Inverness

Click on this lettering to take you to a Walk in Inverness

INVERNESS, recently made the city of Inverness and dubbed capital of the Highlands of Scotland, is a mostly Victorian town with a few old and interesting buildings in the centre:

INVERNESS CASTLE dominates the centre of the town with a commanding position on Castle hill overlooking the River Ness. There has been a castle on this site for 800 years but the present castle is early Victorian. Currently the castle is used for the Sheriff Court but one part, the Round Tower, houses an exhibition and enactment of the life in the castle garrison in the 1700s at the time of the Battle of Culloden.

INVERNESS TOWN HOUSE at the corner of Castle Street and Bridge Street is a Victorian Gothic building. Inside, the Council Chamber was, in 1921, the site of the only Cabinet meeting outside London .

ABERTARFF HOUSE on Church Street, built in 1593, is the oldest Inverness building with its crow-stepped gables and corbelled tower. It is now a small gallery with paintings and gifts.

OLD HIGH CHURCH further down Church Street was rebuilt on the site of a 12th century church in the 1770s. Marks on the outside walls are said to be from bullets used to shoot Jacobite prisoners after the Battle of Culloden.

Next door is the OLD GAELIC CHURCH or Greyfriars Free Church which now houses a good second-hand bookshop and cafe.

Across the road is DUNBAR’S HOSPITAL, built in 1668 as a poor hospital and named after the then Provost Alexander Dunbar, but used in the 1700s as the Grammar school.

ST ANDREW’S CATHEDRAL is on the opposite side of the river Ness from the castle and was built in the 1860s in Victorian Gothic Revival style. It was originally designed to have twin spires but these were never built.

Near the Cathedral is EDEN COURT THEATRE, which is about the best modern building in Inverness. It features a hexagonal design theme and the use of much smoked glass and is currently undergoing a major refurbishment scheme.

Send us an enquiry: jacqi@ness.co.uk