Medieval kirk set to keep protected status

Old St Peter's Kirk is also protected as a scheduled monument

A ruined medieval church in Thurso looks set to retain its conservation area protection.

Highland Council plans to revise the boundaries of the area, designed to help preserve historically and architecturally important properties.

The local authority had proposed removing the designation from the oldest part of Thurso - including Old St Peter's Kirk - because so few structures of historic significance survive.

Councillors at a meeting on Monday agreed to go ahead with the proposals, but have recommended retaining the protection for the church.

The plans will be discussed again at a meeting of Highland Council's economy and infrastructure committee in November.

Parts of Old St Peter's Kirk date back to the 12th Century and it is the earliest Christian building in Thurso.

It also has protection as a scheduled monument.

Another historic building in the oldest part of the town is The Turnpike, a two-storey property built in 1686 and believed to have started out as the home of a merchant.

Painter LS Lowry - famed for his matchstick figure art of industrial landscapes - made sketches of The Turnpike in the 1930s.