St Gerardine High Church, Lossiemouth
St Gerardine High Church, Lossiemouth
St Gerardine’s High Church is a Category B listed former Church of Scotland building on St Gerardine’s Road, Lossiemouth, a low-line church of 1899–1903 by Sir John J. Burnet.
- Location
- Lossiemouth, Highland
- Country
- Scotland
- County
- Highland
- City / town
- Lossiemouth
- Address
- St Gerardines Road, Lossiemouth, Highland, IV31 6JX
- Postcode
- IV31 6JX
- Built
- 1899–1903; foundation stone 1898
- Architect
- Sir John J Burnet
- Denomination
- Church of Scotland
- Dedication
- Gerardine
- Parish
- Laich of Moray (former St Gerardine's High)
- Style
- Neo-Norman, one of Burnet's low-line churches
- Materials
- Harled walls with tooled ashlar dressings and red-tile roofs
- Grid reference
- NJ 233 706
- Opening hours
- Open and manned on Mondays from 1pm to 4pm between July and October. Open at other times by arrangement.
- Access
- Level access to the main areas. Accessible toilets nearby
Overview
Historic Environment Scotland lists St Gerardine’s High Church of Scotland, column, enclosing walls and gatepiers (LB37611, designated 26 January 1971). Burnet designed an L-plan range combining church and ancillary buildings on an east-facing hilltop site; the church terminates at the east with a square two-storey tower. Walls are harled with tooled ashlar dressings. A substantial gabled porch abuts the south elevation of the tower. The tower has a squat red-tiled spire with weathercock. Scotland’s Churches Trust dates the foundation stone to 1898 and describes a neo-Norman interior of timber rafters, balcony and bold stone arches.
As Lossiemouth grew as a fishing port and resort, it became the parish centre and Drainie Kirk of 1821 closed in 1917; that church was later demolished. A freestanding column from Drainie stands east of the ancillary wing. Memorials inside have included the Gordon family monument from the first Drainie kirk, relocated in 1953, and a plaque to the Stotfield Disaster of 1806. The building is no longer in regular ecclesiastical use; the Kirk Session of Laich of Moray Parish Church has reported it under offer for sale, pending relocation of historic artefacts. Scottish listing is Category B; there is no Historic England or Cadw list entry.