Aberdeen, 'snow Church'

NJ90NW 14 93899 07998

(NJ 9390 0800) Snow Church (NR) (site of)

OS 1:10,000 map, (1974).

The site of the Church of St Mary and Nives, founded in 1497 and later known as the Snow Kirk. Disused from the Reformation, the church was demolished in 1640 and the burial ground brought under cultivation. The actual shape of the church, with apsidal east end, is outlined by modern walls which enclose a small Roman Catholic burial ground containing a notable slab of 1600 among other indecipherable stones.

The early 16th century gateway of the churchyard survives, built up, in the garden wall of 19 College Bounds (NJ 9392 0794). Above the arch are the arms of the founder, Bishop Elphinstone.

Name Book 1866; J Milne 1911; HBD No.136, 299.

Visited by OS (JLD) 12 September 1952.

It is unlikely that the ground-plan of the Church of St Mary and Nives, which was founded in 1497, later known as the Snow Kirk, and demolished in 1640, is accurately reflected in the shape of the present Roman Catholic burial-ground. The boundary wall of the burial-ground appears to be entirely modern and the enclosure is probably too broad too signal the original breadth of the church.

The early 16th-century gateway of the churchyard is still visible in the garden wall of 19 College Bounds (NJ 9392 0794).

Visited by RCAHMS (JRS), 20 May 2002.

EXTERNAL REFERENCE:

Information available at Aberdeen Public Library, Reference department, in Fraser's Historical Aberdeen.