As we noted earlier, there is a door in the North wall of the chancel, just behind the pulpit. This leads up to the tower. Not a particularly easy ascent, but for those with a sense of adventure ... ! INDEX
T2. TOWER STEPS
Immediately inside the door there are the first steps in a steep spiral staircase. It does have a handrail. There are 52 steps to the first level.
T3. THE SPIRAL STAIR
The spiral staircase winds up inside the turret we saw earlier, in the corner between the chancel and the North transept. Here we pass the single East-facing window of the turret.
T4. FIRST FLOOR
We emerge into a large square room in the base of the tower. There is not much to see in this room apart from large solid benches along two sides. But then there is a steep ladder up to the next level ... .
T5. MORE STAIRS!
The ladder is quite stable with added side rails. The steps are well worn!
T6. THE BELL
On this next level we come to the single bell with its striking mechanism. The bell dates from 1785. At right we see an exit on the West side of the tower, leading to the outside walkway.
T7. SIGN AND EXIT DOOR
Near the bell is a sign with some advertising history of the painting of the clock faces. Given that there was 15 years between the two recorded painting events, I assume they ran out of space for the recording of more recent paintings.
T8. LITTLE LADDER
We can climb even higher, and the sloping walls indicate that we are now up inside the steeple. Here is a short flight of steps ... .
T9. BELL AND CLOCK FACES
We are now above the bell, and on a level with the clock faces. We notice that all the clocks are connected by rods to a central drive. A wooden platform allows restricted access to each of the clock faces.
T10. CLOCK FACE AND MECHANISM WM ••
The clock faces are quite large! The clock mechanism is by John Black, Aberdeen, dated 1840. It is situated right next to one of the clock faces. [Photo2 Credit: Flickr Tony Rundle]
T11. CLOCK FROM OUTSIDE
We descend a level, and make our way out through the small door to the outside walkway. Looking up we obtain a different view of the clock face, with the date 1924. There is an account of a German Luftwaffe pilot who recalled that he used the prominent Cathedral tower and spire as a marker to line up when taking aerial photographs of ships in Invergordon.
T12. EASTERN VIEW
The outside walkway encircles the tower at the base of the spire, and has a solid outer wall. There are good views in every direction. To the East we can look down over the chancel to see the graves next to the Cathedral.
T13. NORTHWEST VIEW
To the Northwest, a prominent feature is the campus of UHI, the University of the Highlands & Islands (UHI). UHI is a multi-campus university with many courses available at places to suit students, including home based on-line study.
T14. SOUTHWEST VIEW
To the Southwest there is a distant view of Dornoch Firth with hill country beyond. After enjoying the view all round the Cathedral, we go back inside and prepare to negotiate the many steps back to ground level.