Measured Survey
Date 26 October 2017
Event ID 1038518
Category Recording
Type Measured Survey
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1038518
NO 674 923 (NO69SE 21) A visit was made to the village of Strachan on 26 October 2017 with a view of updating/adding a number of sites to the NRHE.
NO 67379 92264 – Parish church (NO69SE 5) originally belonged to the Archdeacon of Brechin, dedicated to the Virgin Mary in 1242 and rebuilt in 1790. It is shown towards the N side of the churchyard on the 1st Edition OS map of 1868. It was aligned ENE/WSW with steps on the N side, and
probably had its main entrance to the W. It may have had a smaller entrance on its E side and possibly an outside stair on the N side. The current churchyard wall encompasses part of the church fabric, c16.6m in length, with the remains of a plaster wall on the S side and corner of the church. There was a trace of a doorway to NE corner of churchyard. The graveyard contains a mixture of headstones, obelisks, tablestones and pedestal monuments dating from the 1800s to the 1930s. Information from a local person indicated that last burial occurred in 1969.
NO 67457 92281 – Two buildings, one of which may be a former session house, are located to the E, outside the churchyard. Both buildings are shown on the 1st Edition OS map of 1868, the S building being later altered. Both buildings were occupied till after WW2, with the S building being
ruined by fire in the 1950s, whilst the other (former session house) was occupied by a shoemaker (information from farmer of Bowbutts Farm). There were traces of fireplaces in both buildings.
NO 67426 92319 – Parish church (NO69SE 5) of 1865–66. Noted by Scottish Church Heritage Research in 2011 as undergoing conversion into a house, the building work is still ongoing. Built into boundary wall to S is a well (NO 67438 92300), forming a square plinth over former basin inscribed
as follows: 1866 In Remembrance of William Burnett Ramsay of Banchory Lodge. “Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” “For the Lamb which is the midst of the throne shall free them,
and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” Both epitaph’s are damaged and worn by weathering.
NO 67400 92266 – The site of a former school shown on 1st Edition OS map of 1868 as consisting of three compartments located to the W of the churchyard. The traces of two windows and a door on the street frontage were noted during the 2017 visit. The school extends on its E side over the line of the W boundary of the churchyard. It consists of two compartments with two cast-iron columns to the front, and is overgrown with trees.
Archive: NRHE (intended)
Ken Cooper and Stuart Farrell
(Source: DES, Volume 18)
