Documents

Where documents include maps, the use of this data is subject to terms and conditions (https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/termsandconditions).

The legal document available for download below constitutes the formal designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The additional details provided on this page are provided for information purposes only and do not form part of the designation. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within this additional information.

• Type

  Legal Documents

  Title

  SM2781_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600008943)

Summary

Description

The monument comprises the old graveyard surrounding Birnie Parish Kirk, and the deposits underlying the church building. The graveyard is already scheduled, but this proposal incorporates the symbol stone formerly scheduled separately.

Birnie Parish Kirk consists of a plain Romanesque church building with a rectangular nave, 14.45 by 7.4m overall, and a narrower rectangular chancel adding a further 5.85m to its length and separated from it internally be a rounded chancel arch. A later medieval door pierces the S wall of the chancel; and the nave appears to have been shorted slightly when the W gable was rebuilt in 1734 (the date being given on the belfry). A Celtic bell and Romanesque font are preserved inside the church.

The church is surrounded by an oval burial enclosure, extending some 50m N-S by 44m E-W. On the north the wall has been removed in order to extend the cemetery; but the line of it is indicated by a fall in the ground. A Class I symbol stone stands within the enclosure, against the W wall at its NW angle, just inside a gate leading to another cemetery extension. It is of granite, 1.07m high and some 0.6m wide and thick, tapering somewhat towards the top. On its N face it is incised with an eagle, a Z-rod and a rectangular device.

The area to be scheduled is defined on the S, E and W by the outer face of the boundary wall and on the N by the S edge of the E-W path (excluding the shed at the NE corner), and includes all the area within these limits, including the symbol stone and the archaeological remains underlying the church, but excluding the standing parts of the church (which is in ecclesiastical use). It thus comprises a roughly oval area, measuring some 51m N-S by 44m, as shown in red on the accompanying map extract.

Statement of National Importance

The monument is of national importance as an early ecclesiastical site of considerable significance, as is evidenced by the surviving archaeological features listed in the description and by the documentary record of Simeon, the fourth Bishop of Moray, having been buried there in 1184. its importance is enhanced by the existence of the Class I symbol stone, which was found at the site and hints at an earlier, possibly pagan period of religious use.

References

Bibliography

About Scheduled Monuments

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Scheduling is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for monuments and archaeological sites of national importance as set out in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.

We schedule sites and monuments that are found to be of national importance using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Scheduled monument records provide an indication of the national importance of the scheduled monument which has been identified by the description and map. The description and map (see ‘legal documents’ above) showing the scheduled area is the designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The statement of national importance and additional information provided are supplementary and provided for general information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within the statement of national importance or additional information. These records are not definitive historical or archaeological accounts or a complete description of the monument(s).

The format of scheduled monument records has changed over time. Earlier records will usually be brief. Some information will not have been recorded and the map will not be to current standards. Even if what is described and what is mapped has changed, the monument is still scheduled.

Scheduled monument consent is required to carry out certain work, including repairs, to scheduled monuments. Applications for scheduled monument consent are made to us. We are happy to discuss your proposals with you before you apply and we do not charge for advice or consent. More information about consent and how to apply for it can be found on our website at www.historicenvironment.scot.

Find out more about scheduling and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.