Religious sites in United Kingdom
Fearn Abbey
Fearn Abbey has its origins in one of Scotland"s oldest pre-Reformation church buildings. The original Fearn Abbey was established in either 1221 or 1227 by Premonstratensian canons from Whithorn Priory. Originally founded at 'Old Fearn' near Edderton, it was moved by 1238 to 'New Fearn' further east, perhaps to take advantage of better agricultural lands. The Abbey was rebuilt between 1338 and 13 ...
Founded: 1238 |
Location:
Fearn, United Kingdom
Eilean Mor
Eilean Mor, ‘the big isle’ at the south end of Loch Sween, has three ancient monuments – a cave, a chapel and a cross. Together, they tell the story of Christianity in this corner of Scotland. The cave is known as St Cormac’s Cave, after the Irish saint Cormaig, legendary founder of nearby Keills Chapel, who is reputed to have used the cave as his hermitage, or retreat. It is now entered through a fissure in the ...
Founded: 700-1300 AD |
Location:
Argyll and Bute, United Kingdom
St Giles' Cathedral
A parish church was established in Edinburgh as early as 854. This first church, a modest affair, was probably in use for several centuries before a new one was founded in the 1120s. The 12th-century church was part of an effort of the Scottish royal family, especially David I (1124-1153), to spread Catholic worship throughout the Scottish lowlands. This church was probably quite small, Norman (Romanesque) in style, like ...
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Town Church
Originally known as Sancti Petri de Portu, many regard the Town Church as the Cathedral Church and the finest in the Channel Islands. The first mention of the church in official documents was in 1048 when it is thought to have been given to the Abbot of Marmoutier by William of Normandy. It is likely that the original building was made of wood. The current building was built over a 200 year period with the chancel complet ...
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Guernsey, United Kingdom
St. Magnus Cathedral
St. Magnus Cathedral was founded as a final resting place for the relics of St. Magnus. Work on its construction started in 1137. The Cathedral"s founder was Earl Rognvald who supervised the earliest stages of the building during the bishopric of William the Old of Orkney (1102-1168). Between 1154 and 1472, Orkney was ecclesiastically under the Norwegian archbishop of Nidaros (Trondheim) and after that it became par ...
Founded: 1137 |
Location:
Kirkwall, United Kingdom
Iona Abbey
Iona Abbey is one of the oldest and most important religious centres in Western Europe. The abbey was a focal point for the spread of Christianity throughout Scotland and marks the foundation of a monastic community by St. Columba, when Iona was part of the Kingdom of Dál Riata. In 563, Columba came to Iona from Ireland with twelve companions, and founded a monastery. It developed as an influential centre for the ...
Founded: 563 AD |
Location:
Isle of Iona, United Kingdom
St Machar's Cathedral
St. Machar is said to have been a companion of St. Columba on his journey to Iona. A fourteenth-century legend tells how God told Machar to establish a church where a river bends into the shape of a bishop"s crosier before flowing into the sea. The River Don bends in this way just below where the Cathedral now stands. According to legend, St Machar founded a site of worship in Old Aberdeen in about 580. Macha ...
Founded: 14th century |
Location:
Aberdeen, United Kingdom
Inverness Cathedral
Inverness Cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Moray, Ross and Caithness, ordinary of the Diocese of Moray, Ross and Caithness. The cathedral is the northernmost cathedral in mainland Britain and was the first new cathedral to be completed in Great Britain since the Reformation. Bishop Robert Eden decided that the Cathedral for the united Diocese of Moray, Ross and Caithness should be in Inverness. The foundation stone ...
Founded: 1866-1869 |
Location:
Inverness, United Kingdom
Arbroath Abbey
Arbroath Abbey was founded in 1178 by King William the Lion for a group of Tironensian Benedictine monks from Kelso Abbey. It was consecrated in 1197 with a dedication to the deceased Saint Thomas Becket, whom the king had met at the English court. It was William"s only personal foundation — he was buried before the high altar of the church in 1214. The Abbey, which was the richest in Scotland, is most fa ...
Founded: 1178 |
Location:
Arbroath, United Kingdom
Castel Church
Pagans, Pirates and Romans have all been linked with the site now occupied by Castel Church. Outside the main door can be seen the Neolithic Statue Menhir found under the floor of the church during the 19th century. At its foot lie the stone seats for the official of the medieval court of Fief St Michel. The church of ‘Our Lady of Deliverance’ to use its ancient title, was first mentioned in a papal document d ...
