Fearn Amenities has received a £20,000 grant to explore the potential purchase of Fearn Abbey in Easter Ross as a community asset.
Highland Council approved the funding for a feasibility study and business plan for the possible community asset transfer of the abbey from the Church of Scotland which stopped holding services in the abbey last year. The church is also keen to reduce the number of buildings in its care.
Nicknamed the Lamp of the North, the Premonstratensian Abbey of Fearn was first established either in 1221-2 or around 1227 in Edderton, on the Dornoch Firth by Fearchar, Earl of Ross. However, due to unsuitability, it was later relocated to Tarbert, now known as Fearn parish, around 1238, about 10 miles southeast of the original location. The abbey underwent reconstruction twice, from 1338 to 1372 and again in the 15th century. It was joined with the bishopric of Ross in 1609.
