Building record MAB3049 - DYKE PARISH CHURCH

Church, former mausoleum, hall, and churchyard.

The parish church of Dyke, built in 1780-1781 by James Smith (Nairn) and James Smith (Auldearn), on the site of an earlier Church mentioned in a charter of King William in 1189-1199, and renovated in 1952. It is standing on or close to site of pre-Reformation church dedicated to St. Ninian.

Built at the cost of £525, it is rectangular in plan, with a symmetrical 6-bay south front elevation. It is built of pinned rubble at the front, with rubble flanks and rear, with tooled and polished dressings, a slated roof with two ridge ventilators, skew gables, a birdcage bellcote at the west gable apex, and a bell finial at the east. The entrances are square-headed, and surmounted by tall round-headed keystoned windows in the outer bays, with four similar full length windows filling the centre four bays, and a smaller gallery window in the west gable only. The windows are on the south side and ends only. There is a Brodie burial place added to east end. All fenestration is with blocked imposts, shutter hinges and multi-pane glazing. The interior retains its original layout. There is a 3-decker pulpit in the centre of the south wall, which is flanked by stairs with slender balusters. The sounding board survives above the present ceiling. The panelled gallery front is 5-sided, with pews from 1952 grouped around the pulpit in the ground floor and gallery. The entrance doors are fitted with long iron hinges on the inner face.

A tombstone dated 1613 has been reset in the southwest entrance lobby, and there is a mural memorial dated 1790 under the gallery. The church hall and vestry were adapted in 1948 from an Early-Mid 18th Century mausoleum, which was probably within the earlier church aisle, and is now linked to the east gable of the church by a narrow corridor incorporating a Gothic gable porch, built in 1855-1860 and now closed. The hall has a south facing irregular double gabled frontage that is tooled, with harl pointed rubble elsewhere and some re-used margins and ashlar dressings. There is a Mid 18th Century naive classical doorpiece that is flanked by engaged Ionic columns supporting entablature and an extended bracketed cornice, possibly built by Colin Williamson of Dyke. There is a blind hoodmoulded Y-tracery window above the doorpiece that is probably re-used. There are Early 18th Century run-off skewputts at the rear, and a Later 19th Century apex finial and skewputts at the south. There are three narrow square-headed and irregularly spaced windows in the east elevation, with chamfered or roll-moulded jambs, and closed iron bars and later lattice-pane glazing. The porch contains a memorial to Lt. Col. James Pattulo Brodie, who died in the Crimean War in September 1855. There are tombstones dated 1446 set in the vestry wall. The church is surrounded by a drystone walled burial ground containing 18th and 19th Century tombstones.

The war memorial gate arch was built between 1921-1922, designed by Dr. P. MacGregor Chalmers (MAB3059). Within the churchyard there are two Commonwealth war graves, of Aircraftman William Fraser, RAF Volunteer Reserve (died 10 November 1940) and Private W. Grant, Seaforth Highlanders (died 19 April 1919).

A watching brief was carried out in 2017 by S. Farrell during the construction of a path and associated services to the rear of the church. Work revealed part of the former boundary wall and a boiler house.

A photographic survey was carried out in February 2021 prior to proposed alterations and refurbishment of the Church and Hall.

A watching brief was carried out by S. Farrell between March and April 2021 during internal and external alterations and associated works. Three articulated skeletons were revealed, but these were left in situ. No other archaeological features or artefacts were identified.

Monumental inscriptions within the churchyard were recorded by the Moray Burial Ground Research Group in 2010 to 2012.

See MAB3045 for a Pictish cross-slab (Rodney's Stone) found in the churchyard in 1781.

ORDNANCE SURVEY, 1871, Ordnance Name Book, No10(1870) 42 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1360.

JERVISE, A, 1879, EPITAPHS & INSCRIPTIONS,VOL 2, 49-54 (Bibliographic reference). SAB889.

HOWAT, AJ, 1901, CHURCHES IN MORAY (Bibliographic reference). SAB729.

SCOTT, A. B., 1918, THE PICTISH NATION, ITS PEOPLE & ITS CHURCH, 84-5 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1619.

DI FALCO, J, 1967, PSAS 90(1966-7) 211-54, 234 (Bibliographic reference). SAB352.

MORAY BURIAL GROUND RESEARCH GROUP, 2003, NEWSLETTER, Issue 19, pp7-8 (Bibliographic reference). SAB5098.

MORAY BURIAL GROUND RESEARCH GROUP, 2012, MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTIONS INCLUDING BURIED TOMBSTONES: DYKE CHURCHYARD, EXTENSION AND WAR WAR MEMORIAL (Bibliographic reference). SAB7646.

FARRELL, S, 2017, REPORT OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WATCHING BRIEF OF WORKS AT DYKE CHURCH, DYKE, MORAY, Watching Brief Report (Bibliographic reference). SAB4114.

FARRELL, S, 2021, REPORT OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WATCHING BRIEF OF WORKS AT DYKE CHURCH, DYKE, MORAY, Watching Brief Report (Bibliographic reference). SAB4186.

FARRELL, S, 2021, WRITTEN SCHEME OF INVESTIGATION FOR PROPOSED ARCHAEOLOGICAL WORK AT DYKE CHURCH, MORAY, WSI (Bibliographic reference). SAB4185.

ARCHAEOLOGY SCOTLAND, 2022, DISCOVERY AND EXCAVATION IN SCOTLAND, NEW SERIES, VOLUME 22 (2021), p.121 (Bibliographic reference). SAB8314.

Mar 5 2021 , 18/00162/APP, 18/00162/APP (Ground Photograph). SAB35147.

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

BEATON, D, n.d., ECCLES HIST OF CAITHNESS, 73 (Bibliographic reference). SAB116.

Author unknown, n.d., NSA, No20(1798) 224 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1269.

Record last edited

Jul 7 2026 9:18AM