Auchtertool Parish Church, Churchyard
Armorial Panel (17th Century), Burial Ground (Post Medieval), Grave Slab (18th Century), Grave Slab(S) (17th Century)
Site Name Auchtertool Parish Church, Churchyard
Classification Armorial Panel (17th Century), Burial Ground (Post Medieval), Grave Slab (18th Century), Grave Slab(S) (17th Century)
Canmore ID 92637
Site Number NT29SW 6.01
NGR NT 20739 90180
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/92637
- Council Fife
- Parish Auchtertool
- Former Region Fife
- Former District Kirkcaldy
- Former County Fife
Field Visit (26 May 1925)
Tombstones, &c., at Auchtertool Church.
(1) Built into the west gable is a 17th-century armorial stone bearing a shield accompanied by the initials M. (Master) W.F. and M. (?) W. The stone is greatly weatherworn and is placed at a considerable height from the ground, so that the armorial bearings cannot be read with accuracy. The shield seems to be parted per pale. On the dexter side are what appear to be two boars' heads couped; on the sinister a tree surmounted by three bars wavy between two mullets, in chief a roundel.
(2) A sepulchral slab lying due west of the west gable of the church has an inscription illegible through weathering, and a shield bearing, within a bordure, a mullet between three boars’ heads erased. Flanking the shield are the initials E.S. The stone is dated 1656.
(3) Another similar slab has a marginal inscription: HEIR.LYIS /ANE.HONEST.MAN.CALLIT. IAM/ES. BROWNL/IE. WHA. DECESSIT. THE. LAST.DAY.OF.OCT/OBER.1604. A shield on the slab is parted per pale: dexter, on a chevron between two roses in chief and a fleur-de-lys in base, a mullet; sinister, a fess between two mullets in chief and a crescent in base. The shield is flanked by the initials LB. and B.B., and below are the initials D.B. On the lower part of the slab is a small panel with an illegible inscription, evidently not original, which probably refers to the initials M.S. above it, flanking a smith's hammer and tongs, the former emblem being placed beneath a crown and the two together forming the badge of the Hammermen's Incorporation.
(4) A third slab to the north of the last bears on the margin: HEIR. LYIS/THE. HONORABILL . DAVID . BOISV /ILLE . OF . KIR/KTOVN QVHA DECESSIT THE/4 DAY OF/IANVAR/1606. In the middle is a quartered shield bearing 1st and 4th, a lion rampant, 2nd and 3rd, on a fess three roses. Flanking the shield are the initials D.B. Below the first is a second shield bearing a double-headed eagle displayed and flanked by the initials D.B.
(5) An upright stone 3 feet 8 inches high by 2 feet broad bears a representation of Moses with the tables of stone and commemorates ‘Master James Greive’. The date is illegible but is probably in the early part of the 18th century.
(6) The most interesting slab bears in full relief the worn effigy of a cleric. On the margin is the inscription: VIR. PIVS . ET . PASTOR . FIDVS . DOC /TVSQVE . MAGISTER . DAVID . MARTINVS . CONDITVR . HIC . TVMVLO .OBIIT . 2 . SEPTEMBR(IS) . 1636 . AETATIS.SVAE. AN. 60. /QVI . FVIT. PASTOR. ECCLESIAE . HVIVS . PER . AN(NOS) . 31 (‘Here lies David Martin, a godly man, a faithful shepherd and a learned master. He died 2 September 1636 in the sixtieth year of his age. He was the pastor of this church for 31 years’). It will be noted that the first twelve words form an elegiac couplet. The slab is larger than the others, measuring 7 feet 9 inches by 3 feet 11 inches.
RCAHMS 1933, visited 26 May 1925.
Photographic Survey (1986)
Recording of gravestones in the churchyard of Auchtertool Parish Church by Mrs Betty Willsher in 1986.
