Church of Scotland invites offers of more than £150k as Old High Church in Inverness goes back on market

Offers are once again being sought for Inverness’s oldest building after the previously-agreed sale fell through following 12 months of negotiations.

An offer for the A-listed Old High Church was accepted by the Church of Scotland in November 2023 after it was placed on the market for offers of over £150k.

But as revealed by the Inverness Courier last week, the sale fell through with the Church saying the prospective buyer had been unable to produce the funds in order to complete.

The building, which occupies a prominent city centre location overlooking the River Ness, is now being marketed with offers of more than £150k being sought.

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The sales brochure states: “The subjects are A-Listed and in addition to use as a church, it could be used, with appropriate Listed Building Approvals, as examples, crèche, day nursery, day centre, educational establishment, museum, art gallery or public library.

“It also has potential for a variety of other uses, such as a theatre, cinema or entertainment venue, hospitality and restaurant, retail space or community resource subject to obtaining appropriate consents.”

The building, which has important links with the Battle of Culloden, Highland regiments and the globally-popular historic drama series Outlander, held its last regular service in February 2022 after the Church of Scotland said it was no longer financially viable to maintain both the Old High and the B-listed St Stephen’s in the Crown neighbourhood.

The historic property dates from 1769/1772 with a late 16th century tower with lower structure dating from 14th century.

The tower houses the city (old burgh) clock and curfew bell, the latter still ringing daily under the auspices of Highland Council.

The sales brochure states: “The property presents a once in a lifetime purchase opportunity for the right buyer.”

Several offers were received when it was previously placed on the market.

They included a bid by the Friends of the Old High Church which felt the building had potential as a multi-use space for community events, as well as a hub for multi-cultural entertainment, educational, social and tourism activity and had set up a crowdfunding campaign.

When news emerged last week that the sale had fallen through, Thomas Prag, a member of the Friends group, speculated there might be a second chance for a community buyout.

He said there was a sense of extreme frustration that after months of negotiations the sale had not been completed.

He also said that during that time the church had been unloved and unused while the local session had to go on paying out for insurance on the building.

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