Building record MAB32700 - ST FERGUS'S CHURCH, GLAMIS

Church, still in ecclesiastical use.

Church, still in ecclesiastical use. There was a medieval church dedicated to St Fergus on the site, first on record in 1178, but it is probably Early Christian. The 15th century Strathmore Aisle is probably the transept of this former church. The previous church was demolished in 1790, and the current church was built in 1792, with the Strathmore Aisle attached to the south-east corner. It is shown on the 1st edition OS map as a rectangular church with a projection on the south-east corner, attaching it to the remains of Fergus Church. On the 2nd edition OS map, the eastern elevation of the church has been extended so the south-east corner no longer projects. There are also additions on the south and west elevations and the graveyard has been extended to the north. A chancel was added to the church in 1933-4 by George Bennett Mitchell and Son, architects, at which time the interior was also refurbished. The church was re-dedicated to St Fergus on 6th May 1934. It is a plain, rectangular-plan aisleless church. It is constructed from squared and snecked rubble with dressed ashlar quoins. It has round-headed openings, a deeply-chamfered hoodmoulded doorway and Y-tracery and stone mullions to the windows. There is a four-stage entrance tower on the west elevation. The tower reduces at each stage, and is square on the first and second stage, becoming octagonal at the third stage. It is topped with an octagonal bell-tower spire with a fish weathervane. There is a gabled porch at the ground floor of the south elevation. There are stepped ashlar skews with square skewputts and a grey slate roof. There are stained glass windows by Gordon Webster, 1969, to the eastern windows on the north and south elevations. Inside, there is a wide chancel arch to a raised chancel, with fixed elder's chairs and a fretwork organ screen. There are marble memorial tablets on the west wall. The addition on the east gable is a small single-storey rubble-built sessions house with dressed ashlar quoins and a piended slate roof. There is a World War II memorial wooden cross housed inside the church. The full transcription of the memorial is held in the AAS Digital Archive. Pictish stone fragments housed in the kirk were moved on loan to Meffan Museum in December 2013. The Strathmore Aisle has been altered in the 17th century and later. It is a small rectangular-plan burial aisle constructed of red sandstone ashlar, with dressed margins and quoins. It has segmental-arched and Tudor-arched openings. There is an armorial shield on the door on the south elevation, dated and initialled possibly 1742 and ES, although the inscriptions are not clear. The doorway is set within a roll-moulded and chamfered doorway. This is surmounted by a sundial dated 1771 on a carved corbel in the gablehead, finialled with a stone lion and shield on a square plinth. The west elevation features a canopied black marble mural tablet with Corinthian columns, carved spandrels and a decorative cornice. There is also a pedimented stone and a round-headed red marble tablet. The north elevation has a small advanced piend-roofed link to the church and a gablehead finial of a griffon with a shield displaying a lion rampant. The east elevation has a projecting flat-roofed bay with pilastered angles featuring blank, possibly eroded, shields. There are ashlar-coped skews and flat skewputts on the grey slate roof. Inside, there is a stone groin-vaulted roof with bosses, corbels and keystones carved with coronets, lions of Glamis, lions of Glamis and Ogilvy and grapes in bold relief. The ogee-arched ambry is flanked by shields with the lion of Glamis on one, and the lion of Glamis and Ogilvy impaled on the other. There is the tomb of Patrick Lyon (died 1459) and Isabella Ogilvy (died 1484), husband and wife. A stone stair leads to the burial vault of the Lyon family beneath a stone pavement. The graveyard is enclosed by 18th century and later coped rubble walls. There are carved skull and crossbones stones set into the wall to the north-west and south-west gates. There are channelled and rusticated ashlar square-plan gatepiers with orb finials on swept plinths and wrought-iron gates at the north and east. A fragment of carved medieval stone was found in the graveyard, and a cross-slab is also reported as coming from the graveyard (although see NO34NE0002).

Period Notes
Church of Glamis is on record in 1178, but the site is probably Early Christian foundation, and Pictish and a medieval carved stone are reported as being found in the graveyard. The Aisle is probably a part of this church, and dates to the 15th century and contains a tomb dated 1459 and 1484. The aisle has has been altered in 17th century and later, and contains the dates 1742 and 1771. The church was demolished in 1790, and the current church was built in 1792. The chancel was added to the church in 1933-4. The church and aisle were listed on 11/06/1971, and the graveyard was listed on 25/09/1998.

A/35503, A/35503 (Photograph). SAB29053.

A/35505, A/35505 (Photograph). SAB29054.

A/35506, A/35506 (Photograph). SAB29058.

B/35514, B/35514 (Photograph). SAB25742.

B/80057/PO, B/80057/PO (Photograph). SAB29055.

B/80058/PO, B/80058/PO (Photograph). SAB29056.

B/92639/PO, B/92639/PO (Photograph). SAB29057.

Warden, A J, 1880-5, [Untitled], 304, 306 (Bibliographic reference). SAB10043.

MacKinlay, J M, 1910, [Untitled], 16 (Bibliographic reference). SAB6366.

Stirton, J, 1911, Proc Soc Antiq Scot 45, 18-97 (Bibliographic reference). SAB9858.

Stirton, J, 1913, [Untitled], 72-125 (Bibliographic reference). SAB9860.

Mitchell, G B, 1935, Trans Scot Eccles Soc 11 2, 106-13 (Bibliographic reference). SAB8111.

Hay, G, 1957, [Untitled], 82 (Bibliographic reference). SAB11869.

Boyd, J D, 1967, Discovery and Excavation, Scotland, 3 (Bibliographic reference). SAB10935.

Cowan, I B, 1967, Scot Rec Soc 93, 73 (Bibliographic reference). SAB11643.

RCAHMS, 1983, [Untitled], 20, No. 147 (Bibliographic reference). SAB8582.

RCAHMS, 1983, [Untitled], 20, No.147(iv) (Bibliographic reference). SAB8594.

RCAHMS, 1984, [Untitled], 9, No. 21 (Bibliographic reference). SAB9324.

PICTISH ARTS SOCIETY, 2006, NEWSLETTER 40, p4 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1467.

FRASER, I, 2008, THE PICTISH SYMBOL STONES OF SCOTLAND, 54-55 (Bibliographic reference). SAB2523.

Jun 13 2020 , AAS-GR-13-06-238 - 247, AAS-GR-13-06-238 - 247 (Ground Photograph). SAB34894.

May 21 2002 , AAS/02/5/CT111-121,128, AAS/02/5/CT111-121,128 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB29429.

May 21 2002 , AAS/02/5/G14/30, AAS/02/5/G14/30 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB29430.

Record last edited

Mar 13 2020 12:33PM