Advie, Old Parish Church

NJ13NW 1 141 352.

(NJ 1418 3530) Grave Yard (NAT)

(1st ed., 6"map shows church as a roofless oblong building, of the dimensions given by Jervise, in the NW half of the grave yard, with a small building or enclosure against outside of SW wall - ? watch-house.) OS 6"map, Morayshire, 1st ed., (1879)

Scott (H Scott 1926; 1950) states that the ruins of a church, probably dedicated to St Bride and built in 1706 (a lintel stone bears this date and the letters WG:AG), stand about 1 1/2 miles NE of Advie railway station. In 1926 he recorded that there had been a parson in 1573. Jervise (A Jervise 1879) found the building 52' long by 20' wide with walls 3' thick, the E gable being almost entire, but a correspondent to the Aberdeen Journal in 1833 recorded that the building had never been roofed. (Information from the 'Aberdeen Journal' 23 September 1833)

The ruins of a roofless watch tower stand near the SW corner of the Kirkyard dyke, according to Jervise.

A Jervise 1879; H Scott 1926; 1950; Aberdeen J Notes and Queries 1911.

The old kirk of Advie has been completely removed. The Rev. J. Grant, Cromdale, who confirmed the church's dedication to St. Bride, believes that the last traces were removed about 1900.

A lintel stone bearing the date 1706 and the initials WG:AG, is now built into the N wall of the present church of Advie (NJ 1265 3426) alongside the symbol stone (NJ13SW 2). Mr Grant believes it to have been inserted when the church was built in 1874.

No trace was seen of a watch-house in the SW corner of the kirkyard, but Jervise may have been referring to a small building built against the E wall and now used as an implement shed.

Visited by OS (W D J) 1 September 1966.

There is now no trace of the church. The grave yard has been extended and is still in use.

Visited by OS (A A) 2 March 1971.