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Publication Account
Date 1987
Event ID 1016890
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016890
The church shares the brow of a hill with Dairsie Castle and overlooks Dairsie Bridge which crosses the River Eden.
The building is a peculiar hybrid of Gothic and Renaissance features. The overall form is Gothic. The simple oblong plan is divided by buttresses into bays, each containing a pointed arch window decorated with 'plate' tracery. The window-sills extend into a string course which breaks upwards at doorways. The wall and buttresses in the south-west corner support an octagonal turret surmounted by a stone spire. The Renaissance door piece, dated 1621, occupies the west end of the building. Above it a panel contains the arms and initials of Archbishop Spottiswood who built the church. Below the shield are the initials 'IS' and the text 'IEHOVAH. DILEXI. DE/COREM.DOMVS TV AE'. This is executed in metal and translates as: Jehovah, I have loved the beauty of thy house'. The existing slate roof dates from the 18th century and replaced the original flat lead roof which was contained within a small parapet It is uncertain whether the parapet supported finials over the buttresses but the composition could imply this. Rain-water from the flat roof was carried through the parapet to outlets in the form of grotesque masks. The church is now in private use.
Dairsie Castle stands about 45 m south-south-west of the church. The castle is now a ruined shell of a three-storey oblong block with two circular towers on diagonally opposite corners. The south-west tower was converted to a dovecote after the castle was ruined.
The fine medieval bridge below the church carries the initials and arms of James Beaton, Archbishop of St Andrews 1522-39, as on Guard Bridge (no. 15). The bridge is 29.5 m long and has three arches, each with four stout chamfered cut-waters, one of which is carried up as a refuge. The parapets and approach at either end have been renewed but otherwise the bridge appears to be in its original condition.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Fife and Tayside’, (1987).
