Auchtertool Parish Church
Church (19th Century), War Memorial (20th Century)
Site Name Auchtertool Parish Church
Classification Church (19th Century), War Memorial (20th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Auchtertool Kirk; War Memorial Window
Canmore ID 52988
Site Number NT29SW 6
NGR NT 20764 90187
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/52988
- Council Fife
- Parish Auchtertool
- Former Region Fife
- Former District Kirkcaldy
- Former County Fife
NT29SW 6.00 20764 90187
NT29SW 6.01 2074 9018 Burial Ground
NT29SW 24 20657 90201 Manse (Candleford House)
(NT 2077 9018) Church (NAT)
OS 6"map, (1920)
A church at 'Ouchtertule' is mentioned in a papal bull of 1178 granting it to the prior of Inchcolm. The present church has been rebuilt or altered at least five times. Norman stones were removed from the fabric about 1906.
W Stevenson 1908.
Church is in use for public worship. The present fabric is to all appearances modern.
Visited by OS (W D J) 11 March 1959.
See also NT29SW 31
NT29SW 6.00 20764 90187
NMRS REFERENCE:
ARCHITECT: James Gillespie Graham, 1812.
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.
