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Airlie Parish Church

Burial Vault (17th Century), Church (Medieval) (1242), Church (17th Century) (1603), Parish Church (18th Century) (1783)

Site Name Airlie Parish Church

Classification Burial Vault (17th Century), Church (Medieval) (1242), Church (17th Century) (1603), Parish Church (18th Century) (1783)

Alternative Name(s) Kirkton Of Airlie

Canmore ID 32369

Site Number NO35SW 29

NGR NO 31323 51526

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/32369

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Administrative Areas

  • Council Angus
  • Parish Airlie
  • Former Region Tayside
  • Former District Angus
  • Former County Angus

Summary Record (13 April 2011)

C18th box church incorporating some fragments from the earlier medieval church on the site, including the statue of St John the Baptist on the north west corner and the aumbry and statue of St Mirren now held in the church. Later C19th stained glass window.

In the 1990's the interior was altered to enlcose a third of the gallery and provide an upper room for the Sunday School. The high table and pulpit were moved from the south to the east and the pews re-aligned.

Archaeology Notes

NO35SW 29.00 31323 51526

NO35SW 29.01 31295 51532 Hearse house

NO35SW 29.02 31329 51513 Churchyard

NO35SW 29.03 31307 51514 Ministers Aisle

(NO 3132 5153) The modern parish church built in 1783 on the site of its predecessor which may have been either that dedicated to St Medan by Bishop de Bernham in 1242, or another built about 1603.

The remains of the medieval church now consist of a late aumbry built into the porch of the modern church, a representation in low relief of St John the Baptist built into the west gable and various carved stones some of which are built into the wall of the "Ministers Aisle", a detached open burial place with moulded doorpiece inscribed "This burial builded by William Malcolm 1609". This may be what Wilson (1917) suggests as part of the choir of the pre-Reformation church within a few feet of the present building. A decapitated medieval figurine set into a prepared niche of the manse (NO 3136 5151) is said to represent St Medan. The earliest date noted in the graveyard is 1606.

White (NSA 1845) states that the church was dedicated to St John, but this confusion may be caused by the fact that St John was the object of special veneration to the Strathmore family who held the barony from 1458.

(A possible site of a forerunner of the medieval church is suggested by the occurrence of long cists (NO35SW 28), a holy well and a dedication to a Celtic saint (NO35SW 27) in the area NO 318 519).

A J Warden 1880-5; A Jervise 1865; H Scott et al 1915-61; W Wilson 1917 D MacGibbon and T Ross 1896-7; G Hay 1957; NSA 1845.

At NO 3130 5150 there is a rectangular compartment, 11.0m by 4.0m, sub-divided into burial vaults, with walls 1.2m high on the N and 2.0m on the S. These walls contain doorways with moulded jambs and coping stones with sundry 17th century dates and inscriptions; although parts of the walls look old, it would seem that this vault was built with stones from the old church, probably on its actual site. However the lack of ecclesiastical features, and the insertion of these moulded and inscribed stones, tends to throw doubt on these being the remains of the pre-Reformation church. Other sculptures are as described.

Visited by OS (JLD) 17 September 1958.

The "Ministers Aisle" (name verified) an open rectangular burial place situated bear the W end of the present church, measures 11.3m (NNE-SSW) by 4.7m over walls 0.8m thick. It is sub-divided by a wall 3.8m from the E end and is other-wise as described in the previous report. The aumbry, relief of St John the Baptist and the medieval figurine are well-preserved.

Burial place surveyed at 1:2500 on permatrace.

Visited by OS (TRG) 13 January 1977.

Architecture Notes

NO35SW 29.00 31323 51526

NO35SW 29.01 31295 51532 Hearse house

NO35SW 29.02 31329 51513 Churchyard

EXTERNAL REFRENCE:

Scottish Record Office:

GD/16/45/95 Repair and maintenance of Church and Manse. Receipts and accounts. 1826-1864

GD/121/3/63 Expense of building the new kirk at Airlie.

Receipt for £32 the final proportion of the expense due to Thomas Fothringham Ogilvy of Powrie for the building of a new Kirk and the repairing of the Manse. 1781

GD/121/3/78 Building of a new schoolhouse.

Account, and receipt for Thoomas Fothringham of Powrie's proportion of the cost. 1769

Activities

Note (1984)

Airlie, Parish Church and Burial-ground NO 313 515 NO35SW 29

There are no visible remains of the medieval parish church of Airlie which stood in the burial-ground at Kirkton of Airlie. The present church was built in the late 18th century with additions in 1893, replacing a church probably built about 1603; an early 17th century burial-aisle also stands in the burial-ground. A male effigy, probably medieval in date, is built on to the outer face of the W gable of the present church, and an aumbry is built into the porch on the E side of the church.

RCAHMS 1984.

(Jervise 1861, 273-4; Jervise 1864, 349-52; MacGibbon and Ross 1896-7, iii, 452-4; Wilson 1917, 193-7, 202-3; Hay 1957, 244; Cowan 1967, 4-5).

Photographic Survey (3 March 2011)

Photographed by RCAHMS for the Listed Buildings Area Survey.

Standing Building Recording (7 August 2017)

NO 31323 51526 (NO35SW 29) A Level 2 standing building survey of a Category B-listed church was undertaken, on 7 August 2017, in advance of its conversion to a private house. The church, constructed in 1783, was substantially modified in 1893, with internal refurbishment in the 1980s and 90s. Originally a simple box-plan, it was extended into a flattened

T-shape. The building incorporated medieval features including a statue of John the Baptist and a late medieval aumbry. A church is known to have been dedicated on or near the site in 1242, with nearby cist burials and a holy well suggesting an even earlier foundation was possible. External features included a weather vane dated 1783 and an inscription from 1781, as well as a free-standing burial structure known as the Ministers Aisle, which included incised stones of possible medieval origin. The building

fabric was of snecked rubble, harled over all exterior elevations, with concrete render within. The pitched roof was of grey slate.

Archive: NRHE (intended)

Funder: Private individual

Information from Chris Fyles (Alder Archaeology Ltd) 9 August 2017. OASIS ID: alderarc1-292533

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