Building record MAB5663 - TOMBAE CHAPEL

Former Roman Catholic chapel (Parish Church of the Incarnation), burial ground and presbytery.

Former Roman Catholic chapel (Parish Church of the Incarnation), burial ground and presbytery. The chapel was built in 1827-9, to a design by John Gall of Aberdeen, and although it was unfinished, it was opened for worship on February 2, 1829. The Rev James Gordon, the priest of Tombae, was responsible for fundraising and building the church, and lived in the farmhouse to the South-East (NJ22NW0011). The interior was completed and re-modelled by Bishop James Kyle, possibly with design assistance from Rev Walter Lovi, in 1843-4. It is a gothic church, orientated approximately East-West, with an entrance in the gabled West front. It is constructed of tooled pink granite ashlar masonry to the front and dressings, and harl pointed flanks and rear. It is an unusual plan, incorporating priest's quarters under the same roof. The 3-bay West front is delineated and flanked by stepped buttresses terminating with pinnacles, and has a coped and partially crenellated wallhead. There is a centre pointed-headed recessed entrance with a blank date stone above, narrow flanking 2-light windows and 3-light above the door, all with simple wooden tracery and lattice pane glazing. There are 3-bay flanks with windows, as in the West, at the extreme East the windows are divided vertically and half blind. There is a simple square-headed doorway in the North-East. The East gable has similar fenestration as the West, but with no buttresses and a small centre ground floor window. There are apex crosses and a slate roof. The Lofty vaulted interior is furnished with a simple entrance lobby with local flagstone floor, narrow side aisles, ribbed vaulting supported by timber panelled cast iron columns with decorative plaster capitals and matching corbel stones set in the aisle walls. The altar is set in a shallow chancel, and the West gallery houses an organ with decorated pipes. The area between chancel and East gable formerly served as the Presbytery, with access by a door in the North elevation, and is now empty. The graveyard is enclosed by a square rubble wall, dated 1843, and is home to a variety of 19th and 20th century tombstones, many of those of 19th century date being of finely inscribed local slate. The graveyard wall continues around the West front of the church, with a wide entrance flanked by simple capped gate piers. The presbytery is dated 1862, and is a simple single storey and attic, 3-bay West facing house. It is harled, with tooled ashlar dressings. This replaced the presbytery built in the North portion of the church dating to 1843. The churchyard contains the family vault of 'George Smith, Farmer and Distiller, Minmore, founder of the Glenlivet Distillery, died 27 Nov 1871 aged 75' (Glenlivet Distillery: NJ12NE0009). The River Livet was formerly spanned by a bridge opposite the West entrance. The presbytery is C listed, and the church and graveyard are A listed. Monumental inscriptions within the churchyard were recorded by the Moray Burial Ground Research Group in 2007-8.

Period Notes
Built 1827-9, and damaged in Muckle Spate, 1829. The interior completed and re-modelled in 1843-4. The presbytery was built in 1862. It was designated on 22/02/1972, and the church and graveyard was upgraded from a B to an A listing on 09/11/1987.

Img 316 - 318, Img 316 - 318 (Ground Photograph). SAB36071.

PECK, EH, 1983, AVONSIDE EXPLORED: A GUIDE TO TOMINTOUL AND GLENLIVET, p.41 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1489.

MORAY BURIAL GROUND RESEARCH GROUP, 2008, MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTIONS: CHAPELTOWN CHURCHYARD,TOMBAE CHURCHYARD AND GLENLIVET (TOMNAVOULIN) WAR MEMORIAL (Bibliographic reference). SAB7638.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2024 12:38PM