Cupar, St Christopher's Church, Graveyard And Enclosure-wall
Burial Ground (Period Unassigned), Church (15th Century), Wall (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Cupar, St Christopher's Church, Graveyard And Enclosure-wall
Classification Burial Ground (Period Unassigned), Church (15th Century), Wall (Period Unassigned)
Alternative Name(s) Cupar, Old Church; Cupar Church And Grave Yard
Canmore ID 31407
Site Number NO31NE 2
NGR NO 3666 1527
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/31407
- Council Fife
- Parish Cupar
- Former Region Fife
- Former District North East Fife
- Former County Fife
NO31NE 2 3666 1527
For (successor and present) Cupar, Kirkgate, Old and St Michael of Tarvit Parish Church (NO 3732 1434), see NO31SE 15.
(NO 3666 1527) Cupar Church and Grave Yard (NR) (Site of)
OS 6" map, (1938)
'The parochial church of Cupar in early times stood at a considrable distance from the town, towards the north.' An entry in the Book of Paisley states that it was superseded by a new church in the town in 1415. The foundations of the old building were removed in 1759.
Statistical Account (OSA) 1795.
'This is the site of the "church or chapel of St. Christopher situated in the old cemetery of the burgh" and "called the Old Church"' (Reg Sec Sig Reg Scot 1908-).
(No. 4314 in the Register of the Privy Seal, dated 2 Dec. 1541 (Reg Sec Sig Reg Scot 1908-) has "capellania Sancti Christopheri nuncupata Antiqua Ecclesia prope burgum de Coupro in Fyffe."
RCAHMS 1933.
The site occurs in a pasture field where there is an elevation of the ground but no trace of foundations. Miss Addison-Scott of Kinloss House recalls that in 1912 a number of graves were discovered when an agricultural show pavilion was erected on the site. A stone with a carved head ornament, found in the same field, is preserved at Kinloss House Farm steading.
Visited by OS (R D L) 22 May 1964.
Publication Account (1933)
Cupar Church and Graveyard.
This is the of the "church or chapel of St. Christopher situated in the old cemetery of the burgh” and "called the Old Church" (1). "The foundations of this ancient building were removed by the present proprietor in 1759" (2).
RCAHMS 1933
(1) Reg. Sec. Sig., ii, Nos. 1510, 4314. (2) Stat.Acct., xvii, p. 140.
Publication Account (1981)
If the information in the Black Book of Paisley is correct, the second parish church of Cupar was erected in the Kirkgate in 1415. Dedicated to St. Christopher, this church apparently had a nave with clerestory, and a choir or lady chapel would probably have been formed at its eastern end ('Lamb, 1885, i, 124) Much of the church was pulled down in 1785 to make way for the present church. Only the tower remains from the fifteenth-century church, the steeple dating from the seventeenth century.
Information from ‘Historic Cupar: The Archaeological Implications of Development’ (1981).
Field Visit (1997)
NO 3666 1527 A survey and assessment of the site of this church was undertaken to assess plough damage. The site is visible as a sizeable earthwork, and a contour survey was carried out. A resistivity survey was then carried out and hand-dug trial trenches were excavated to test large geophysical anomalies.
The trenching located the N and S wall lines and the E end of the structure. The remains of an internal flagged floor surface were located only 0.3m below modern ground level. The geophysical and excavated evidence suggest a building c 6m wide by c 20m long, with either a porch or side chapel at its SW corner. Extended human burials were found to the S of the building and a possible limit to the graveyard was located some 22m to the S. The landowner has agreed to stop ploughing the site of the church and graveyard, which is in the process of being scheduled.
Sponsor: Historic Scotland
D Hall 1997
