Building record MAB20702 - SKENE PARISH CHURCH

Parish church, site of earlier church and large graveyard with tall boundary walls and gated entrance.

Parish church, on the site of an earlier church, and a large graveyard with tall boundary walls and a gated entrance. The site of the old church of Skene is thought to be in the oldest part of the graveyard, although there are no visible remains. In 1875 Jervaise recorded the site to be occupied by the burial enclosures of the Lairds of Skene and Concraig. The former is located to the south of the present church, although the enclosure of the Laird of Concraig was not found by the OS in 1961.

The earliest reference to the church concerns 'Thomas Bisset, reader in 1574' (Fasti). The bell in the new church is dedicated to the Church of Skene and dated 1735. The present church was built in 1801 in Gothic style. It is rectangular in plan, with harled walls, tooled granite quoins, window and door surrounds, a bellcote, and a piended slate roof. A session house and larger vestry was added to the northwest corner in the 1880s. The windows retain their original glazing.

In the west elevation is the main pointed-arched entrance door with an original fanlight window and tracery. To either side is a large, pointed arch window with simple tracery, and above the door is a circular window with stained glass. The east elevation mirrors that of the west, although the door has been blocked and harled over. The east windows all have stained glass. The south elevation has an advanced and gabled central bay topped by the bellcote, which was added in 1840, and designed by John Smith. The bell is rung by an external bell rope. The south and north elevations also have pointed arched windows. The session room, dated 1884, is in the style of the original.

Internally, the church originally had a U-plan with a central pulpit but was remodelled by G. Bennet Mitchell in 1932 with a west gallery, reusing the original Doric columns and gallery front. The wood ceiling has a cavetto cornice.

Within the churchyard are six Commonwealth war graves. The Skene War Memorial stands at the entrance to the church (MAB20794).

JERVISE, A, 1879, EPITAPHS & INSCRIPTIONS,VOL 2, 226 (Bibliographic reference). SAB889.

RITCHIE, J, 1912, PSAS 46(1911-12) 285-302, 299-300 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1516.

SCOTT, H, 1950, FASTI ECCLES SCOT, VOL 6 (1926) 74 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1806.

Mar 30 2006 , AAS/06/3/DG653, AAS/06/3/DG653 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB18779.

Record last edited

Jul 28 2026 1:10PM