Building record MAB27243 - FOVERAN PARISH CHURCH, FOVERAN

Former parish church, no longer in ecclesiastical use, built in 1794, and associated graveyard.

Former parish church, no longer in ecclesiastical use, built in 1794, and associated graveyard. It is a rectangular Georgian building with a later organ chamber apse on the south elevation. It was built with roughly shaped and coursed granite rubble, with better quality grey granite blocks on the quoins and surrounds. The steeply pitched roof is slated. The church was repaired in 1852 and reseated in 1871.

There are original round-arched windows. There is a window on either side of the central organ chamber apse, which was added between 1900-1901. It has a hipped roof, built into the original roof structure and there is a round-arched window (matching those in the original elevation) on the side faces of the chamber. There is a simple birdcage-style bellcote, with ashlar stones and a small bell hung within the opening. The bell is dated 1760 and was recast in 1905 It is topped by a large, stone ball finial. The galleries were renewed in 1877 into a horseshoe gallery on cast-iron columns with arcades at the upper level.

The interior was refurbished in the 1930s with pews and fittings from the demolished Foveran United Free Church. There were an interesting group of monuments in the church including the 15th Century Turing slab (MAB65842), which probably lay in the Turing Aisle of the Medieval church (MAB58471), was removed from the graveyard in the 1970s and re-erected against the west wall of the church. The Turing slab was subsequently removed to Aberdeenshire Museum Service in April 2026 following the sale of the church to private owners in 2024.

There was also a 17th Century bust of Sir John Turing, a Queen Anne hourglass attached to the pulpit, and a stone font that incorporated a Medieval column. There was formerly a bronze plaque to the painter and etcher James McBey, who was born nearby; this has been relocated to Newburgh Public Hall (MAB27131). The church contains a war memorial to Lieutenant Charles Thomas McWilliam, killed in action 18 March 1918. Unveiled in October 1922, it is set on a wooden board, and comprises a rectangular bronze plaque with an inscription, decorative leaf edging, a cross at the top, and two shields either side.

The graveyard contains three World War I Commonwealth war graves: Deck-hand F. G. Kelly, Royal Naval Reserve: Gunner D. Tough, Royal Garrison Artillery: Private William Wood, Gordon Highlanders.

HENDERSON, JA, 1907, ABERDEEN EPITAPHS & INSCRIPTS, 309 (Bibliographic reference). SAB723.

HAY, G., 1957, THE ARCHITECTURE OF SCOTTISH POST-REF CHURCHES, 80, 242 (Bibliographic reference). SAB720.

EELES, FC, 1957, THE CHURCH AND OTHER BELLS OF ABERDEENSHIRE PSAS 90 (1956-7) 130-60, pp.149-150 (Bibliographic reference). SAB490.

Jul 16 2023 , PUB-GR-23-07-001, 002, PUB-GR-23-07-001, 002 (Ground Photograph). SAB36554.

Jul 16 2023 , PUB-GR-23-07-010 - 022, PUB-GR-23-07-010 - 022 (Ground Photograph). SAB36556.

SDD, n.d., BLDS OF ARCH & HIST INTEREST, FOVERAN 1,2 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1827.

Author unknown, n.d., NSA, VOL XII, 701 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1269.

Oct 22 2015 , AAS-GR-15-10-026 to 064, AAS-GR-15-10-026 to 064 (Ground Photograph). SAB35411.

Record last edited

Sep 7 2026 9:40AM