Building record MAB8871 - CHURCH OF DUNDURCAS

Remains of a church and a graveyard, built in the early- to mid-18th Century on the site of previous churches, the earliest of which is thought to date from the 13th Century.

Remains of a church and a graveyard, built in the early- to mid-18th Century on the site of previous churches, the earliest of which is thought to date from the 13th Century.

The parish of Dundurcas appears to have evolved prior to 1244. In circa 1274 it is on record as a vicarage. It was subsequently annexed to the Hospital of Rathven. In 1445, the joint revenues were used to found a prebend in Aberdeen Cathedral. At the time of the Reformation, the parsonage remained annexed to the benefice of Rathven. Its revenues were then utilised to support a staller in Aberdeen and six bedesmen of the hospital. Dundurcas appears to have been quite wealthy, as the Abbey of Kinloss also received certain revenues from the fruits of this church.

There has certainly been Medieval activity at the site. The present building and graveyard are located on the summit of a naturally mounded site which may have been utilised as a defensive site in the past, evidenced by a slight ditch on the southwest side of the mound.

The current church is a rectangular-plan, rubble-built building, standing to roof height, with an intact bellcote on the west gable, although the bell has been removed to Cullen House (MAB14325). The interior of the church has been used for burials. The church measures 15.6 m (51.2 feet) east-west, by 8.1 m (26.6 feet) north-south, over walls 0.7 m (2.3 feet) thick. A lintel is dated 1760, however the church was probably built in the early- to mid- 18th Century. The church was suppressed in 1782; its lands being divided between Boharm and Rothes.

The graveyard is enclosed by simple coped drystone walls dating to circa 1830. There are a pair of tooled square granite gate piers at the west, with shaped caps, and a pair of plain spearhead cast-iron gates. There are 18th, 19th, and 20th century tombstones within the graveyard. Monumental inscriptions within the churchyard were recorded by the Moray Burial Ground Research Group in 2007-2008. They include a tombstone of The Rev John Marshall who died in 1651.

Author unknown, , SCOTTISH NOTES AND QUERIES, VOL IX(1931) 157 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1839.

ORDNANCE SURVEY, 1871, Ordnance Name Book, No18(1871) 84 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1360.

HOWAT, AJ, 1901, CHURCHES IN MORAY, 17 (Bibliographic reference). SAB729.

MACKINTOSH, HB, 1924, PILGRIMAGES IN MORAY, 101-2 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1145.

MORAY BURIAL GROUND RESEARCH GROUP, 2003, NEWSLETTER, Issue 10, p.8 (Bibliographic reference). SAB5098.

MORAY BURIAL GROUND RESEARCH GROUP, 2008, MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTIONS: DUNDURCAS CHURCHYARD AND MACALLAN CHURCHYARD AND FOCHABERS, MOSSTODLOCH AND MULBEN WAR MEMORIALS (Bibliographic reference). SAB7645.

Jun 13 1988 , JASAIR NJ35 26.88.138, JASAIR NJ35 26.88.138 (Air-vertical Photograph). SAB30676.

Mar 9 1995 , AAS/95/03/G7/1-6, AAS/95/03/G7/1-6 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB31149.

SDD, n.d., BLDS OF ARCH & HIST INTEREST, ROTHES 2 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1827.

Record last edited

Jul 26 2026 9:39PM