Oldkirk, Bethelnie Old Parish Church
Burial Ground (Period Unassigned), Church (Period Unassigned), Holy Well (Period Unassigned), Mausoleum (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Oldkirk, Bethelnie Old Parish Church
Classification Burial Ground (Period Unassigned), Church (Period Unassigned), Holy Well (Period Unassigned), Mausoleum (Period Unassigned)
Alternative Name(s) Bethelnay; Meldrum Mausoleum; Meldrum, Old Parish Church; St Nathlan's Church; St Nathalan's Well; Oldkirk
Canmore ID 19121
Site Number NJ73SE 6
NGR NJ 78649 31268
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/19121
- Council Aberdeenshire
- Parish Meldrum
- Former Region Grampian
- Former District Gordon
- Former County Aberdeenshire
Meldrum Mausoleum, Bethelnie. In ruins of old parish church, dedicated to St Nathalan (parish known as Bethelnie until parish kirk moved into village in 1684), a square, rubble-built enclosure with three slits on each side, inscribed: 'Beneath this building rest the remains of many generations of Meldrums, Setons and Urquharts of Meldrum / AD 1236 to 1863'.
Taken from "Aberdeenshire: Donside and Strathbogie - An Illustrated Architectural Guide", by Ian Shepherd, 2006. Published by the Rutland Press http://www.rias.org.uk
NJ73SE 6 78649 31268
(NJ 7864 3126) Church (NR) (site of).
OS 6" map, (1959).
For present parish church of Meldrum (NJ 8130 2727), see NJ82NW 60.
For (adjacent) Oldkirk farmhouse and steading, see NJ73SE 12.
The church of Bethelnie belonged to Arbroath Abbey and was dedicated to 'St Nathlan' or Neachtan (Scott 1915-61), a 5th century saint (Scott 1918). It was the old parish church until transferred to Meldrum in 1684 (Scott 1915-61), and by 1867 there were virtually no remains (Ordnance Survey Name Book [ONB] 1867).
A B Scott 1918; H Scott et al 1915-61.
Nothing remains of the church in a disused graveyard. A plaque above the entrance to a mausoleum states that 'beneath this building rest the remains of many generations of Meldrums, Setons and Urquharts of Meldrum AD 1236 to 1863'.
Visited by OS (NKB), 3 March 1969.
Nothing is visible of the old parish church of Bethelnie. Its site lies within a rectangular, stone-walled burial-ground immediately NW of Oldkirk farmsteading (NJ73SE 12) and is now occupied by a small, mid-19th century mausoleum.
This mausoleum measures 6.43m from ENE to WSW by 6.4m transversely over random rubble walls 0.6m in thickness and 3.1m in height. The entrance (1.1m wide and 1.36m high) is in the SSE wall and retains the remains of an iron-bound wooden door. A granite plaque set into the wall above the entrance reads 'Beneath this building rest the remains of many generations of Meldrums, Setons, and Urquharts of Meldrum, AD 1236 to AD 1863'. Within the interior the walls are rendered with mortar and there is a concrete floor. With the exception of the side containing the entrance, each wall is pierced about 2.3m above the floor by a narrow slit, which splays towards the interior.
Within the overgrown burial-ground there are several 19th-century gravestones.
Visited by RCAHMS (JRS), 11 May 1999.
