that period in the graveyard and of its medieval monastic architecture. The N aisle, however, was added in 1837.
It is noted for, between 1601 and 1610, having been the parish church of Timothy Pont, alumnus of St Andrews University and Alfred Wainwright of his day. His sketchings and observations of Scotland in the 1580s and ’90s became part of Joan Blaeu’s Atlas Novus in 1665, some five decades after his death.
They are accepted as being the earliest known examples of cartography of a modern country compiled from actual survey, and display in minute details many architectural and topographic features; although, in many cases, these are recognizable from certain angles and vantage points.
Very little is known about Pont the man and, apart from his maps, the only monument to him is a marble placque in the church grounds. At the time of his ministry, his brother Zacharias was minister for the adjacent Bower Parish.
Tags: Atlas Novus, caithness, Caithness Presbytery, Dunnet Church, Timothy Pont
08/11/2009 at 13:35 |
That church and cemetery look like an interesting place to visit! The gravestones look old! I wonder what the church looked like inside …
08/11/2009 at 14:01 |
Maybe when my camera is working again, I’ll be allowed in to take photographs.
In the meanwhile, here’s the interior of a typical Church of Scotland church (although the minister, as the Gene Robinson of the Church, is not typical).
19/06/2011 at 15:48 |
Hi, I am not very clever at this technology, so I may be speaking to empty cyberspace. If, however, there is a person at the end of this, I’d like to let you know of an event coming up at Dunnet Church where you can enjoy the interior. July 8 the church will be having NIght Kirk–the church will be open from 8pm through the night until 8am. There will be some candles and music and decoration and light refreshment but mostly providing folks the opportunity to enjoy the church each in his or her own way.