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House Of Dun, Mausoleum
Church (Medieval) - (Post Medieval), Mausoleum (19th Century)
Site Name House Of Dun, Mausoleum
Classification Church (Medieval) - (Post Medieval), Mausoleum (19th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Dun, Old Parish Church; Old Churchyard Of Dun, Burial Ground
Canmore ID 35671
Site Number NO65NE 2
NGR NO 66762 59850
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/35671
- Council Angus
- Parish Dun
- Former Region Tayside
- Former District Angus
- Former County Angus
NO65NE 2.00 66762 59850
NO65NE 2.01 66764 59864 Burial Ground
(NO 6675 5985) Church (NR) (Remains of)
OS 1/10,000 map, (1972)
The remains of the former parish church, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and in use until between 1833 and 1843. By 1858 it was roofless and used as a family burial vault.
A J Warden 1880-5; Name Book 1858; New Stattistical Account (NSA) 1845.
The remains of this church have been so restored as to be almost wholly modern, bearing such additions as buttresses, pinnacles and pointed-arched windows and doors. Only the internal walls of the gables appear original. The filled-in rectilinear doorway and window in the west gable may be of 17th or 18th century date. 17th and 18th century grave-slabs were noted in the burial ground.
Visited by OS (J L D) 24 June 1958.
Architect: Robert Dalgarno 1834
EXTERNAL REFERENCE
Scottish Records Office
GD 123/423
Repair of the Church of Dun.
The midwall in the Church was taken down, the wall of the aisle heightened and storm windows put in.
1731
GD 123/426/13
Account for the repair of the Burial Place and for heightening the walls of the Quire of the Church.
It amounts to £96.3.4 (Scots)
1716
GD 123/426/14
Smith work on Church, Quire and Manse of Dun.
Discharged accounts from John Paterson, smith.
1717
GD 123/426/0-11
Rebuilding of the Quire of the Kirk and repairing of the Manse.
Receipts from Robert and James Miles for £100 (Scots) as part of Lord Dun's proportion of the cost.
1715-1716
GD 123/425
Repair of the Church and Manse.
Account of money paid by Lord Dun to Robert Milne and to his father.
1716-1717
GD 123/426/26 and 32
Expense of repair of the Quire of the Church and the Manse of Dun.
Account of disbursements by Alexander Farquhar.
Factor to Lord Dun.
They amount to £1015.17.10 (Scots)
1716-1717
GD 123/125
Repair of Church and Manse.
Accounts (2) for mason, wright, slater and glazier work from Alexander Mackett.
Account of payments made by Lord Dun for reparation of the Church and Manse and a note of proportion to be paid by other heritors.
1716-1719
GD 123/428
Account of disbursements for building the Quire [of the Church of Dun].
It amounts to £241.15.8
Unsigned
c1728
GD 123/426/36
Repair of the Church and Manse of Dun.
Observations on the accounts.
1731
GD 123/428
Account for wright and glass work for the Quire [of the Church of Dun] from Alexander Hackett, wright.
nd.
GD 123/428
Repair of the Quire of the Church of Dun and the Manse.
Comments of the accounts for the work.
Unsigned.
1728
GD1/559/1
Drawings of Tombstones; Old Dun churchyard, Angys.
1607-1799
Field Visit (April 1978)
Dun NO 667 598 NO65NE 2
The old parish church of Dun stood within its burial-ground on a steep-sided promontory on the W side of the Den of Dun. After it went out of ecclesiastical use in the mid-19th century the church was rebuilt as a mausoleum, but this evidently incorporates substantial portions of the earlier structure.
RCAHMS 1978, visited April 1978
(NSA, xi, Forfar, 126; Warden 1880-85, iii, 167)
Field Visit (1 January 2001 - 1 December 2001)
Rectangular Gothic-revival building of coursed dressed pink and blond s/stone. 2 blind pointed-arch windows on S. False buttresses at corners, battlements along wall heads. Entrance at W end.
(HOD01 147) Information from NTS (CJM) April 2014.
Standing Building Recording (1 October 2013 - 15 December 2013)
NO 66762 59850 A standing building survey was carried out, October – December 2013, of the B-listed House of Dun Mausoleum. The survey included desk-based research plus fieldwork consisting of analysis, photography and terrestrial laser scanning of the structure. The survey has identified evidence for four main phases of the building’s development:
Phase 1: Medieval (late 14th-century origins)
Phase 2: Remodelling and repair in the early 18th century
Phase 3: Conversion to a mausoleum
Phase 4: Modern maintenance and repairs
The building preserves evidence of its medieval fabric in the E elevation and parts of the N and S, with other features in the burial vaults and W gable that may be original. The documented remodelling and repairs, which took place in the early 18th century, are evident in raised walls and enlarged window apertures. The conversion to a mausoleum involved dismantling the western part of the structure, levelling and raising walls, creating an additional burial chamber and inserting barrel vaults. The vaults contain several burials of Erskine family members.
The building has several pressing conservation issues, including a cracked asbestos butterfly roof, inadequate drainage provision, inappropriate finishes and the degraded state of the burials. A report was written which provides an assessment of the assets and proposes strategies for conservation, evaluation and restoration/repair work.
C Francoz and O Lelong – Northlight Heritage
(Source: DES, Volume 16; OASIS ID: northlig1-309970)
Watching Brief (3 December 2014 - 28 January 2015)
NO 66762 59850 A watching brief was carried out, 3 December 2014 and 27–28 January 2015, during conservation work and related excavations at the House of Dun Mausoleum. Several minor findings in the roof space of the building and the discovery of a N aisle/laird’s loft to the N led to some
alterations to the previously outlined phasing of the structure.
Archive: National Record of the Historic Environment (NRHE)
Funder: The National Trust for Scotland
Peta Glew – Northlight Heritage
(Source: DES, Volume 16)
