Building record MAB37784 - ST MACHAR'S PARISH CHURCH, ABOYNE
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Summary
Stepped Perpendicular Gothic church built in 1842, designed by Archibald Simpson, incorporating the 1761 Huntly Vault, and surrounded by an associated graveyard.
Protected Status/Designation
- Listed Building (B) 3116
Map
Location
| Grid reference | Centred NO 5245 9830 (104m by 69m) Centred at - Polygon: Known Site Extent |
|---|---|
| Map sheet | NO59NW |
| Authority | Aberdeenshire |
| Civil Parish | Aboyne and Glentanar |
Type and Period (5)
Full Description
Stepped Perpendicular Gothic church built in 1842, designed by Archibald Simpson, incorporating the 1761 Huntly Vault, and surrounded by an associated graveyard.
The church has coursed, tooled granite with finely finished dressings and angle buttresses breaking eaves with a coped pyramidal finial, and an eaves cornice. There are predominantly small-pane timber traceried windows and a grey slate roof with lead ridge. There are coped stone skews, two coped stacks to the lean-to vestry, and cast-iron rainwater goods.
There is a single storey, plain, gothic church hall to west of church, built in 1902. It is constructed from tooled, coursed, pink, granite with some ladder snecking, and finely finished to margins. There are chamfered pointed-arched openings, a timber eaves course, predominantly square-pane leaded windows, and a purple-grey, slate roof with a lead ridge and two cast-iron ventilators. There are also coped stone skews with decorative finials and cast-iron rainwater goods. The hall was used to cater for any overflow of evacuees from Glasgow during WWII that couldn't be fitted into the nearby school. The church hall has recently been converted to a business centre.
The graveyard surrounding the church is enclosed by a rubble boundary wall with pointed coping. There are gates to the east and west with square grey granite gatepiers, coped with ogee caps and spherical finials, and a pedestrian gateway to the east with geometric ironwork gates. Within the graveyard are the Commonwealth war graves of Sergeant John Laverton Silver (RAF Volunteer Reserve) and Private James Calder (Royal Army Medical Corps). Set against the outside south wall of the church is a memorial commemorating those killed in World War I (MAB37808).
HAY, G., 1957, THE ARCHITECTURE OF SCOTTISH POST-REF CHURCHES, 242 (Bibliographic reference). SAB720.
EELES, FC, 1957, THE CHURCH AND OTHER BELLS OF ABERDEENSHIRE PSAS 90 (1956-7) 130-60, p.133 (Bibliographic reference). SAB490.
Apr 6 2015 , AAS-GR-15-04-022, 023, AAS-GR-15-04-022, 023 (Ground Photograph). SAB20923.
SDD, n.d., BLDS OF ARCH & HIST INTEREST, ABOYNE 1 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1827.
Sep 19 2015 , AAS-GR-15-09-314 - 331, AAS-GR-15-09-314 - 331 (Ground Photograph). SAB35834.
Other Statuses/References
- Authority: ASH;
- HAMP Asset: HA0116;
- Local Government Guardianship;
- NMR Card Number: NO59NW69;
- NRHE Numlink: 181578;
- Old Historic Environment Record Ref: NO59NW0040;
External Links (2)
- https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/LB3116 (Historic Environment Scotland Portal Link)
- https://www.trove.scot/place/181578 (trove.scot link)
Sources/Archives (5)
- --- SAB1827 Bibliographic reference: SDD. n.d.. BLDS OF ARCH & HIST INTEREST. ABOYNE 1.
- --- SAB20923 Ground Photograph: Apr 6 2015 . AAS-GR-15-04-022, 023. Digital. AAS-GR-15-04-022, 023.
- --- SAB35834 Ground Photograph: Sep 19 2015 . AAS-GR-15-09-314 - 331. Digital. AAS-GR-15-09-314 - 331.
- --- SAB490 Bibliographic reference: EELES, FC. 1957. THE CHURCH AND OTHER BELLS OF ABERDEENSHIRE PSAS 90 (1956-7) 130-60. Y. p.133.
- --- SAB720 Bibliographic reference: HAY, G.. 1957. THE ARCHITECTURE OF SCOTTISH POST-REF CHURCHES. N. N. 242.
Finds (0)
Related Monuments/Buildings (1)
Related Events/Activities (0)
Record last edited
Aug 10 2026 9:31AM
