Description

The monument comprises the remains of Cupar's medieval church, its graveyard and traces of a surrounding oval enclosure, which lay outwith and to the north of the burgh. The monument was first scheduled on 10 March 1998 but the area included was subsequently deemed to be excessively large: the present re-scheduling rectifies this.

Dedicated to St Christopher, the church's patronage was granted to the Priory Church of St Andrews between 1154 and 1178. With the foundation of a new parish church in Cupar in 1415, the former church became known as the chaplainry of St Christopher 'in the old cemetery of Cupar'. The latter was feued in 1569, suggesting that neither the church nor the burial ground were in use by this date.

Despite partial demolition of the church in 1769, geophysical prospection and limited excavation (in 1997) identified the remains of a building measuring 20m by 6m with a flagged floor and rounded east end, with a graveyard to the south in which in situ burials were located. An extension to the main building at the west end may represent a side chapel or porch. The complex appears to have been surrounded by an oval enclosure, suggesting that the origins of the site may lie in the early medieval period.

The area now to be scheduled is an irregular quadrilateral in shape measuring 70m NW-SE by 100m NE-SW, to include the remains of the church and graveyard and traces of the oval enclosure, plus an area around these features within which associated remains are likely to survive, as marked in red on the accompanying map extract.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as the remains of the parish church of a historic burgh which has the potential to add to our knowledge of ecclesiastical architecture and to our understanding of religious practice over several centuries.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NO 31 NE 2.

Reference:

Scottish Urban Archaeological trust Ltd, (1997) Field Survey and Assessment at the former site of St Christopher's Parish Church, Cupar.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland