Building record MAB38829 - FARNELL PARISH CHURCH

Parish church and graveyard, still in ecclesiastical use.

Parish church and graveyard, still in ecclesiastical use. It was built in 1806 by James Playfair alongside the remains of the old Parish church, given a medieval date in the antiquarian records. It was extended and refurbished in 1929. It is depicted on the 1st and 2nd edition OS maps as a rectangular church with a small projection on the south elevation, set within an irregular graveyard. Current maps show the church has been extended to the west, and the graveyard extended to the east. It is constructed in a gothic revival style from red sandstone ashlar blocks, which are now heavily weathered in places. The roof is slated. The nave has large pointed arch windows with simple tracery and diamond shaped panes of glass. The north windows have been blocked on the inside during later alterations. There are tall, stepped and gabled buttresses between the windows and at the corners. The main entrance into the church is through the pointed arch doorway in the north elevation, above which is a cruciform shaped blind window or recess. The wallheads are corbelled, which supports a crenellated parapet. The gables of the church are very unusual, with no others like it in Angus. They are curved and heavily crenellated, and there are pinnacles at each corner. The west end of the church has a crocketted bell niche. Below are three pointed arch windows, the central one of which is larger. Attached to the west gable is a flat roofed Guild Room, built in 1929. This has large corner pinnacles and plain, rectangular windows. The west gable has a single, large pointed arch window with intersecting tracery. The interior has a vaulted plaster ceiling. Interior fixtures and fittings include a poor box of 1681 and a mort bell with the inscription 'MDC'. There is a vaulted plaster ceiling. Former manse and steading / offices to the west (NO65NW0096). In 1849 a Class III Cross slab was found in the line of the foundation of the old Kirk (later displayed at Montrose Museum and at Pictavia, Brechin). When the graveyard was extended in 1870, a line of coffins carefully constructed of stone slabs, probably long cists, was discovered to the east of the church. Two cross heads and two medieval grave covers, one bearing a sword, the base of a cross and some old English letters in relief, were also found. A dedication cross is built into the wall of the graveyard. The symbol bearing slab of old red sandstone measures 2.05 m x 6.9 m (maximum width). It is roughly rectangular in shape with a pedimented top and is ornamented in relief on two faces. The front bears a Celtic-style cross containing interlaced panels and zoomorphic interlacing also. The back shows the temptation of Adam and Eve, the figure of an angel, two attenuated monsters and a cross, all encased within a jewelled margin. The stone is entirely broken across on the reverse side and is clamped with a support. A Charles I copper turner (twopence or Bodle) was found in the graveyard in 1995. It was retained by the finder. Within the churchyard is the Commonwealth war grave of E Martin, Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps, who dies 11 May 1919.

Period Notes
Antiquarian records give the old church a medieval date, and there were Pictish stones found on the site. There is a poor box within the present church from 1681. The present church itself was built in 1806, and extended and refurnished in 1929. It was listed on 11/06/1971.

AN/3319/PO, AN/3319/PO (Photograph). SAB27580.

AN/3320/PO, AN/3320/PO (Photograph). SAB27581.

B/61413, B/61413 (Photograph). SAB28262.

B/80023/PO, B/80023/PO (Photograph). SAB27582.

B/80024/PO, B/80024/PO (Photograph). SAB27583.

B/80025/PO, B/80025/PO (Photograph). SAB27584.

Stuart, J, 1856, 1, 26 (Bibliographic reference). SAB9284.

Jervise, A, 1859, Proc Soc Antiq Scot 2, 197 (Bibliographic reference). SAB12032.

Jervise, A, 1861, [Untitled], 40-1 (Bibliographic reference). SAB12120.

Warden, A J, 1880-5, [Untitled], Vol. 3, 232-3, 243, 244 (Bibliographic reference). SAB10201.

Anderson and Black, J and G, 1888, Proc Soc Antiq Scot 22, 403 (Bibliographic reference). SAB7712.

Allen and Anderson, J R and, 1903, [Untitled], pt. 3, 219-21 (Bibliographic reference). SAB4955.

EELES, FC, 1910, UNDESCRIBED SCULPTURED STONES AND CROSSES .... PSAS 44, 354-372, 356-8 (Bibliographic reference). SAB489.

Hay, G, 1957, [Untitled], 245 (Bibliographic reference). SAB11889.

Cowan, I B, 1967, Scot Rec Soc 93, 64 (Bibliographic reference). SAB11670.

Coutts, H, 1970, [Untitled], 64, No. 25 (Bibliographic reference). SAB11175.

RCAHMS, 1983, [Untitled], 20, No. 145 (Bibliographic reference). SAB9195.

RCAHMS, 1984, [Untitled], 9, No. 17 (Bibliographic reference). SAB9486.

Benvie, R, 1995, Discovery and Excavation, Scotland, 93 (Bibliographic reference). SAB11574.

Mack, A, 1997, [Untitled], 144 (Bibliographic reference). SAB11555.

RCAHMS, 2003, EARLY MEDIEVAL SCULPTURE IN ANGUS COUNCIL MUSEUMS (Bibliographic reference). SAB1613.

Jun 9 1997 , AAS/97/07/CT49-50, AAS/97/07/CT49-50 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB22438.

Record last edited

Jun 20 2022 1:03PM