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Parish church, also known as Fordoun Parish Church, designed by John Smith 1827-9. The church is large, rectangular in plan, of neo-perpendicular style with Gothic detailing, with a tall (30m high) tower at the west gable. It is built of red sandstone rubble blocks with ashlar surrounds, mouldings and buttresses, with a slate roof. The tower is of three stages with stepped diagonal buttresses, arcaded parapet, and centre and angle crocketed pinnacles. It has a 4-centre arch doorpiece at the lowest stage, traceried windows with hood-moulded clock faces over them at the second stage, tall 4 centre arched belfry openings with wood Y- tracery and ogee hoodmould top and transomed 4-centre arched windows with Y tracery. North and south elevations of the church are of five bays which are divided by tall three-stage buttresses with pinnacles. Each bay has a large pointed arch traceried window with clear glass. The east elevation has a single large round wheel window with stained glass, with a small quatrefoil window in the gablehead. A walled burial enclosure is attached to the gable. The interior has a horseshoe gallery. The church grounds are surrounded by original wall, railings and a gateway with piers, all built by the church architect John Smith, 1829. The church was built on an historic site associated with Christianity for centuries and the large surrounding graveyard contains the ruined St Palladius Chapel (NO77NW0018). It replaced two successive earlier churches on or near the same site. The New Statistical Account (1834-5) refers to church which had stood 2-300 years, measuring 100 feet long referring to a church that collapsed in 1778, replaced by a new one 1788, which itself suffered roof collapse in 1827 (when replaced by the present church), these possibly on the same site as the current building. The churchyard includes many hundreds of upright tombstones of which a high proportion are in High Victoria style. It also includes a memorial stone to the Protestant martyr Wishart. A Class II Pictish cross slab, known as the 'Fordoun Stone' (NO77NW0018), was discovered when the pulpit was being dismantled in 1787. Now housed inside the present church. A marriage stone, inscribed 'WR AR 1684', was reported lying to the left of the church entrance in May 2022, after being recently found in the close vicinity, the exact find spot is not known. The marriage stone has been removed (June 2022) and is in care of the Aberdeenshire Council Museums Service.
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Historic Environment Records (HER)