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

Birnie Kirk (Church of Scotland), including Burial Ground and Gatepiers and excluding Scheduled Monument No 2781 'Birnie Parish Kirk, old graveyard and symbol stone', BirnieLB2294

Status: Designated

Documents

There are no additional online documents for this record.

Summary

Category
A
Date Added
26/01/1971
Last Date Amended
26/08/2015
Local Authority
Moray
Planning Authority
Moray
Parish
Birnie
NGR
NJ 20654 58718
Coordinates
320654, 858718

Description

Probably 12th century, variously repaired and altered including rebuilding of west gable (and shortening of nave of church) in 1734 and major restoration in 1891 by A Marshall MacKenzie. Alteration to windows in south elevation by John Wright, architect, Elgin, circa 1975. Simple rectangular nave with rectangular chancel at east gable. Tooled squared rubble, ashlar dressings. Off-centre round-headed entrance in south elevation lit by 3 later round-headed windows. Narrow south entrance to chancel with chamfered margins and under re-set cusped medieval light. Chancel lit by single round-headed lancet in north and south walls. Mural sundial. Blocked pointed-headed entrance in north elevation which has no windows, except chancel lancets. Birdcage bellcote at west apex dated 1734; slate roof.

Interior: simple interior; tooled ashlar walls; 1891 timber ceiling. Plain Romanesque chancel arch supported by engaged columns with cushion capitals. Deeply splayed round-headed lancets in north and south chancel walls. Various mural memorials including Sanders memorial dated 1670; pedimented country Jacobean plaque flanked by small engaged columns supporting 'winged souls' as caryatids. Simple hewn stone basin font, probably 12th century, supported by thick circular stem with spiral fluting on square base (stem and base dated from 1884-5).

Roughly square burial ground enclosed by coped rubble wall. Various tombstones of 17th, 18th and subsequent dates.

Pair of plain square tooled ashlar gatepiers with pair cast iron spearhead carriage gates.

Statement of Special Interest

Ecclesiastical building in use as such. Birnie church is said to have been an early seat of the Bishop of Moray before the foundation of Elgin cathedral in 1224, and is the earliest church in continuous worship in the District. 1690 mural monument inscribed 'Here lies under this pulpit the corps of Mr Wm Sanders Lait minister of this Paroch, who deceased the 13 May 1670 and of Katherine and Elspet Sanders his children'. The memorial may have been resited to the north wall after restoration of 1891. Plinth and stem of font gifted to church in 1885 by Ecclesiological Society of Aberdeen, who visited the church during 1884. This pedestal is made from Auchindoir sandstone.

The ground beneath Birnie Kirk is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 for its archaeological importance. Significant upstanding and below-ground archaeological remains may survive as part of and in addition to the structures and features described above.

'Birnie Parish Kirk, old graveyard and symbol stone' is Scheduled Monument No 2781 and is excluded from the listing.

Listed building record and statutory address updated in 2015. Previously listed as 'St Brendon's Church of Scotland, Birnie Parish Church, Burial Ground, and Gatepiers.'

References

Bibliography

Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland: http://www.rcahms.gov.uk/canmore.html CANMORE ID 16410

Ordnance Survey (Surveyed 1870, Published 1874) Elgin Sheet XII.7. 25 inches to the mile. 1st Edition. London: Ordnance Survey.

Statistical Account (1791-99) Parish of Birnie Vol.9. p.160.

New Statistical Account (1834-45) Parish of Birnie, Vol. 13. 85.

MacGibbon, D. and Ross, T (1896)The Ecclesiastical Architecture Of Scotland. Edinburgh: D. Douglas. pp. 218-220.

Watson, W. H. (1985) A Marshall Mackenzie, Architect In Aberdeen. Aberdeen: University of Aberdeen p. 52.

Cramond, W. (1903) Church of Birnie. Elgin.

Moray And Nairn Express, 10 March 1885 p.4

Further information from http://www.scottishchurches.org.uk/sites/site/id/392/name/Birnie+Parish+Church+Birnie+Grampian (accessed 16 January 2015)

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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