Church closes on £1m revamp target

A MEDIEVAL church that found fame on the BBC's Restoration series is nearing its £1 million target for a facelift.

Cromarty Church, one of the few to survive the Reformation, had been in a state of deterioration for decades. But it received a boost by making it to the final of Restoration Village in 2006. It narrowly missed out on the prize of being restored. However, such was the publicity that a campaign was started to raise funds to repair the Roman Catholic church.

The campaign received £641,000 at Christmas from the Heritage Lottery Fund. This has been boosted by Historic Scotland (£340,000), the Scottish Architectural Heritage Trust (£8,000) and the Cromarty Trust (£1,500). Fundraising efforts added £6,331 and further "in-kind" contributions of £7,000 came in.

Now, the Scottish Redundant Church Trust, which is behind the project, is just £50,000 short of the £1,063,000 costs. Highland Council is to vote this week on making up the shortfall.