Building record MAB20281 - ST JOHN'S CHURCH, GARDENSTOWN (GAMRIE)

Remains of the former parish church and its associated graveyard.

Remains of the former parish church and associated graveyard. The church was dedicated to St. John the Evangelist and is said to have been founded in the 11th Century. Local tradition dates the church to 1004, but the church is not documented until the late-12th Century. The present church was built in at least two phases; the east end probably dates to the early-16th Century and the rest dates to the 17th Century. It measures 28.75 m long (longer than most churches of the time) by 4.72 m wide, and is rubble built. The wall and gable remain to roof height.

A recess at the east end of the north wall is tentatively identified as a piscina, and a recess beside the door in the south wall may have held a water stoup. The building was later extended to its current length, comparable to other churches in the region that were extended in the late-Medieval and Post-Medieval periods. After the Reformation, it is probable that new doorways were made in the gables and a belfry added. There is an ambry in the east wall and a 16th Century memorial tablet to Barclay of Tolly. There are monuments in the churchyard dating from the 17th Century onwards. The church fell in to ruin in the mid-19th Century when the new parish church was built in 1830. In 1832 a visitor recorded 'I have seen the Norsemen's skulls grinning horrid and hollow in the wall where they have been fixed directly east of the pulpit.'. These skulls are thought to have belonged to Danes killed in the Battle of Bloody Pits in 1004 AD, which is believed to have been fought at nearby Longmanhill and Bloodymire Farm. The church was repointed in 1961.

AAS/GR/XX/CT12-14, AAS/GR/XX/CT12-14 (Ground Photograph). SAB33157.

Author unknown, , SCOTTISH NOTES AND QUERIES, VOL VI(1928) 219-20 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1839.

Author unknown, 1799, OLD STATISTICAL ACCOUNT, (1791) 469 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1845.

JERVISE, A, 1879, EPITAPHS & INSCRIPTIONS,VOL 2, 85 (Bibliographic reference). SAB889.

MACGIBBON, T, 1896, ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE OF SCOTLAND 1, VOL 3(1897) 567-9 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1141.

HAY, G., 1957, THE ARCHITECTURE OF SCOTTISH POST-REF CHURCHES, 14 (Bibliographic reference). SAB720.

MORAY BURIAL GROUND RESEARCH GROUP, 2003, NEWSLETTER, Issue 3 (Bibliographic reference). SAB5098.

ROSE GEOPHYSICAL CONSULTANTS, 2017, GEOPHYSICAL SURVEY REPORT: ST JOHN'S CHURCH, GAMRIE, GARDENSTOWN, Survey (Bibliographic reference). SAB3128.

MURRAY ARCHAEOLOGICAL SERVICES, 2017, ST JOHN'S CHURCH, GAMRIE, GARDENSTOWN, ABERDEENSHIRE: STANDING BUILDING RECORDING, SBS (Bibliographic reference). SAB7415.

ARCHAEOLOGY SCOTLAND, 2018, DISCOVERY AND EXCAVATION IN SCOTLAND, VOLUME 18, 2017, pp.17-18 (Bibliographic reference). SAB6463.

SCAPE, 2023, COASTAL ZONE ASSESSMENT SURVEY ABERDEENSHIRE AND CITY OF ABERDEEN: CULLEN TO MILTON NESS, ID 14562 (Bibliographic reference). SAB4866.

Feb 28 2016 , AAS-GR-16-02-005 - 014, AAS-GR-16-02-005 - 014 (Ground Photograph). SAB35467.

Jan 1 1998 , AAS/GR/98/CT358-361, AAS/GR/98/CT358-361 (Ground Photograph). SAB33095.

Jul 28 2015 , HAMP-GR-15-07-200 -317, HAMP-GR-15-07-200 -317 (Ground Photograph). SAB34507.

Jul 29 2015 , HAMP-GR-15-07-318 - 352, HAMP-GR-15-07-318 - 352 (Ground Photograph). SAB34508.

Jul 30 2010 , DG2125,2128, DG2125,2128 (Ground Photograph). SAB20720.

Jul 30 2010 , DG2130-57, DG2130-57 (Ground Photograph). SAB20721.

SDD, n.d., BLDS OF ARCH & HIST INTEREST, GAMRIE 5 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1827.

Record last edited

Oct 4 2026 7:57PM