Building record MAB4678 - KNOCKANDO PARISH CHURCH

Knockando Parish Church, built on the site of earlier churches.

Knockando Parish Church, built on the site of earlier churches. The earliest known church was built in 1757, one wall of which was retained in the 19th century structure. It was described at this time as a 'harled Georgian box'. It was rectangular, with long elevations to the North and South. It was then expanded in 1832 by William Robertson of Elgin, and again in 1868. It was then rebuilt in 1904-6, by John Robertson of Inverness, as a harled building with tooled ashlar margins and dressings, and with a belfry and chancel at East end, an unusual French round tower and a new 4-bay South front with twin Gothic gables. It has a pointed-headed entrance at the South-West in a gabled bay. Inside were two stained glass memorial windows and an oval pulpit. The building was destroyed by fire in 1990. The present church was built in 1992-3, designed by the Law and Dunbar-Nasmith Partnership, and is seen to reflect the spirit of the earlier church - the almost free standing circular corner tower is strongly reminiscent of its predecessor. The tower itself is a 2-stage drumtower in the re-entrant angle, with the belfry in the louvred upper stage under a conical slated roof. A pointed-headed entrance is at the South-West, in a gabled bay. There are three cusped, 2-light windows in the centre of the South elevation, with a further large traceried window breaking the wallhead in a gabled end bay, and there is similar 2-light fenestration in the 4-bay North elevation. There is a single stained glass window in the North wall bay by Douglas Strachan, from circa 1917, in memory of Lieut L R Cumming, killed in action 1914. There is an apse at the East gable, and a pointed-headed entrance in the East return gable of the South aisle. A small single storey bowed vestry projects at the West. There are apex crosses and slate roofs. The interior of the church is re-modelled, with Gothic detailing. The East apse houses the organ, and there is a richly carved communion table and pulpit with bas-relief panels. There is a cluster pedestal to the pulpit with Gothic detailing to the handrail. The South aisle accommodates a wide gallery, with a further gallery at the West, both with a cusped panelled front. There are pine pews and a braced rafter roof. Inside the church are also plaques commemorating the men of the parish who lost their lives in World War I and II. There is a large irregular rubble walled graveyard, the rubble wall having a tooled cope from 1822. A pair of carriage entrances at the East each have bullfaced rubble gatepiers and a pair of spearhead cast-iron gates. There are mainly 19th and 20th century tombstones. Against the Eastern wall of the graveyard are two Pictish symbol stones and a stone inscribed with runes (NJ14SE0001), which are scheduled monuments. Also within the churchyard is the Elchies Tomb, the burial enclosure if the Grants of Carron: one of the stones within the enclosure is suggested to have come from the stone circle at Knowehillock (NJ14SE0004). There is a small rectangular early 19th century, harl pointed rubble watch house, with a doorway in the gable and a single window. It has a local slate roof. The churchyard contains four Commonwealth war graves of the First and Second World Wars. Monumental inscriptions within the churchyard were recorded by the Moray Burial Ground Research Group between 2010 and 2013. Archaeological monitoring was carried out by AOC in November 2023 during stabilisation of headstones.

Period Notes
First church built in 1757. Expanded in 1832 and 1868. Rebuilt in 1906. Destroyed by fire in 1990 then rebuilt in 1992-3. Designated on 26/01/1971.

ORDNANCE SURVEY, 1871, Ordnance Name Book, No16(1870) 48,4 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1360.

WILSON, D, 1883, PSAS 17(1882-3) 45-56, 50 (Bibliographic reference). SAB2025.

HOWAT, AJ, 1901, CHURCHES IN MORAY (Bibliographic reference). SAB729.

ALLEN, JR, 1903, EARLY CHRISTIAN MONUMENTS OF SCOTLAND 3, 127-8 (Bibliographic reference). SAB3.

MACKINTOSH, HB, 1924, PILGRIMAGES IN MORAY, 109-10 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1145.

DOE, 1966, A M's SCOT, 31 (Bibliographic reference). SAB353.

MORAY BURIAL GROUND RESEARCH GROUP, 2013, KNOCKANDO CHURCHYARD, EXTENSION, WAR MEMORIALS AND ARCHITESTOWN WAR MEMORIAL (Bibliographic reference). SAB7651.

AOC ARCHAEOLOGY, 2023, MEMORIAL HEADSTONE STABILISATION PROGRAMME MORAY COUNCIL: ARCHAEOLOGICAL SUPPORT SERVICES WRITTEN SCHEME OF INVESTIGATION, WSI (Bibliographic reference). SAB8796.

AOC ARCHAEOLOGY, 2024, MEMORIAL HEADSTONE STABILISATION PROGRAMME: SUMMARY REPORT (Bibliographic reference). SAB8746.

Jul 10 2008 , Untitled Source (Ground Photograph). SAB32077.

Record last edited

Sep 17 2025 11:00AM