Church, Kirkton Of Glenbuchat

Church, Kirkton Of Glenbuchat

This is a simple, unaltered rectangular-plan church with a 4-bay nave and no aisles. The building was originally constructed in 1629, rebuilt in 1792, and possibly incorporates fabric dating from 1473. A laird's loft was added in 1828, and gable windows may date from the same period. The church retains a gablehead belfry containing a bell dated 1643. The building measures 57 feet 4 inches by 26 feet 9 inches.

The exterior is harled with deep-set, square-headed openings and stone margins with chamfered arrises. The north elevation has concrete harl applied over blank stonework. The south elevation is symmetrical, featuring two windows to the centre with doors to the flanking bays. Each door is vertically boarded with ironwork handles and decoratively astragalled fanlights. Two diminutive rooflights sit close to the wallhead at the centre. A small flat stone, possibly intended for a sundial, projects high up at the outer left angle of this elevation.

The east and west gabled elevations each have a tall centre window. The east gable displays a stone belfry with an urn finial. The west gable bears a moulded triangular panel at its apex inscribed 'M A K 1629', commemorating Master Andrew Kerr, the minister of Glenbuchat from 1618 until 1633. The windows are timber sash and case with multi-pane glazing patterns. The roof is finished in graded grey slates with ashlar-coped skews.

The interior is a rare survival of an unaltered traditional church layout. A pulpit is positioned at the centre of the south wall, with simple fixed pews on the remaining sides. Box pews to the north incorporate communion tables, and a manse pew (also box) occupies the east. A later gallery to the east features a square marbled centre column and a panelled front bearing Lord Fife's coat of arms. The floor beneath the box pews is cobbled; elsewhere it is of dirt. Passageways are laid with Correen stone. The ceiling is of coomb form with two small rooflights to the south. The interior contains a First World War memorial from the former Free Church and a classical marble memorial to the Farquharsons of Badenyon.

The dressed stones of the doors and windows on the south side are wrought in yellow Kildrummy freestone and bear rounded arrises typical of work from 1629, though the lower courses of squared rubble on the south side appear older than the rest of the fabric, suggesting reuse of earlier material during the 1792 rebuild. The irregular coving of the ceiling may conceal early construction detail; documentary sources record that in the late 18th century the church was covered in heather with exposed roof couples, suggesting structural work during the 1792 reconstruction.

The 1643 bell was cast by Peter Jansen, a Dutch bellfounder. The bellcote was repositioned from the west gable in or around 1857 by David Wood, mason of Kildrummy. The building was restored in 1964, at which time the concrete harl on the north elevation was likely applied. The building remains in ecclesiastical use, with an annual service held on the third Sunday in August. It is grouped with the Old Parish Church Graveyard and Manse.