Cill Chriosd or Kilchrist meaning Christ’s Church is a ruined pre-Reformation parish church of Strathaird, Isle of Skye, Scotland. The first written record of the church located at this site is from 1505 when Kenneth Adamson succeeded John MacGillivray as chaplain. The parish was used by the community until 1840 when a new building was established in the near-by town of Broadford.
These ruins are so very quiet and calm, the only noise that one will hear is the bahs of lambs calling to their moms.
To enter the ruins, one passes through a small iron gate that is often left open, as can be seen by the neatly trimmed grass, a hallmark of the free-range sheep of the area.
The Red Hills and the sheep add a comforting and strangely desolate feeling to these ruins.
Cill Chriosd is an understated attraction, the only reason that we stumbled upon it was because we were staying just a few minutes up the road from it at Swordale House, a delightful bed and breakfast that I would recommend to anyone staying on the Isle of Skye.
While Cill Chriosd does not offer the most spectacular of ruins, it is an impressive monument to hundreds of years of religious island life. You will not have to fight the crowds to explore this wonderful site, so be sure to stop by.
Cill Chriosd is about two miles from Broadford village on the B8083 road to Elgol.
Great pictures! Really wish I would have made it to Scotland during my time abroad
Yeah, we loved it, we wished we could have stayed longer, thanks for the comment.
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My husband is from Scotland. He took me, a native Texan, to this church several different times when we were in Scotland. He navigated all of Scotland without a map and I’ve been trying for some time to find the exact location of this church. He passed away 3 years ago and this is where his ashes will be scattered. I cannot tell you how thrilled I was when I located your pics and realized they were “our church”. I now have the location and can plan my next trip. Thank you so much for posting these.
I am so glad that this was helpful to you. It is a magical location and I am honored to be able to help you find your church and his final resting place.