Standing Building Recording

Date 22 May 2017 - 4 July 2017

Event ID 1037127

Category Recording

Type Standing Building Recording

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1037127

NJ 79100 64460 (NJ76SE 0002) St John’s is a small medieval parish church that continued in use after the Reformation until it was replaced in the 19th century. A programme of detailed recording was undertaken, 22 May – 4 July 2017, to record structural differences that reflect the changes of religious practice. Local tradition dates a church on this site to 1004. However, there is no reliable documentary evidence of its existence until the late 12th century.

The E end of the church, which is c8–10m long, has generally been regarded as the earliest part. It would have been the chancel of the pre-Reformation church, and a number of features can be identified. There is an aumbry in the E wall. A recess in the E end of the N wall has been

tentatively identified as a piscina, a hypothesis which may be tested when the concrete render is removed. A recess beside a door in the S wall may have held a holy water stoup. Later, the building was extended to a length of 29m externally; this longer rectangular plan is comparable to other churches in the region which had been extended in the late medieval or

post-medieval period. After the Reformation, it is probable that new doorways were made in the E and W gables and a belfry added to the W gable.

Archive: Aberdeenshire SMR

Funder: Aberdeenshire Council

Hilary and Charlie Murray - Murray Archaeological Services Ltd

(Source: DES, Volume 18)