Listed Building

The only legal part of the listing under the Planning (Listing Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 is the address/name of site. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing – see 'About Listed Buildings' below for more information. The further details below the 'Address/Name of Site' are provided for information purposes only.

Address/Name of Site

FOCHABERS, THE SQUARE, BELLIE KIRK (CHURCH OF SCOTLAND)LB1616

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
A
Group Category Details
100000019 - 59-61
Date Added
26/01/1971
Local Authority
Moray
Planning Authority
Moray
Parish
Bellie
NGR
NJ 34505 58743
Coordinates
334505, 858743

Description

John Baxter, 1795-8. N facing rectangular 5-bay classical church with pedimented giant Roman Doric tetrastyle portico and steeple. Polished and tooled ashlar sandstone throughout.

Square clock stage rises behind portico with N facing clock face dated 1798, oculus in each remaining face and angle urns; octagonal belfry with louvred or blind segmental-headed openings in each face, facetted spire with 3 diminishing sets of oval lucarnes in alternate facets; copper weathervane with pointers missing.

3 doors within portico with radial fanlights; regular fenestration, the gallery windows shorter than ground floor and some blind in E and W return gables; multi-pane glazing.

5-bay front with pronounced projecting 3-window bowed centre bay; long windows over short blind panels in ground floor.

Piended platform slate roof.

INTERIOR: entrance lobby with mirrored gallery stairs; doorways left and right into church. Galleried interior (?possibly re-furnished by Archibald Simpson, architect, circa 1830), galleries at E and W supported by Greek Doric columns; keystoned detailing to panelled fronts.

Octagonal panelled pulpit on square base supported by stumpy fluted columns and reached by short flight of wooden stairs with simple balustrade. No back-board nor sounding-board.

Seating layout with minor alterations and missing communion tables; coffered detailing to pew ends. Later organ in S bowed bay.

Statement of Special Interest

Ecclesiastical building in use as such. Planned and built as architectural centrepiece of Fochabers by 4th Duke of Gordon. Original layout with centre communion tables, probably removed when building was recast in 1840s and pulpit placed in S bay window. Later alterations reverted to original layout, though present pulpit appears reduced in height.

References

Bibliography

Scottish Record Office RHP 8531-4 (plans and drawings dated 1795). George Hay, THE ARCHITECTURE OF SCOTTISH POST REFORMATION CHURCHES 1560-1843 (1957), pp 85-6, 175, 266.

Howard Colvin, BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS 1600-1840 (1978), p 101.

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.

If part of a building is not listed, it will say that it is excluded in the statutory address and in the statement of special interest in the listed building record. The statement will use the word 'excluding' and quote the relevant section of the 1997 Act. Some earlier listed building records may use the word 'excluding', but if the Act is not quoted, the record has not been revised to reflect subsequent legislation.

Listed building consent is required for changes to a listed building which affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest. The relevant planning authority is the point of contact for applications for listed building consent.

Find out more about listing and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.

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Printed: 29/03/2024 13:49