Portsoy, Seafield Terrace, St John's Episcopal Church

NJ 58770 65930 A standing building survey was undertaken, 31 August 2017, before the church was converted to a house. St John’s church was designed by James Ross and built in 1840 at a time when the Scottish Episcopalian church was beginning to be influenced by the Oxford Movement which gave it an increased emphasis on ritual, which was reflected not only in the worship, but also in the church buildings. His son, Alexander Ross, did later work at Portsoy during the renovations of 1889. The church is a rectangular block set E/W with slight projections at the E and W gables to frame the E window and W porch respectively. The W gable which forms the entrance has been given a greater impression of height by the projecting central gable which almost gives the appearance of a tower, topped by the belfry, it bears the date 1840 in high relief. On the N and S walls, slight, gabled projections form the impression of truncated transepts. The main window in the S wall has stained glass designed and made by Powell Brothers of Leeds and erected in 1889 as a memorial to Edward Pellew Wilson who was born in Portsoy in 1803 and died in 1887 in Bahia, Salvador, his brother Fleetwood (born 1811, died 1888) and their father Alexander Wilson (born 1774, died 1817).

Archive and report: Aberdeenshire SMR

Funder: Private individual

Hilary and Charlie Murray – Murray Archaeological Services Ltd

(Source: DES, Volume 18)

OASIS ID: mas1-299953