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Kirktown Of Clatt, Clatt Parish Church
Burial Ground (Early Medieval), Church (18th Century), Church (6th Century), War Memorial (20th Century)
Site Name Kirktown Of Clatt, Clatt Parish Church
Classification Burial Ground (Early Medieval), Church (18th Century), Church (6th Century), War Memorial (20th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Clatt, Old Parish Church And Burial-ground; War Memorial Plaque
Canmore ID 17661
Site Number NJ52NW 23
NGR NJ 53863 25993
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/17661
- Council Aberdeenshire
- Parish Clatt
- Former Region Grampian
- Former District Gordon
- Former County Aberdeenshire
Parish Church, 1799. A harled rectangle on medieval site (with 'carved tabernacle and piscina'), crowning a knoll, lightened at the east gable by corbiesteps ascending to an angular 17th-century bellcote. Reseated, 1828. Refurbished as community facility, 2004, Morrison Ptnrs.
Taken from "Aberdeenshire: Donside and Strathbogie - An Illustrated Architectural Guide", by Ian Shepherd, 2006. Published by the Rutland Press http://www.rias.org.uk
NJ52NW 23 53863 25993
For Pictish symbol stone built into kirkyard wall, see NJ52NW 7.
For adjacent manse, see NJ52NW 45.
The parish church of Clatt stands upon the site of its mediaeval predecessor. Hay (1957) notes that it was rebuilt in 1799 incorporating many mediaeval fragments and a belfry of 1640; it was repaired in 1828 and 1866.
The Archaeological Review (Anon 1889) records that during excavations for alterations a baptismal font was found (now in the kirkyard); a stone with a rectilinear figure cut about 2 1/2 inches deep, and a stone shaped to receive the terminal of a reredos. The latter authority gives its dedication as St Juliands but Scott (1918) gives it as St Moluag and Jervise (1875-9) as St Moloch. Forbes (1872) gives this saint as Molocus or Muluoc, the honorific form of the St Luag given as the dedication by Hew Scott (1915-61).
A Jervise 1875-9; G Hay 1957; Anon 1889; A B Scott 1918; A P Forbes 1872; H Scott et al 1915-61.
(Aberdeen, Mar). The church was confirmed to the bishop of Aberdeen in 1157, along with authority to erect his chapter. By 1256 the church with all its fruits had been erected into a prebend of Aberdeen, with which both parsonage and vicarage teinds remained, while a vicar pensioner served the parish.
I B Cowan 1967.
The parish church of Clatt, as described. No further information regarding the original church or its dedication. The font, previously in the kirkyard, is possibly the one in present use in the church.
Visited by OS (RL) 18 September 1967.
Obscured by moss.
Visited by GRC/AAS, 13 February 1981.
NMRS, MS/712/19.
The parish church overlooks the village of Clatt from an elevated position on the edge of a river terrace. The ground falls away from the kirkyard on the W, S and E, and the slope on the S drops down towards the Gadie Burn. The original kirkyard, which is enclosed by a coped wall of mortared rubble, is roughly 'D' shaped on plan, but a modern extension occupies the slope to the E. A Pictish symbol stone (NJ52NW 7) is built into the base of the outer face of this wall some 10m S of the W gate.
The church, which is no longer in regular use, is a long, narrow building, measuring 18.9m from E to W by 7m transversely over walls that are largely obscured by harling. The building is also tall for its breadth, with crow-stepped gables at either end. The W gable is surmounted by a fleur-de-lys finial, while the E gable has a 17th-century bellcote. Three of the skewputs are of a similar hollow-moulded design, that on the SE also bearing a shield and the initials AS in low relief, possibly for the pre-Reformation parson of Clatt, Alexander Spittal. The NW skewput, however, is of a slightly different pattern, and bears the incised letters IT. There are no openings in the N wall, and the interior is lit by a series of round-headed windows in the other walls. Two large windows pierce the W gable, and another two the S wall, while there is also one small window at the E end of the S wall, and another in the E gable. The sole entrance is a round-headed doorway in the E gable and bears the date 1886 on its keystone. The building has evidently been raised to accommodate the larger windows, and a faint scar can be seen in the harling immediately above the level at which the arches of the windows spring, extending from the W window to the E gable. Here, at a height of about 3.7m above the ground, the SE quoins change from weathered blocks of sandstone below to sharp-edged blocks with well-defined hammer-dressing above. This is also apparent in the quoins of the NE corner.
The S wall incorporates two earlier fragments. The first, immediately below the small window at the E end of the S wall, is a block 0.6m long by 0.3m deep, into which an irregular four-sided recess has been cut. The recess measures 0.24m by 0.22m, and up to 0.09m in depth. Above this same window a rather crudely incised armorial panel can be seen. Measuring about 0.35m in height by 0.2m in breadth, it bears a shield, now illegible, below the letters AD. The font noted by Jervise is evidently that visible inside the church, set on a modern pedestal, and fitted with a brass bowl.
The monuments within the burial-ground are predominantly 19th- and early 20th- century headstones, but there are numerous ledger stones, at least eleven of which are of 18th-century date, three of them of 'Rathmuriel' type. The oldest stones noted are two 17th-century slabs immediately E of the E gable, one bearing the date 1688. In the SE corner of the kirkyard an obelisk crowns a low mound covering a 19th-century burial-vault; the vault is entered from outside the kirkyard by a flight of steps.
Visited by RCAHMS (IF), 12 July 1996.
Watching Brief (August 2002 - May 2003)
NJ 5386 2599 A watching brief was undertaken during the excavation of new drainage pipe trenches to a depth of 0.5m along the N, E and W sides of the church. Of the features recorded, few were of great significance, although a protruding foundation course was noted at the NE corner of the structure. A masonry footing, perhaps for a burial enclosure, was located, extending S from the SW corner of the church.
The survey of the standing masonry, revealed during the stripping of limited areas of exterior harl, did not permit a general assessment of the evolution of the existing building. However, a number of reused carved or inscribed stones were recorded within the areas stripped, some of which may derive from predecessor structures on the site. The remains of a window on the S elevation, bearing its dated lintel of 1778, are clearly in situ and previously unrecorded. The documented rebuilding of the church in the 1790s therefore cannot have involved a complete reconstruction of the previous structure on the site.
Archive to be deposited in the NMRS.
Sponsor: Gordon Enterprise Trust.
K Macfadyen 2003
