Coull Parish Church

Coull Parish Church is a Neo-Classical style church dating from 1796, although it incorporates a 17th-century gable end and birdcage belfry, and was restored in 1876. The building is rectangular in plan, with four bays, constructed from squared and tooled granite. It features semicircular-arched windows.

The west, principal elevation, is a gable end with a disused rectangular timber door centrally located, flanked by tall, narrow windows. A large oculus is set into the gable head. The gable terminates in a birdcage belfry, surmounted by a projecting cornice supporting semicircular arch pediments, ball finials to the corners, and a ball finial to the crown.

The east elevation features a small gabled porch in the centre, with paired tall, narrow windows to the gable end. An entrance is located to the left return, and the apex of the gable is finished with a ball finial. The north side elevation is a blind wall dating to the 19th century, with a single-storey, gabled boiler house abutting the west end. The south side elevation has regular fenestration with four bays.

Multi-paned, timber frame, sash and case windows are present throughout. The roof is covered in grey slates with lead flashing, and includes small gablet vents. Coped skews terminate in small skewputts.

The interior is accessed via a small porch at the east end, with double timber doors leading to the main hall. The interior features a panelled timber dado, painted plaster to the eaves, and a painted combed timber ceiling. 19th-century stained glass is located at the west end. A vestry and a disused porch are found to the rear of the nave. Interior fittings added in 1925 include pews with fitted oil lamps, an altar, elders' chairs, and an organ. The vestry to the rear contains long-handled collection boxes and lead communion tokens, likely dating to the 19th century.

The churchyard is a large rectangular area of ground situated on slightly raised ground above a river flood plain. Tombstones are inscribed with the names of local farms, including Reekitlane, Titaboutie, Lochmanse, Boghead, and Wester Coull. A square monument in the north-east corner of the churchyard is dedicated to Rev James Paterson, who died in 1789. The grave slab of James Middleton (1751), situated south of the church, is boldly carved with death motifs including an hourglass, winged angels, crossed bones, and a skull. Similar carving is found at Lumphanan and Tarland churchyards, suggesting the work of the same mason.

A morte house, dating from the mid-19th century, is a single-storey, rectangular gabled building. It is constructed from roughly tooled, squared granite and features a solid timber door with strap hinges to the centre of the west gable end. The sides and rear are partially embedded in rising ground and the roof is turfed, with coped skews to the gable ends.

A squared rubble boundary wall, roughly pointed with large, squared coping stones, encloses the site. Cylindrical, squared rubble piers with rendered conical caps mark the entrance.