Ordiquhill Parish Church
Church (19th Century)
Site Name Ordiquhill Parish Church
Classification Church (19th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Cornhill Church
Canmore ID 17890
Site Number NJ55NE 4
NGR NJ 56455 55610
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/17890
- Council Aberdeenshire
- Parish Ordiquhill
- Former Region Grampian
- Former District Banff And Buchan
- Former County Banffshire
NJ55NE 4 56455 55610
(NJ 5646 5559) Church (NAT) on Supposed Site of (NAT) St Mary's Chapel (NR)
OS 6" map, Banffshire, 2nd ed., (1904)
St Mary's Church: No trace exists of the Old Church of Ordiquihill. There is every reason to believe it was a building of the most primitive description, and that it existed from pre-Reformation times till it was demolished to make way for the present building in 1805.
W Cramond 1886.
There is no local knowledge of the original building and the records of the parish are kept at Edinburgh. The older gravestones in the churchyard are mostly middle 18th century with the exception of the family tomb of the 'Gordons of Park' erected by Sir John Gordon in 1665. Present church still in use.
Visited by OS (JTT) 17 September 1964.
No change.
Visited by OS (RL) 16 January 1964.
Rectangular-squared plan, 2-storey, piend-roofed church with gable to S; single storey, gabled vestry addition to N. Harled with ashlar margins.
The Kirk Session Records document approval of the plans for a new church to hold 500-600 persons in June 1805, and the specification that the plan be made squarer. The rebuild was sponsored by Lachlan Gordon of Park. Records also refer to repairs to the church and apportioning of sittings in 1862; this suggests a remodelling of the interior. A new Manse was built in 1867, funded by Major Duff of Park; currently known as Wetherhill House. Ordiquhill Church is similar to Kildrummy Parish Church, Aberdeenshire, which is also unusually square in plan. (Historic Scotland)
