What’s on at Kirkmichael?
Kirkmichael – the cut-out, full-colour scale model!
The Scottish Civic Trust brought to our attention their Cut-Fold-Build initiative. For those cooped up at home and looking for something different to do, you can download one of their templates and create your own paper replica of a medieval church on Lewis or, er, Tesco’s in Dingwall (and why not)? Our ace photographer, Andrew Dowsett, responded to the challenge of making our own cut-out, full-colour scale model. He made such a superb job of it that when we put images up on Facebook, requests started coming in for a template for folk to download and have a go at themselves. So, here you go, and if you have a printer capable of printing at A3 then even better. Just download each of the two files below and you will have all the materials needed – well, please supply your own ink, thick paper, scissors and glue!
The chancel at Kirkmichael (pdf, opens in separate window)
The nave at Kirkmichael (pdf, opens in separate window)
At Last – ***Tales from Kirkmichael***
And it was worth the wait! Our wonderful new book, getting rave reviews from those who purchased it by pre-order, has arrived.
Our book launch was on a gloriously balmy Saturday evening in June, when good humour mixed with wine, soft drinks and nibbles in the Kirkmichael marquee. It is now on sale world-wide via ebay, on this ebay page. And it is available locally in the Black Isle from Rosemarkie Beach Cafe and Groam House Museum, the Emporium, Cromarty Courthouse and Hugh Miller's Museum in Cromarty, and from Highflight Books and Picaresque Books in Dingwall.
Our new book is 192 pages long, packed with stories, true and fictional, all connected with Kirkmichael. Some of the spookiest tales by Hugh Miller, the personal stories of some of the families associated with Kirkmichael and local incidents like the Resolis Riots, sprinkled with contributions from pupils of Resolis, Cromarty and Tore Primary Schools and Fortrose Academy. Plus a detailed Guide to Kirkmichael and the story of Cullicudden. The marvellous medieval ornate stones of Kirkmichael and Cullicudden in a Scottish context. And much more. It has over 200 colour photographs. Only £12.50 before postage, and all profits to maintain Kirkmichael. What's not to like?
a good read…
… is delivered!
Our new Initiative – to Repair and Re-erect broken and fallen memorials at Kirkmichael
If you can think of a snappier title for this initiative, then please let us know! This is a new approach to dealing with fallen gravestones in Highland kirkyards, and we are really hoping it will be a success. Having successfully transformed our derelict medieval kirk site and mausolea, the Trust is now turning its attention to more modern stones on the site. We are seeking small donations to spread the cost of professionally re-erecting key headstones. We are encouraging descendants and anyone interested in the heritage of graveyards to help fund erecting these stones. Some memorials have understandably been taken down by the Council for safety reasons, others just became unstable over time. But unless we come up with a mechanism to fund putting them back up, our kirkyards will become a tangled mess of fallen gravestones.
The first one we tackled wa a granite headstone that collapsed ten years ago, a memorial to Hugh McKay Munro and wife Sarah Relph or Wilson, and their children. Hugh and Sarah were the Governor and Matron of the Black Isle Combination Poorhouse in the early 1900s. We have investigated their incident-filled life story which can be found on our Story behind the Stone page. We raised more than half the cost of restoring it professionally through kind donations! We've also fixed General Fraser's massive monument, and the granite urn on David Anderson's pillar, and many many others. But there are more to do. The intention is to tackle only those where it is obvious that nothing is going to happen, stones that have already been lying in the turf for ten years or more. And it has to be professionally done. Heavy memorials can be dangerous things, and we want them to be stable, using modern fixing methods. But we think this could be the way forward to make our graveyards look respectful once again.
General Fraser's fallen monument. ***DONE***
The Poorhouse Governor's headstone. ***DONE***
Broken Roderick Fraser stone.
Granite urn to be re-attached to pillar. ***DONE***
Many northern graveyards have a plethora of tumbled memorials which are unsightly, and that certainly doesn't encourage ancestry tourism. It must be awful for descendants from abroad to find their family gravestone lying in pieces in the grass. Now they can join in with everyone else to do something about it through a small donation to a local Trust like ours at Kirkmichael! See our homepage for donations!
Our Work Parties have Resumed!
Every Saturday morning, 10-12, weather permitting, we hold workshops to keep Kirkmichael tidy, remove ivy, sow grass on bare patches and 101 other tasks. Everybody enjoys working in the wonderful atmostphere of Kirkmichael. If you would like to get involved, contact us by emailing info@kirkmichael.info or through Facebook at www.facebook/kirkmichael or simply click our direct email here.
Tales from Kirkmichael
Okay, we're not really using a gimped image of my wife's horse, but I have become kind of attached to it!
Kirkmichael Work Parties
Our real cover looks like this!