Former Wick church on North Coast 500 route to go under the hammer
The substantial building – once the town's Free Church – sits on Wick's Bridge Street has been given a guide price of £115,000.
It will go up for sale in a timed online auction on Thursday.
Auctioneers from Future Property Auctions will open bidding at £107,000 as developers battle it out.
The former church has been earmarked as having 'enormous potential' for redevelopment into apartments.
The property faces onto the town's main thoroughfare to John O'Groats, which forms part of the North Coast 500.
Comprising two floors, the town centre building is said to be in excellent condition.
Pictures taken of the building's interior highlight several key features, including the stained-glass windows and a stage.
The church dates back to the 1800s and was designed by William Johnston Gray of Berwick and is Gothic in style.
The church was decommissioned as a place of worship and has since been utilised as a retail space.
Alterations have been made to the building's interior to create open plan spaces.
Most recently, the Bridge Street property has housed the town's Jack's furniture and flooring sales business.
Bidding for the Caithness property will begin at 10am on Thursday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
04-08-2025
- Times
Kate Forbes, the rising star who couldn't land the SNP leadership
E lected to Holyrood aged just 26, Kate Forbes rapidly rose through the SNP's ranks, becoming deputy first minister before her surprise announcement on Monday that she would not seek re-election and wanted to focus on her family. The MSP for Skye, Lochaber & Badenoch was appointed a government minister in 2018 and proved her capability after being named finance secretary on the eve of the Scottish budget, when a scandal forced the incumbent to step down. Forbes was one of three candidates who stood in the SNP leadership election after Nicola Sturgeon's sudden resignation in 2023. Forbes cut short her maternity leave to campaign just six months after the birth of her first child. A member of the Free Church of Scotland, her religious views caused controversy early in her leadership campaign as she said she would not have supported same sex marriage as a 'matter of conscience' if she had been an MSP when the vote was held.
The Herald Scotland
03-08-2025
- The Herald Scotland
The estate that could solve Scotland's problem with trees
The forests offer much needed shade in Greece and also allow a variety of species an environment where they can thrive. Here in Scotland it may feel like there are trees everywhere, but the exact opposite is true as it is one of the least forested countries on the planet. Just drive a small distance outside of the main population centres and you will be met with miles upon miles of bleak nothingness, apart from areas that are farmland. It comes as tree planting is seen as a key tranche in achieving net zero and with a projected housebuilding timber shortage on the horizon. But Scotland's forestry industry is facing a funding black hole of £24 million and national planting targets will not be met now for at least two years. A massive budget cut has knocked the forestry industry's confidence, potentially stalling planting projects and leading to trees being destroyed. Confor, the Confederation of Forest Industries representative body, signalled a wave of concern along the supply chain from tree nurseries to sawmills and wood-panel manufacturers. Scotland has consistently failed to meet its tree planting targets, aiming to plant amounts rising from 15,000 hectares, or 30 million trees, to now 18,000 ha each year, but the industry has faced harsh funding cuts. Rural Scots are right - maybe it is time to halt onshore windfarms Trump is right for once, it is time to drill, baby drill in the North Sea It is high time that irresponsible campervan users are taxed off the NC500 We're going to need a smaller boat: The large ferry dilemma for CalMac A 41% budget cut in 2023 was only partially restored last year by around 18% to £45m. Edinburgh-based Confor said a further £24m is needed for the target mathematics to work, but that low confidence is likely to impact new projects being brought forward. However, a 10,000-acre estate in the Highlands is a great example of what can be achieved with the proper ambition. Dundreggan rewilding centre in Glenmoriston has just been awarded special European status recognising its genetic diversity of tree species. Parts of the juniper and silver birch woodland at Trees for Life's site have been classed as Gene Conservation Units. A spokesperson for the conservation charity said the 'unusually wet location' of juniper and the 'extreme westerly location' of silver birch have helped make the tree populations unique. The classification has been awarded by the European Forest Genetic Resources Network (EUFORGEN) which is managed in the UK by nature agency Forest Research. The estate uses a 'dynamic conservation' technique to protect the trees' genetic diversity. The land is encouraged to regenerate naturally within its specific environment and weather conditions. Juniper is a slow-growing evergreen shrub or small tree, with small blue-green needles and berries that ripen to a dark, blue-purple colour. The species support biodiversity by providing shelter and food for wildlife. Juniper berries are also used to produce gin. Silver birch is a fast-growing species which spreads over open ground. The tree's roots draw up nutrients, and its leaves add richness to soil. The Gene Conservation Unit status means Dundreggan's juniper and silver birch will be monitored to ensure their survival and natural regeneration. The estate covers 10,000 acres and has so many rare species living within it that environmentalists have described it as a 'lost world'. Conservation charity Trees for Life bought the site for £1.65million which remains one of the UK's largest ever areas of land bought for forest regeneration. The former hunting estate was already home to ancient forest fragments, including outstanding areas of juniper and dwarf birch. The charity has since planted half a million trees at the site, ensuring natural regeneration of woodlands and encouraging the return of rare wildlife, plants and insects. A rare non-biting midge and several other species have since been discovered after surveys of the estate. In total, more than 3,300 species have now been recorded at the charity's forest restoration site with at least 68 of these are priority species for conservation. These include unusual species such as the strawberry spider with several never having been recorded in the UK before, or were feared extinct in Scotland. While it is relatively small in the grand scheme of things, it should be an inspiration for other land owners when it comes to rewilding land and planting forests. Scotland needs more native trees and it is baffling why such a large proportion of the country is entirely treeless. The timber industry is worth around £1billion a year to the economy but even commercial plantations barely scratch the surface of what is required. It is all well and good for ministers to set tree planting targets, but without proper funding these will never be met. Ministers should see what has been done elsewhere and replicate it at pace.
BBC News
29-07-2025
- BBC News
Council to sell historical house in Shipley Country Park at auction
A historical lodge in a country park in Derbyshire is being sold by its council owners at auction for £200, Lodge, which sits in Shipley Country Park and is owned by Derbyshire County Council, is Grade II listed and was built in 1910 by architect Walter say the building has since fallen into a state of disrepair, with calls for the two-storey sandstone property to be better protected due to its historical status. Chris Henning, an executive director at the council, said the authority was disposing of many properties and still owned 127 pieces of land and buildings. He said many of the properties and pieces of land were taken on by the council "because nobody else wanted them" and included brownfield and contaminated said Nottingham Lodge was once owned by the National Coal Board, with the country park previously being a coal mine for some 250 years until 1974, leaving 30 abandoned mine shafts on the wider site, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said. An auction listing from SDL Property Auctions details that the detached property "requires a scheme of modernisation", providing a "unique opportunity" to new of the property includes a 999-year lease, the council Lodge, a similar property also in the country park, is now operated as Barefeet Lodge Tearooms on behalf of the county Walter Tapper was an English architect who focused on Gothic-style buildings and work includes being appointed Surveyor of the Fabric of Westminster Abbey and acted as consulting architect to York Minster and Manchester Cathedral.
