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At the eastern end of the Black Isle near the village of Balblair are the remains of St Michaels Kirk or Kirkmichael, and its kirkyard. Kirkmichael sits at the junction between the minor Udale Bay shore road and the B9163.

Located at the bay, the graveyard slopes gently towards the east and covers two acres. Kirkmichael accommodated the Cullicudden parish when the two parishes combined in 1662 to form Resolis parish, the old Kirkmichael being the main parish kirk until 1767 when a new Resolis church was completed.

The western and increasingly ruinous part containing the medieval kirks nave and eastern mausoleum are largely overgrown. A bell tower and gable at the western end has also disappeared since the turn of the 20th century.

The north wall containing an arched tomb recess for a recumbent effigy, and the east gable have narrow pointed gothic windows. The central part of the "nave" re-roofed, possibly in the 19th century, was used as the family mausoleum of the Munros of Ardoch (Poyntzfield). There are other family enclosures including those of the Gordons of Ardoch, the Gordons and latterly the Shaw Mackenzies of Newhall and the Holms of Ferryton. The fine Florenc (sic) Dunbar memorial is sited to the south east of the kirk.

All these parts of the site are in desperate need of preservation. The Kirkmichael Trust was set up by locals interested in preserving the kirk and graveyard from the predations of time. The kirk however is a scheduled ancient monument and therefore "governed" by various conservation agencies. These agencies however have neither the resources nor remit to do much other than preserve the status quo. Conditions imposed by such agencies may present the largest challenge.

The trust obtained funding lately to prevent the collapse of the structures roof and nave south east corner and is also to pursuing creative solutions for the preservation of the kirk.

Kirkmichael Trust will, with the engagement of the local population, allow what is a fascinating but increasingly dangerous ruin to be sympathetically renovated with appropriate materials and methods. It is to be hoped it will provide a local point of reference again - and one which will become a highlight in the emerging heritage trail on the Black Isle.

Sadly, in early April, following a period of heavy snow, the remaining roof at Kirkmichael collapsed. The Trust is now seeking funding to assess the situation and see what further stabilisation of the the walls can be achieved.

This collapse further emphasises the need for urgency in funding bodies in progressing the Kirkmichael project. The Trust has for ten years had to battle every step of the way to get, firstly agreement to restore the building (it is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and permission to restore had to be obtained from Historic Scotland), and then to obtain funding for the works. We have secured funding from Heritage Lottery Fund to develop the costed project, and a major contribution was committed by Historic Scotland, but in late 2011 we were on the point of submitting the final part of the bid to SRDP - Rural Priorities when we were informed very belatedly that Historic Scotland and SRDP funding were incompatible. We have successfully fought against this, with Historic Scotland recently agreeing to review this policy. But at the same time SRDP - Rural Priorities has changed its view on eligibility of the building works of the project and we are now urgently seeking to get this clarified.

Against this backdrop of frustration and delay, the building has been visibly detieriorating and now the roof has collapsed. As part of the project it was always intended to remove the roof and replace, keeping what could be retained for re-use, so though distressing it is not necessarily the catastrophe it might be. But we do need to assess the situation urgently now.