Unveiling of Wick panels to honour Celtic saints

A special event took place outside Wick Heritage Museum at which information panels on Celtic saints associated with Caithness were unveiled.

The panels identified 33 names and devised six circular routes around the county linking the sites associated with particular saints and were created for the Northern Saints Trails Group (NSTG).

Ian Leith, trustee of Wick Society (WS), did the honours of unveiling the new information boards which are mounted on a wall next to the local heritage museum in Bank Row.

Ian said: "I'm delighted to unveil the information panels and Wick Society supports having these next to the museum."

Also at the unveiling were Jane Coll and Barbara van Rooyen, trustees of the NSTG which organised the panels, Margaret Jennings, trustee of the Northern Pilgrims’ Way (NPW) group which is mentioned on the panels, and Garry Robertson who provided invaluable source material for the panels. Not present was Steven Gunn, son-in-law of Jane Coll, who fixed the panels to the wall in advance of the unveiling last Friday (September 24).

Jane said: "We have two panels here with the one on the left giving information about the Northern Saints Trails, the Northern Pilgrims’ Way and the John O'Groats Trail. The one on the right has information on several local sites around Wick related to the Celtic faith."

The unveiling event was enlivened by a comment from Garry Robertson that the information on the photo of the effigy of St Fergus was wrong. She suspects that the 14th century carving, now in St Fergus Church, was not intended to represent St Fergus at all but made to mark the grave of a monk, perhaps a high-status abbot, who was also a member of the Sinclair family, hence the heraldic lion couchant at his feet.

Jane asked: "Will the Northern Saints Trails Group have to produce a third panel with the correct history of the carving? Does anyone have any information to add to the debate?"

The NSTG was formed in 2017 to promote greater knowledge of the Celtic saints associated with Caithness. Further details can be found on the St Fergus Church website at www.wickstfergus.org.uk/page16.html and on the NPW website at www.northernpilgrimsway.co.uk. The group is now concentrating on installing information panels at other strategic points. The Wick panels were funded jointly by the Postcode Local Trust and the Greencoat Stroupster Community Fund.

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