The Collegiate Church of St Duthac

The collegiate church is one of the finest medieval buildings in the Highlands. Its atmospheric interior has many interesting features which help to unlock the story of its past. It was skilfully restored in the 19th century, when the stunning stained glass windows were installed.

The church was built between about 1370 and 1460 to house the shrine of St Duthac, an early medieval saint who was born in Tain. Although little known today he was once a popular figure to whom many churches and altars were dedicated, particularly in northern and north-eastern Scotland. By the late middle ages his shrine in Tain was one of the most popular places of pilgrimage in Scotland. Around the shrine was a sanctuary under the protection of the church, which extended to about 12 square miles and was known as the Girth of Tain.

In 1306, Robert the Bruce's family sought sanctuary in the Girth of Tain but were captured by William, Earl of Ross, and handed over to the English. In 1321, as an act of atonement, William set up endowments for six chaplains to say masses for the souls of those who had been executed as a result of the capture. A number of other endowments followed, and soon the earlier church, which can be seen as a roofless ruin in the churchyard, was outgrown and work on the new and much larger church began.

The peak of the shrine's popularity came around 1500 with the repeated visits of James IV, who had both religious and political reasons for making the long and arduous journey to the north. He made many offerings to the shrine, including on one particularly thrifty occasion some broken silver plates for the adornment of St Duthac's relics.

After the Reformation in 1560 the building became the parish church of Tain. The saying of masses ceased, the trappings of pilgrimage were removed and a fine pulpit was installed. As the population grew a number of lofts were built with external staircases and entrances through the windows. The front of the 17th century guilds' loft can still be seen: this is a rare survival.

In 1815 the collegiate church was abandoned when a new parish church was built. By the 1870s it was in a sad state of decay and money was raised for its restoration, which left it much as it is today. The work was carefully planned by architect Robert Matheson, a native of Tain, to restore the building as far as possible to its original form. The beautiful stained glass windows were the work of James Ballantine of Edinburgh.

As well as being appreciated by thousands of visitors each year, the church houses the town's war memorial and is opened every year for the Armistice Day parade.

The church is also occasionally used for concerts, weddings and temporary exhibitions.The picture on the left is of the recent Pipes and Fiddles Concert and on the right of the Tain Through the War Years exhibition.