Founded: 1155 |
Location:
Guernsey, United Kingdom
Forest Church
Ste Marguerite de la Foret (Forest church) is the smallest parish church in Guernsey. It was built in two stages with the nave, chancel and the centrally positioned tower in the 13th century and additions in the 15th century. Interestingly it has two entrances, one originally for men and the other for women. All now enter by the north door. Its walls feature massive stones which were once part of a dolmen. The Church orig ...
Founded: 13th century |
Location:
Guernsey, United Kingdom
St. Helier Church
St Helier's Church, known as the Town Church, is one of the 12 parish churches of Jersey. Helier was a Belgian saint who lived as a hermit on an islet in St Aubin's Bay, about three quarters of a mile off the south coast of Jersey. In AD 555 he was killed by pirates, beheaded by their leader who feared his men would be converted by Helier's preaching. In consequence Helier soon came to be venerated by the Islanders, and e ...
Founded: 11th century |
Location:
Jersey, United Kingdom
Little Chapel
The Little Chapel created in July 1914 by Brother Déodat. He planned to create a miniature version of the grotto and basilica at Lourdes, the Rosary Basilica. It has been said that it is the smallest functioning chapel in Europe, if not the world, and it is believed to be the world’s smallest consecrated church. The chapel was originally 9 feet long by 4.5 feet wide. After taking criticism from other brother ...
Founded: 1914 |
Location:
Guernsey, United Kingdom
Saint Thomas Church
Saint Thomas Church is the largest church in the Channel Islands, and first opened its doors in 1885.
Founded: 1885 |
Location:
Jersey, United Kingdom
St. Clement Parish Church
The Parish Church of St Clement"s origins lie with a privately owned wooded chapel which is thought to have been destroyed during the Norman raids. Construction of the stone church began around the year 911, starting with a chapel which is now the nave. The church became a parish church no later than 1067, because it is known that Duke William II of Normandy granted half the tithes of the church to the Abbey of Monti ...
Founded: 911 AD |
Location:
Jersey, United Kingdom
Brechin Cathedral
Brechin Cathedral dates from the 13th century. Immediately adjoining the cathedral to the southwest stands the Round Tower, built about 1000 A.D. The western gable with its flamboyant window, Gothicdoor and massive square tower, parts of the (much truncated) choir, and the nave pillars and clerestory are all that is left of the original edifice. The modern stained glass in the chancel is reckoned amongst the fine ...
Founded: 13th century |
Location:
Brechin, United Kingdom
Lady Kirk
The Lady Kirk at Pierowall is one of two ruined churches on the island of Westray. It was built in 1674, on the foundations of the 13th-century church. The church is mostly complete with the exception of the roof. Many of the walls stand to a high height, but some of it is 17th century built on the foundations of an earlier church. The south wall of the nave is largely from the original church. The nave altogether is rec ...
Founded: 1674 |
Location:
Orkney, United Kingdom
Rosslyn Chapel
Rosslyn Chapel was founded on a small hill above Roslin Glen in the mid-15th century. The chapel was founded by William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness of the Scoto-Norman Sinclair family. After the Scottish Reformation (1560), Roman Catholic worship in the chapel was brought to an end, although the Sinclair family continued to be Roman Catholics until the early 18th century. From that time the chapel was closed to ...
Founded: 15th century |
Location:
Roslin, United Kingdom
St. Saviour's Church
St. Saviour"s is the largest of the Guernsey country churches and stands at the top of a valley overlooking the reservoir. Part of this impressive church was built in the 12th century but most of it dates to the 14th and 15th centuries. It took five months to construct and was dedicated and consecrated on 30 May 1154. However, the first mention of St Saviour"s Church is in a charter from about 1030. On Sunday ...
Founded: 1154 |
Location:
Guernsey, United Kingdom
Holyrood Abbey Ruins
Holyrood Abbey was founded in 1128 by King David I. The original abbey church of Holyrood was largely reconstructed between 1195 and 1230. The completed building consisted of a six-bay aisled choir, three-bay transepts with a central tower above, and an eight-bay aisled nave with twin towers at its west front. During the 15th century, the abbey guesthouse was developed into a royal residence, and after the Scottish Reform ...
Founded: 1128 |
Location:
Edinburgh, United Kingdom