Tain Through Time
Experience over a thousand years of history in one small churchyard!
Visit the oldest Royal Burgh in Scotland! Tain is located on the East Coast and has stood (for centuries) between the heather and the sea. We caught up with Jason from Tain Through Time to find out more about this historic town.
From the Bronze Age Ardjachie stone with its Pictish carvings to the three mysterious Viking burials, walk in the footsteps of Scotland’s medieval Kings to the Collegiate Church of Saint Duthac, Tain’s Pictish saint who inspired an age of Pilgrimage.
Built in the 14th century, this beautiful building once housed the relics of St. Duthac. The bones, encased in gold and silver reliquaries, were believed to have curative powers. Many pilgrims, including Kings and Queens of Scotland came to visit the shrine. In 1492 a Papal Bull confirmed the church’s change of status to a collegiate church.
Pilgrimages came to an end with the Reformation of 1560 and the collegiate church became the parish church. The relics of St. Duthac were entrusted to Alexander Ross of Balnagown for safe keeping and were never seen again. After a new parish church was built in 1815 the medieval church fell into disrepair and was restored to its present form in the 1870s.
Photo: Tain through Time
