Building record MAB12167 - COULL CHURCH

Church, built on or near the site of an earlier church, associated graveyard and mort house.

Church with an associated graveyard and mort house, built on or near the site of an earlier church. The earlier Coull church was one of three churches – alongside Tullich (MAB34077) and Bethelnie (MAB19380) – dedicated to St. Nathalan after he returned from Rome in the 7th Century AD. The Kirk of Coull, with lands and tithes, was bestowed upon Abbey of Arbroath in 1188-99. The exact location of the old church is not known but may be the same as the present church.

The present church was built in 1796, incorporating a17th Century gable end and a birdcage belfry, and was restored in 1876. The church is plain Neo-Classical in style, rectangular in plan with four bays, and built from squared and tooled granite. The church also incorporates semicircular-arched windows.

The churchyard is a large rectangular area of ground which stands on slightly raised ground above the river floodplain. Tombstones bear the names of local farms: Reekitlane, Titaboutie, Lochmanse, Boghead, and Wester Coull. To the northeast corner of the churchyard, there is a square monument with marble plaques dedicated to Rev. James Paterson, who died in 1789. The grave slab of James Middleton, 1751, south of the church, is boldly carved with death motifs including an hourglass, winged angels, and a skull and crossed bones. Similar carving at Lumphanan and Tarland churchyards suggests the work is by the same mason. The churchyard also contains two Second World War Commonwealth war graves.

There is also a single storey, rectangular plan, gabled mort house of 19th Century date. It is constructed of roughly tooled, squared granite with a turfed roof. A hollowed granite boulder with a hole at the bottom is within the east wall of the church boiler shed. An inventory of the church fittings and contents was carried out in 2025. These include A World War I memorial, a curved wooden plaque dedicated to local men killed in the war, and a granite memorial dedicated to the member of the parish who fell in the Second World War.

JERVISE, A, 1879, EPITAPHS & INSCRIPTIONS,VOL 2, 415 (Bibliographic reference). SAB889.

RITCHIE, J, 1912, PSAS 46(1911-12) 285-302, 317-9 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1516.

SCOTT, A. B., 1918, THE PICTISH NATION, ITS PEOPLE & ITS CHURCH, 301 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1619.

SCOTT, H, 1950, FASTI ECCLES SCOT, 89 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1806.

HAY, G., 1957, THE ARCHITECTURE OF SCOTTISH POST-REF CHURCHES, 242 (Bibliographic reference). SAB720.

EELES, FC, 1957, THE CHURCH AND OTHER BELLS OF ABERDEENSHIRE PSAS 90 (1956-7) 130-60, p.141 (Bibliographic reference). SAB490.

Author unknown, n.d., THE DEESIDE FIELD, pp16-19 (Bibliographic reference). SAB2430.

Nov 29 1994 , C 40700, C 40700 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB20449.

Sep 1 1998 , AAS/GR/98/CT01-05, AAS/GR/98/CT01-05 (Ground Photograph). SAB33075.

Sep 19 2015 , AAS-GR-15-09-021 - 084, AAS-GR-15-09-021 - 084 (Ground Photograph). SAB35803.

Record last edited

Jul 15 2026 11:23AM