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Birnie Parish Church
Church (12th Century), Font (Medieval), War Memorial (20th Century), Bell (Medieval)
Site Name Birnie Parish Church
Classification Church (12th Century), Font (Medieval), War Memorial (20th Century), Bell (Medieval)
Alternative Name(s) Birnie Kirk; Paddockhaugh; Birnie Parish Kirk; St Brendon's Church Of Scotland; War Memorial Plaque
Canmore ID 16410
Site Number NJ25NW 1
NGR NJ 20654 58718
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/16410
- Council Moray
- Parish Birnie
- Former Region Grampian
- Former District Moray
- Former County Morayshire
NJ25NW 1.00 20654 58718
NJ25NW 1.01 20634 58737 Pictish symbol stone
NJ25NW 1.02 20637 58769 Gatepiers
NJ25NW 1.03 20647 58711 Burial Ground
NJ25NW 1.04 20652 58753 Burial Ground Extension
NJ25NW 1.05 20654 58718 Cross slab
See also NJ25NW 17.
See also NJ25NW 47 - Birnie New Cemetery
(NJ 2064 5871) Church (NAT)
(NJ 2063 5872) Sculptured Stone (NR)
OS 6" map, 1959.
Birnie parish church, consisting of a plain Norman nave chancel, of square, dressed, freestone ashlar. The architecture suggests a date late in the 12th century, but within the church is a probably earlier Norman font. The nave was shortened by a few feet when the west wall was rebuilt in 1734, the date on the belfry.
Birnie is said to have been the original seat of the Bishops of Moray (see also NJ25NW 4) and Simeon, the fourth bishop was buried here in 1184.
The church is said to have been dedicated to St Brendan, but MacDonald and Laing doubt this, although a Class I symbol stone was recovered/from the churchyard wall and a Celtic bell is preserved in the church. There are no remains of earlier structures but the oval churchyard probably preserves the outline of an early christian enclosure.
The symbol stone of granite 3 1/2' high by 2' by 2' bears the eagle and z-rod as well as a rectangular device and stands against the outside of the entrance to the churchyard. Four Class III fragments, two of them probably from the same upright cross-slab, are preserved within the church.
D MacGibbon and T Ross 1896-7; J R Allen and J Anderson 1903; A D S MacDonald and L R Laing 1973
(Presbytery of Elgin). Birnie was a commune kirk of the Cathedral of Elgin. It was dedicated to St Breandan. The 12th century Norman parish church remains still in use. It has an ancient square bell, and a Norman font of a very early type which may not unlikely have belonged to an earlier church building. In 1184, Simon, fourth Bishop of Moray, was buried in this church.
H Scott 1915-61.
Field Visit (20 May 1971)
Birnie parish church is as described. No further information regarding the dedication. The churchyard has been extened to the N but the line of the former oval churchyard wall can still be traced.
Surveyed at 1/2500.
The symbol stone stands against the W wall of the graveyard. It is badly weathered and the symbols are barely recognisable.
The Celtic bell and Norman font remain within the church but the whereabouts of the Class III fragments is not known.
Visited by OS (R L) 20 May 1971.
Field Visit (5 October 1976)
Rev Torrie, the minister of the kirk, confirmed the dedication of the church to St Brendan. The where-abouts of the Class III stones is not known, otherwise the church and symbol stone are as described.
Surveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (J B) 5 October 1976.
Publication Account (1986)
Dedicated to St Brendan and sitting on a prominent kirkyard mound, Birnie is one of the oldest places of worship in Moray. For a time before 1224, Birnie was one of the seats of the Bishops of Moray. Rectangular in plan, it has a short chancel, lit only by single lancets to north and south, but with no window to the east. The chancel is separated from the nave by a serene Romanesque arch with well preserved cushion capitals. The simple, rough font and the doorways to north and south are original; the nave was shortened (from the west) and the south windows enlarged in 1734. The restoration of1891 was by A Marshall Mackenzie. The chancel lancets contain interesting modern glass.
In the kirkyard, beside the gate to the manse, is an early Pictish stone, incised with a simple eagle and a 'notched rectangle' and Z-rod.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Grampian’, (1986).
Publication Account (1996)
Dedicated to St Brendan and sitting on a prominent kirkyard mound, Birnie is one of the oldest places of worship in Moray. For a time before 1224, Birnie was one of the seats of the Bishops of Moray. Rectangular in plan, it has a short chancel, lit only by single lancets to north and south, but with no window to the east. The chancel is separated from the nave by a serene Romanesque arch with well preserved cushion capitals. The simple, rough font and the doorways to north and south are original; the nave was shortened (from the west) and the south windows enlarged in 1734. The restoration of 1891 was by A Marshall Mackenzie. The chancel lancets contain vivid modern glass.
In the kirkyard, beside the gate to the manse, is an early Pictish stone, incised with a simple eagle and a 'notched rectangle' and Z-rod.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Aberdeen and North-East Scotland’, (1996).
Standing Building Recording (8 May 2011 - 22 May 2011)
NJ 20654 58718 A building survey of Birnie Kirk, 8–22 May 2011, clarified its complex building history and revealed more of the medieval fabric than had been anticipated, including what is possibly a blocked piscina.
Funder: National Museums Scotland
Alan Braby and Tanja Romankiewicz, 2011
Photographic Survey (2 May 2013)
Photographed on behalf of the Buildings of Scotland publications 2013-14.
