Documents

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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

  SM352_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600003259)

Summary

Description

The monument consists of the remains of the old parish church of Fordyce, situated within the village of Fordyce. It is believed to have been dedicated to St Tarlarican who was the supposed bishop of the area in the years around AD 600. The monument was first scheduled in 1959. On that occasion only the separate elements of the ruined structure were scheduled, omitting the site of the rest of the church. The monument is being rescheduled to include areas where remains may survive but which were not included in the original scheduling.

A church was established on this site before 1272, when the church at Fordyce was held in common by the canons of Aberdeen cathedral. The parish was extensive and the churches of Cullen, Deskford and Ordiquhill were pendicles of Fordyce. The village of Fordyce was raised to burghal status by Bishop Elphinstone of Aberdeen in 1499, with the market being held in the burial ground. John Abercrombie of Glassaugh was given permission by the Kirk Session and the Earl of Findlater to build a burial place in 1679 outside the church but 'foreagainst his own seetes'. The burial aisle still appears to survive. Between 1681 and 1684 a loft was built in the steeple house with a prison below on the first floor. The church was replaced by the present parish church in 1804.

The church consists of complex group of fragmentary remains. In its final form it must have been a very substantial building. The earliest church took the form of a narrow oblong with a porch projecting from the SW corner. Only the much altered chancel and porch now survive from the medieval period.

The chancel, which contains two very fine medieval mural tombs, was divided into two burial enclosures after the reformation. The E. enclosure contains the tomb of Sir James Ogilvie of Deskford d. 1509. which has a chest with an arcade of seven cusped and crocketed ogees, while the crocketed canopy has cusped cusping to its ogee arch, and the whole composition is framed by buttresses with shields at mid-height. It has a worn inscription on its cill. The tomb contains a recumbent effigy in armour with carved beast at its feet. This tomb almost certainty took its inspiration form the tomb built for Bishop John de Winchester (d. 1460) in Elgin cathedral. The W enclosure contains a similar but rather less complex tomb, built for Olgilvie of Findlater, and no longer houses an effigy.

The porch at the SW end of what would have been the nave, was later heightened as a three storey tower. The ground floor entrance porch has stone benches on either side. It is surmounted by a bellcote dated 1661. A forestair has been built up on the E side of the tower and bears an inscription with the date '1721'.

Other post-Reformation additions include the Abercrombie of Glassaugh aisle, a late 17th-century tall detached burial aisle with a small bellcote. It contains a fine marble memorial to General Abercrombie and is dated 1781. A second burial aisle, the Falconer of Durn aisle, lies to the east of the tower. Although seemingly a post-Reformation burial aisle, it appears to contain medieval fabric including an aumbry. It is possible that the structure was a later medieval chantry chapel, which was converted after the Reformation to serve as a private burial aisle.

The area to be scheduled includes the church and the old burial ground. It is defined by the boundary wall of the burial ground. The area is irregular with maximum dimensions of 56m E-W and 64m NNE-SSW as marked in red on the attached map. All modern burial lairs still in use and the boundary wall are excluded from the scheduling.

Statement of National Importance

The monument is of national importance as an example of a substantial medieval rural parish church, which underwent considerable alteration both before and after the Reformation. The two mural tombs within the chancel are extremely fine and the similarities between the tomb of James Ogilvie of Deskford and that of Bishop John de Winchester in Elgin Cathedral demonstrate the spread of artistic ideas from cultural centres such as the great provincial cathedrals out to their rural hinterland, through the actions of ecclesiastical and secular patrons. The monument is also important in demonstrating the structural changes made in response to new forms of worship after the Reformation, such as the addition of burial enclosures distinct from the church itself. The church lies within the unspoiled 18th century village of the Fordyce adjacent to Fordyce Castle. The surroundings of the church do much accentuate the aesthetic qualities of the remains.

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.

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