Lottery boosts Black Isle church

The post-Reformation church is on the tip of the Black Isle

Nine churches, including Cromarty East Church in the Highlands, have received almost £1.5m in lottery funding.

The Cromarty church on the Black Isle - which closed in the 1990s - featured on the BBC programme Restoration Village.

It will receive £641,000 for restoration and a further £24,000 will help to develop a use for the church.

The church was established in the middle ages but owes much of its architecture to the late 16th and 17th Century and has category A listing.

The major restoration project will take three years to complete.

Once finished, this historic building will be a venue for concerts, occasional worship, weddings and events.

Colin McLean, Heritage Lottery Fund Manager for Scotland, said: "There is a huge amount of public support for this building so we are delighted to be involved in saving it.

"It will be magical to see such an historic church once again take its rightful place as a hub for community life.

The Heritage Lottery Fund also announced grants for eight other churches around Scotland from Glasgow to Shetland to make urgent repairs to the buildings.

St Magnus Scottish Episcopal Church, Lerwick: £125,000. Scottish Episcopal Church of St Mary and St Peter, Montrose: £90,000. Tillicoultry Parish Church:£79,700. St Columba's Church, Glenrothes: £95,000. Reid Memorial Church, Edinburgh: £27,500. St John's Church Renfield, Glasgow: £103,500. St Paul's RC Church, Whiteinch,Glasgow: £129,000. St Teresa's of Lisieux, Possilpark, Glasgow: £142,000.

It said: "The Scottish Redundant Churches Trust and the people of Cromarty should take great pride in what they have achieved.

"The East Church will now be an as important part of their future as it has been in their past."

Helma Reynolds, a representative of the Friends of Cromarty East Church, said: "The community, and visitors entering it for the first time, all believe it should be conserved to continue to play a central role in Cromarty and beyond."