Petty, Highland

Petty, or Pettie is a place and parish in Highland, Scotland.

The village of Petty is about 7 miles (11 km) north east of Inverness. The parishes of Petty and Bracholy, were united prior to the Reformation. The original parish church was dedicated to Saint Columba. William, Earl of Ross sacked the churches of Petty and Bracholy in 1281.

The parish church was built in 1839. This building, now known as “Old Petty Church” has been unused since around the 1950’s and has fallen into a state of disrepair. During the disruption of 1843, a majority of the congregation of “Old Petty” left the established Church of Scotland to form Petty Free Church of Scotland, with a building being erected for this purpose elsewhere in the Parish in 1847. This building, for a time known as “Petty East” and, latterly, “Petty Parish Church” changed hands between different denominations over the years and was, most recently, acquired again by the Free Church of Scotland in December 2023. It is now used by a congregation of the Free Church of Scotland under the name “Tornagrain Community Church” due to the growing new town of Tornagrain situated nearby. Currently services are held on Sunday mornings at 10am with fortnightly afternoon services also taking place. Up to date times can be found on the congregation’s website, www.tornagrainchurch.org