Description: Fortrose is a small place - and so to be fair it's not a big surprise that the Fortrose Cathedral was one of the first things which caught my eye. You never know quite what to expect in the little villages of Scotland, and I had been through many in the weeks before I first found myself in Fortrose looking endlessly for a little highland spot to call home.
By the time I did get here - I was starting to think that there was nothing at all to distinguish one from the other. Some seemed a little busier than others, some a littler dirtier - but all in all they were beginning to blend into one big group.
When I pulled in to the high street of Fortrose I was expecting the same yet again. Not only was I expecting it, I was actively looking for what might be a good reason not to move there. Not that I had anything against this town I'd never been to - just that we had recently been burned on moving into a flat too soon before really checking the area out. It had seemed great at first sight and quickly turned into a nightmare.
So when we headed out in the afternoon to have a look at Fortrose my husband had the job of looking at the bright side - and I was to look for things which would be a downside.
So when we passed Cathedral Square with it's Cathedral ruins standing stately right in the middle - it immediately caught my eye and I had to think - 'Hm. Well - there are lots of cathedrals around Scotland.'
But that's not what I really thought - and by the time we had got out of the car, breathed in the ocean air and wandered a few minutes more around the clean little town I was already hooked. The red stone cathedral ruins in the middle of the square only cemented my feeling that this could very easily become home for me.
Perhaps my favourite thing about the cathedral ruins in Fortrose is the tranquility of it. Everyone in town seems to enjoy it, just never at the same time. And it is also pristinely kept. We have an Academy here in Fortrose, and one of the few complaints I have since I've come here is how lenient they seem to be with the students of the Academy where litter is concerned. After every lunch hour when town swarms with students the streets are likewise filled with the rubbish they couldn't bother to dispose of properly. Fortrose town keeps itself clean - the trash quickly finds it's way to the bins, but not from those who left it there.
And yet - even so, the Cathedral square never has so much as a gum wrapper on the well tended grass. It's also great to go at night when it's all lit up and in the year I've been here I've never once found it filled with kids drinking - which seems to be the case in every other town square I've been to in Britain.
It's a stunning spot - especially when the brilliant blue sky lights up behind it and the sun hits the brick turning it especially red. The cathedral itself was built around 1300 and though it is a ruin I often forget that that is the case because there's still something very 'complete' about it.
The building was effectively dismantled around the mid 1600's to use it's parts for the citadel in Inverness. It's now in two parts - separated by enough space to give the impression they were never joined at all.
It's a quiet spot you can wander, and if you can a day in the sunshine you may find it hard to leave - you'll likely be sharing the day with the local sea gulls and perhaps the occasional curious tourist. Quite literally in the middle of the town in cathedral square where you will park when you arrive - you can't possibly miss it. Also if you follow the wall around to the back of the cathedral you will find yourself at the St Andrews Church over looking the Moray Firth - another one of Fortrose's best sights.
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