Thurso - Old St Peter's Kirk

Thurso is a town and former burgh on the north coast of Scotland. It is the northernmost town on the island of Great Britain.

The settlement, from which Thurso developed, was founded by Vikings around the year 1000 AD due to its favourable location as the northernmost Scottish port on the main British island opposite Norway, Orkney and Shetland. In 1266, Viking rule, which was centred on the Orkney Islands, came to an end. Until the 18th century, Thurso was an important harbour for traffic in the North Sea.

This is a ruined parish church that dates to at least 1125. It was erected on a place that may have been in a religious use already earlier. Two Viking stones covered with runes and dated to around 1100 where found here, one was a cross. At one time was the principal church for the county, administered by the Bishops of Caithness. Old St Peter's, enlarged later and rebuilt in cruciform and in the pointed style, was closed to worship in 1832 when a replacement church was built for the parish.