A SCOTTISH church with links to Culloden and the historic drama Outlander is for sale again after a buyer failed to produce funds.
The historic building is credited at Inverness' oldest and an offer of more than £150,000 for the A-listed church was accepted in November 2023.
However, the Church of Scotland has said the buyer failed to produce the amount offered and the sale has fallen through.
The Old High St Stephen’s dates from 1769/1772 and has a tower structure dating from the 14th century.
The church also held government supporters in the tower when Bonnie Prince Charlie's Jacobite supporters took over Inverness in 1746.
When the Jacobites were defeated at Culloden, the Duke of Cumberland, the leader of the government troops, released the government and replaced them with captured soldiers.
After the defeat at Culloden, the government prisoners were released and Jacobite soldiers were instead imprisoned.
They were later executed in the churchyard.
A spokesman for the Church of Scotland said: “Unfortunately, after 12 months of negotiations, the prospective buyer has been unable to produce the funds in order to complete the purchase of the Old High Church.
“Missives were concluded with a contractual date of entry of 1st November 2024.
“The purchaser failed to complete on schedule and is now in breach of the missives.”
The prospective buyer, who wished to remain anonymous, admitted: “I am afraid I was unable to get the church insured so we have fallen into breach.
“It is a grade A-listing and we could not operate without valid insurance.
“It is not something I had considered to be a problem when I offered to purchase it last year.”
Thomas Prag, a member of the Friends group, shared his disappointment, said: “The church has sat there unloved and unused while the local session had to go on paying out for insurance on the building.
“I would like the community to review what it would like to happen to this building. It is an important building in Inverness. It is the early part of Inverness’s story.
“It needs looking after and it needs a new lease of life.”
