Building record MAB33151 - PARISH CHURCH, KIRKTON OF KINGOLDRUM

Parish church, no longer in ecclesiastical use, built in 1840 on the site of earlier churches.

The church of Kingoldrum is first recorded in 1178, and it was given to Arbroath Abbey around 1211-1214. During the building of the current church, three sculpted stones were found in the walls of the old church, and they were donated to the NAMS in 1878. There is now no trace of any earlier church.

The present church is a small, oblong, gothic, rubble-built, church with a slate roof, a pinnacle belfry, and projecting porches. The interior was remodelled in 1960. It is set within an irregular graveyard.

To the south of the church is the Farquharson Mausoleum, built in circa 1850 and shown on the 1st edition OS map. It is a small ashlar mausoleum built in a classic style. It is pilastered and has a projecting centre bay and an urn finial.

Of the three sculpted stones found in the church wall, the first is a Class II Pictish cross-slab of sandstone, measuring 60.96 cm high, 38.1 cm wide, and 7.62 cm thick. The front of the cross is in relief, decorated with a key pattern and has intertwined serpents on the bottom right and left panels. The carvings on the back are of the lower part of an enthroned figure, a crescent, a mirror and a comb, a beast (probably a sheep), and the steps symbol. The latter being decorated with the key pattern as on the cross on the front. The second stone survives as the lower portion of a slab with a cross carved in relief on one face. This is of Old Red Sandstone, measuring 99.06 cm high, 60.96 cm wide, and 7.62 cm wide. The cross is decorated with the key pattern and has a central triple spiral. The third stone is a section of a slab bearing a crude representation of the Crucifixion on one face and a Maltese cross on the other. It is a triangular fragment of Old Red Sandstone, measuring 22.86 cm high by 20.32 cm wide.

A coffin-cover bearing an incised wheel-headed cross, which formerly lay in the churchyard, has been set up against the south wall of the church. There have also been cists and various other objects found in the graveyard (see MAB60172, MAB48293 and MAB60173).

The churchyard contains the Commonwealth war grave of Aircraftman David Stewart, RAF Volunteer Reserve.

A Level 1 Standing Building Survey was carried out in November 2017 by Cameron Archaeology prior to the proposed conversion, identifying a stone font within the churchyard.

AN/3405/PO, AN/3405/PO (Photograph). SAB29068.

B/18294, B/18294 (Photograph). SAB29071.

B/18294, B/18294 (Photograph). SAB29073.

B/28860/PO, B/28860/PO (Photograph). SAB29069.

C/30598, C/30598 (Photograph). SAB21282.

C/30599, C/30599 (Photograph). SAB23774.

C/30600, C/30600 (Photograph). SAB23775.

C/30601, C/30601 (Photograph). SAB21283.

C/85004/CS, C/85004/CS (Photograph). SAB29066.

D/08548, D/08548 (Photograph). SAB29070.

D/08588, D/08588 (Photograph). SAB29067.

D/08592, D/08592 (Photograph). SAB29074.

D/08592, D/08592 (Photograph). SAB29072.

MS/329, MS/329 (Photograph). SAB23776.

NSA, 1845, [Untitled], Vol. 11, (Forfar), 618 (Bibliographic reference). SAB6205.

Stuart, J, 1856, 1, 15 (Bibliographic reference). SAB9249.

Stuart, J, 1856, 1, 15, 28, 39 (Bibliographic reference). SAB9247.

Stuart, J, 1856, 1, 39 (Bibliographic reference). SAB9250.

PSAS, 1878, Proc Soc Antiq Scot 12, 615 (Bibliographic reference). SAB10347.

Warden, A J, 1880-5, [Untitled], Vol. 4, 27-8 (Bibliographic reference). SAB10064.

ALLEN, J. R., 1903, THE EARLY CHRISTIAN MONUMENTS OF SCOTLAND, pt. 3, 226, 257-8 (Bibliographic reference). SAB12008.

SCOTT, H, 1915-61, FASTI ECCLESIAE SCOTICANAE: THE SUCCESSION OF MINISTERS IN THE PARISH CHURCHES OF SCOTLAND, Vol. 5, 265 (Bibliographic reference). SAB9778.

HAY, G, 1957, THE ARCHITECTURE OF SCOTTISH POST-REFORMATION CHURCHES, 1560-1843, 246 (Bibliographic reference). SAB11872.

Cowan, I B, 1967, Scot Rec Soc 93, 113 (Bibliographic reference). SAB11646.

RCAHMS, 1983, [Untitled], 20, No. 148 (Bibliographic reference). SAB8975.

RCAHMS, 1983, [Untitled], 20, No. 148 (Bibliographic reference). SAB8976.

RCAHMS, 1983, [Untitled], 20, No. 148 (Bibliographic reference). SAB8973.

RCAHMS, 1983, [Untitled], 20, No. 148 (Bibliographic reference). SAB8974.

RCAHMS, 1983, [Untitled], 20, No.148 (Bibliographic reference). SAB8977.

RCAHMS, 1984, [Untitled], 10, No. 24 (Bibliographic reference). SAB9345.

Ritchie, J N G, 1985, [Untitled], 16 (Bibliographic reference). SAB9294.

Henderson, I, 1986, Brit Archaeol Rep Brit Ser 152, 90 (Bibliographic reference). SAB12066.

FRASER, I, 2008, THE PICTISH SYMBOL STONES OF SCOTLAND, 56-57 (Bibliographic reference). SAB2523.

CAMERON ARCHAEOLOGY, 2017, PARISH KIRK, KIRKTON OF KINGOLDRUM, KIRRIEMUIR: REPORT ON LEVEL 1 STANDING BUILDING SURVEY, L1 SBS (Bibliographic reference). SAB6868.

ARCHAEOLOGY SCOTLAND, 2019, DISCOVERY AND EXCAVATION IN SCOTLAND, NEW SERIES, VOLUME 19, 2018, p. 26 (Bibliographic reference). SAB6524.

Author unknown, n.d., THE COURIER, 07/11/15 (Bibliographic reference). SAB4000.

Record last edited

Jul 10 2026 3:48PM