Lives of the First World War

Kinneddar, Old Parish Church And Burial-Ground, Lossiemouth, Morayshire. - The modern day sign on the outside of this ancient site reads "Kinneddar - Celtic for Headland between two waters (Moray Firth and Spynie Sealoch). One of the most important sites in the North since St.Gerardine built his wooden oratory here in the 10th century. There was a flourishing school of Pictish stone sculpture here in the 8th century - examples can be seen in the Elgin and Edinburgh Museums. Later a stone church in cruciform design was built in the middle of this kirkyard, and a stone castle replaced the earlier wooden fort adjacent to it. This may have been used by King Macbeth in defence against Viking attack. The foundations of the stone castle are still to be found under the north wall of the cemetery. At the end of the 12th century, the Bishop of Moray had his seat here, therefore, Kinneddar was the Cathedral before Spynie or Elgin. Whe the Bishop moved to Spynie, Kinneddar started to lose influence, and the cathedral became derelict after the Reformation. Even as a ruin it was used as a place of worship until 1679 when Drainie Parish Church (now in the RAF base) was built. The great tower of the castle was used as the church belfry

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