Building record MAB28530 - OLD PARISH CHURCH, KIRK BRAE, FRASERBURGH

Church, still in ecclesiastical use, built on the site of an earlier church and mausoleum.

Church, still in ecclesiastical use, built on the site of an earlier church and mausoleum. The present church, built in 1803 and subsequently remodelled, occupies the site of the old 16th Century church which had been built in 1571 and repaired in 1698, and incorporates some elements of the earlier building. Designed by Alexander Morrice, it is a rectangular plan harled church, with fine ashlar margins, and piended slate roof. It has a squat ashlar granite tower at the West front, with a pediment at eaves level, octagon top stage and spire. Beneath the clock tower, on the West front, is a stone bearing the date 1803. There is a Mears bell in the belfry. There are four round arched windows in each side elevation (North and South). On the South elevation, the Saltoun Mausoleum can be found. It is a small rectangular structure which is likely a survival of the earlier church, and may have been a side chapel or aisle with a private vault below to the Saltoun family. It features an unusual stone pyramidal roof with a central stone finial or spirelet. There is a heraldic panel on the south face, positioned in a blocked pointed-arch opening. The chancel, added in the 1890s, extends into the nave and raised by several steps. The pulpit is thought to be one of the highest in Scotland. It features six brass war memorial panels inserted into its wooden panels, which lists the names of those from the parish who fell during World War I. At the base of the pulpit, a scar can be seen, known to the congregation as 'Hitler's Mark'. It is the result of damage caused by falling debris in the aftermath of a bomb which was dropped on a nearby public house during World War II. The gable of the chancel features a Venetian window, enlarged with new stained glass added in 1906. Gifted to the Church by Sir George Anderson, the stained glass window was designed by renowned Scottish glass artist Douglas Strachan. The design is based on Psalm 148 and is not only one of Strachan's earliest works but is often suggested to be one of his finest works. The window was repaired and restored in 2012. Also in the chancel is a small wooden statue, carved from a salvaged timber from the wreck of the barque 'Veteran', which ran ashore at the Balaclava breakwater in November 1874. A front pew in the south gallery is marked as the place where Marconi, pioneer of wireless telegraphy, worshipped during his stay in Fraserburgh. Photographic recording of the exterior of the mausoleum was carried out in 2020.

Period Notes
Earlier church built in 1571, enlarged c1628, repaired 1698; present church dated 1803; internal remodelling 1898.

Author unknown, 1799, OLD STATISTICAL ACCOUNT, No6(1793) 7 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1845.

PRATT, J. B., 1858, BUCHAN: A TOPOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION, 278 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1410.

CRANNA, J, 1914, FRASERBURGH PAST & PRESENT, 18,119 (Bibliographic reference). SAB215.

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

Jun 1 2020 , APP/2020/0552, APP/2020/0552 (Ground Photograph). SAB34969.

Author unknown, n.d., NSA, No12(1845) 256 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1269.

Record last edited

Jun 24 2025 9:11AM