Historic 286-year-old Scottish church on North Coast 500 route hits the market

The church, in the scenic village of Reay, is nestled about 12 miles west of Thurso and lies on the North Coast 500 tourist route.

The A-listed building is believed to date from around 1739 and has distinctive white walls, a traditional T-plan layout and a handsome square bell tower.

The Reay Church congregation has joined the new united parish of North Coast and the Flows following the church’s closure.

The Church of Scotland said it recognised the move was a “source of sadness” for the community, but that it welcomed interest from community groups who had a sustainable plan for the care of the church going forward.

There was previously interest in a community acquisition of the church last year amid uncertainty about the building’s future.

The building is now being listed for sale on the Church of Scotland website, with offers over £55,000 being sought.

Inside, the church comprises a main hall, gallery seating, kitchen and a vestry. The sale includes the land surrounding the church.

A Church of Scotland spokesman said: “Reay Church has been released for sale under the local Presbytery Mission Plan (PMP), which is aimed at ensuring that the local church is prepared to meet the challenges of Christian mission in the years ahead by having well equipped spaces in the right places.

“The Reay congregation has now joined the new united parish of North Coast and the Flows, which united on 1st April 2025 to bring together Thurso West, Halkirk and Westerdale, North Coast Parish, Altnaharra and Farr with Melness and Tongue and will continue to serve the community in the north of Caithness.

“We recognise that the closure of a building is a source of sadness for many people and we sympathise with those individuals and communities, which are seeing or have seen the closure of a much-loved building with which they may have a had a long-standing personal or family connection perhaps going back generations.

“However, the Church of Scotland has more buildings than it needs to deliver its core message of the Good News of Jesus Christ and serve its communities in a variety of practical ways, and have had to take sometimes hard decisions regarding what is best use of our resources.

“We welcome interest from any community groups which may have practical and sustainable plans for the future care of Reay Church.”

Community Land Scotland (CLS) told The Scotsman earlier this year that communities should get priority when churches go up for sale after several have been handed over to the highest bidder.

The Church of Scotland has been accused of making the purchase process unnecessarily complicated for communities.

With falling congregations and the rising costs of maintaining old buildings, the church has been selling hundreds of its buildings around the country.

Linsay Chalmers, development manager at CLS, said in April: “For generations the local communities were usually the ones who supported their local church - their families often built the churches - and the communities paid for the maintenance of the churches often for hundreds of years.

“If the community has offered a fair price for the church building, and if the community is to get a clear benefit from getting the building, then it would only seem fair that the church authorities would co-operate with the community.”