Building record MAB36602 - ALDBAR CHAPEL

Private chapel and mausoleum, built on the site of an earlier chapel, within a burial ground.

Private chapel and mausoleum, built on the site of an earlier chapel, within a burial ground. A rector of Aldbar is recorded in 1429, and in 1433 the church was granted to the College of Methven. After being ruinous for some time, it was restored in circa 1850 by Mr Chalmers. It was restored keeping the dimensions of the previous chapel, and also re-used the original rubble stones where possible. The building itself is oblong, and oriented roughly East/West, and there is a passageway to the rear (North) of the building. There is a three-bay South elevation, with a round-arched doorway to the West, containing a wooden studded door with decorative iron hinges, and there are thin rectangular windows to the other two bays. There is a rose window within the gable of the East elevation, which is now overgrown and can no longer be seen from the exterior. The West elevation has two windows, containing four lights each. There are two narrow rectangular lights filling most of the window, with two small thin windows filling the top level. Stone mullions and transoms form a cross between the four lights. Above this, within the gable, is a triangular traceried window. There is a heraldic panel at the gable apex. The interior is now completely cleared. The roof timbers are resting on decorated stone corbels mid-way up the walls. The burial ground is enclosed by a low wall to the East, South and West, and there is a steep slope enclosing it to the North. The wall is heavily overgrown. Within the burial ground there are two polished granite gravestones, one of which is a cross on a stepped square base. There are the signs of other gravestones, but they are mostly overgrown. There is an entrance to the East flanked by square gatepiers, and it is approached from the South by a bridge crossing the burn. There is a large pointed archway at the North end of the bridge, flanking the South entrance. The building is in a poor condition, with the large holes in the slate roof and vegetation growing out of the roof and covering parts of the Eastern end of the building. The font from the chapel is now in Aberlemno Parish Church (NO55NW0028), and Pictish stones were recorded as having been here, but are now in Brechin Cathedral (NO56SE0012). The site is also known as Auldbar Chapel.

Period Notes
Original chapel recorded in 1429. It fell out of use, and was re-built in 1850. Listed on 15/01/1980.

B/80067-71/PO (T GREY), B/80067-71/PO (T GREY) (Ground Photograph). SAB26518.

NSA, 1845, [Untitled], Vol. 11, (Forfar), 631-2 (Bibliographic reference). SAB6262.

Stuart, J, 1856, 1, 25 (Bibliographic reference). SAB9263.

Jervise, A, 1861, [Untitled], 301-2 (Bibliographic reference). SAB12105.

Warden, A J, 1880-5, [Untitled], Vol. 2, 288-9, 293-4, 305 (Bibliographic reference). SAB10148.

Allen and Anderson, J R and, 1903, [Untitled], pt. 3, 245-6 (Bibliographic reference). SAB12108.

Cowan, I B, 1967, Scot Rec Soc 93, 11 (Bibliographic reference). SAB11656.

RCAHMS, 1983, [Untitled], 19, No. 139 (Bibliographic reference). SAB9103.

RCAHMS, 1984, [Untitled], 7, No. 3 (Bibliographic reference). SAB9379.

Henderson, I, 1986, Brit Archaeol Rep Brit Ser 152, 89, 102, 104-5, 108 (Bibliographic reference). SAB12069.

Record last edited

Sep 30 2026 9:36PM