Description

The monument consists of the remains of St Brandan's, the old parish church of Boyndie. The church was re-confirmed to the uses of Arbroath Abbey circa 1211, by William the Lion who is thought to have been the original donor. In 1257 a vicarage settlement was confirmed by which a conjunction with the church of Banff was effected, the parsonage revenues of both remaining with the Abbey.

The present church dates mainly from the 17th century, but

incorporates earlier material. It is located in an old graveyard, overlooking Boyndie Bay. It was rectangular on plan. All that remains of the church is the harled W gable which measures 8.3m N-S and is 0.9m thick and part of the adjoining N wall, which extends no more than 2.4m to the E. The W gable contains a small lintelled window above an ashlar faced round-headed entrance.

The gable is surmounted by a small 18th-century ball-finialled bellcote with an 18th-century bell. Below this, projecting from the interior and exterior wall faces is the corbelling that formed the base of a polygonal bellcote which would have been of 15th/16th century date. The extent of the ground plan cannot be determined without excavation, however the arrangement of graves and burial enclosure walls suggests that the church was about 19-20m E-W.

The area to be scheduled is rectangular, measuring a maximum of 12.3m NNW-SSE by 24m ENE-WSW, to include the upstanding portions and the buried foundations, as shown in red on the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as an example, albeit fragmentary, of a church which is thought to be the last of a succession of parish churches built on the same ground, the first of which dates from the 12th century. The present ruin provides evidence and has the potential to provide further evidence which, through a combination of historical research and archaeological excavation, may determine the precise extent and chronology of the site and may contribute to an understanding of the evolution of parishes and the changing role of the organised church in pre and post-Reformation Scotland.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NJ66SE 17.

References:

Hay G 1956, The Architecture of Scottish Post Reformation churches 1560-1843, 168, 250.

MacGibbon D and Ross T, 1897, The Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland, Vol. 3, 545-6, Edinburgh.

NSA 1842, The new statistical account of Scotland by the ministers of the respective parishes under the superintendence of a committee of the society for the benefit of the sons and daughters of the clergy, xiii, 239, Edinburgh.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland