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Church, built on site of earlier church, and associated graveyard. The church of Cruden was built in 1776 on the site of a possibly mid 13th Century church, which was probably the successor of NK03NE0049, although there is neither a record nor tradition of this removal. A notice inside the church states 'The ancient kirk of Cruden was founded in 1012 AD by Malcolm II and is mentioned in a Papal Bull of Pope Adrian IV'. In 1256 it appears as a prebend of the cathedral of St Machars in Aberdeen. Parts of the walls of the old church have been built into the window arches on the east side. The Dutch 16th Century church bell, a circular 12th Century font, a fragment of sacrament house and an inscribed stone are on display inside the church. The Netherlandish brass, at NK 0706 3659, is described on another notice inside the church as 'The Danish Stone' and is reputed to have been sent to Scotland in the 11th Century by King Sueno of Denmark to mark the resting place of a Danish prince slain in battle. The present 18th Century church was originally a round-arched squared granite rectangle with bird-cage bellcote at the west end. Large addition in mid 19th Century with twin porches and circular conical roofed angle towers. The churchyard is a rubble walled enclosure with cast-iron gates, probably dating from 1834. Graveyard has some 17th and 18th Century gravestones. Within the graveyard and its extensions there are eight Commonwealth war graves, all but one of the First World War. The churchyard has been extended to the south (NK03NE0173).
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