Aberdeenshire HER - NJ54NE0003 - ST MARNOCH'S CHURCH, MARNOCH

Main Details

Primary ReferenceNJ54NE0003
NameST MARNOCH'S CHURCH, MARNOCH
NMRS Card No.NJ54NE3
NMRS Numlink17817
Site Form Standing Structure
Site Condition Complete 2
Details Graveyard, watch house and site of a church dedicated to St Marnoch, who according to traditional belief was buried here in the mid-7th century. The Ordnance Survey Name Book refers to remains in the old churchyard. OS noted in 1964 that no trace of any foundations could be found and that the remains seen in the old churchyard appeared to be part of a burial enclosure, although the Listed Building description records the remains of the east gable end of the church. The graveyard dates from the 17th century and is enclosed by ashlar coped rubble walls with ashlar gatepiers, with iron gates to north and east. There is former a watch house in the north east corner, built in 1831. The watch house is L-plan, gabled and harled with ashlar margins, grey slate roof and ashlar coped skews with some urn finials. It has a door to the east and irregular windows and ground floor level. It has vaulted cellar area, accessed via a flight of ten steps leading down. Above the entrance is a dated stone. The front wall is 1.44 m thick. The interior is now used as a store room for tools. The upper chamber, added in 1877, was formerly used as a schoolroom. In the graveyard, several notable burial enclosures can be found. The Meldrum burial aisle is dated 1699, built of Moray sandstone, possibly by John Faid. It is a freestanding ornate Baroque monument in a coped ashlar enclosure with balustrade. A portrait bust of George Meldrum stands in a scrolled niche with an angel in the soffit and marble inscribed plaque below, flanking Corinthian columns, entablature with strapwork frieze and a broken pediment with heraldic device surmounted by an urn and flanked by angels with trumpets. A condition survey in 2017 noted the that the Meldrum burial aisle was in unstable condition and in need of urgent repair. A programme of repair and stabilisation works was undertaken by Aberdeenshire Council in 2018. The Chalmers Memorial, 1707, is to Hugo Chalmers, Minister of Marnoch. The Innes of Murrayford enclosure, dated 1780, is a neo-classical, free-standing, ashlar pedimented memorial with coped ashlar enclosing walls and gatepiers. The Grant enclosure is a freestanding memorial within a granite ashlar coped enclosure with ashlar gatepiers and wrought iron gates.
Last Update03/01/2025

National Grid Reference: NJ 5950 4992


Easting: 328680, Northing: 795280

Compiler 
Date of Compilation 

Event Details


Excavations and Surveys


Artefact and Ecofact


Ecofact

Samples 
Palynology 
Ecofact Notes 

Monument Types

Monument Type 1Monument Type 2Monument Type 3OrderProbability
CHURCHYARDS  C100
GRAVEYARDS  D100
MEMORIALS  E100
WATCH-HOUSES  F100
CHURCHES SITE OFA90
ENCLOSURESBURIAL B100
AISLESBURIAL G100

Google Map for NJ54NE0003


National Status

National Status
Listed Building, Category A

Regional Status

Regional Status
Site of Regional Significance
Local Government Guardianship

Photo Details

SourceReferencePhoto TypeFilm TypeDate
RCMDP 019412-14 Air-oblique Digital 07/07/2006
GRAEX 7-16 Ground Black & White 24/07/1985

Bibliographic Detail

Bib Ref NoTitleAuthorDateOthersEditorPublishedDetailsDate MDate Y
01656Ordnance Name Book    EDINBURGHNo23(1867) 44  
01105EPITAPHS & INSCRIPTIONS,VOL 2A JERVISE1879  EDINBURGH231-5  
02283OLD STATISTICAL ACCOUNT 1799  Edinburgh(1792) 95  
02238NOTICE OF THE EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL SETTLEMENT.....AND OF RECENT EXCAVATION AT THE HA' HILLOCK. PSAS 2(1854-6) 368-72J STUART1857   369-70  
01916RELICS OF THE BODY-SNATCHERS: SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES ON MORTSAFE TACKLE, MORTSAFES, WATCH-HOUSES, AND PUBLIC VAULTS. PSAS 55, 221-9J. RITCHIE1921   228-9 1921

Location

Historic Administrative Area Name Marnoch
Positional Accuracy Centred at
Buffer Zone 1-5m
Buffer Type Bespoke
Capture Scale Unknown
Spatial Feature Type Polygon: Known Site Extent

Environment

Constraints No access.
Altitude65
Geology 
Topography Gentle slope
Aspect 1S
Aspect 2 Open
Current Land Use Ecclesiastic
Vegetation
Soil Type 
Hydrology 

Measurements

Plan 
Shape 1
Shape 2
Diameter 
Length 
Width 
Thickness 
Depth 
Area 
Height 

Historic Land Use


Period Details

PeriodOrderProbabilityRadiocarbon DatesDate BuiltDate of DestructionDate of Loss
Early Medieval (400 - 900 AD) A90    
Post-Medieval (from 1560 AD) B100    
17th Century C100    
19th Century D100    
18th Century E100    

Period Notes

Period Notes St Marnoch supposedly buried here mid 7th Century; present church built 1840; alterations and additions circa 1884. Listed 22/02/1972.

Architect Details

Architect Details James Duncan, architect circa 1884.

Maritime Archaeology

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