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Summary

Description

1842. Strepped Perpendicular Gothic church incorporating 1761 Huntly Vault. Coursed tooled granite with finely finished dressings. Base course; pointed-arched openings; chamfered reveals; angle buttresses breaking eaves with coped pyramidal finial; eaves cornice.

E (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: symmetrical; 3-bay; bay to centre slightly advanced, deeply chamfered doorway with hoodmould to ground floor, 2-leaf decoratively panelled timber door; 3-light traceried window above with decorative hoodmould; birdcage belcote stepped-up to apex with pyramidal cap. Window to bay to left; infilled window to bay to right.

N ELEVATION: asymmetrical; 4-bay; lean-to vestry to centre of ground floor with 2 irregularly placed windows, 2 coped stacks to left return, piend -roofed addition to re-entrant angle , flanked by timber lean-to, panelled timber door to right return; 2 half-height windows above; window to each flanking bay; chamfered doorway to Huntly Vault in bay to outer left, surmounted by tooled stone reading "1761" and Huntly coat of arms, boarded timber door.

W ELEVATION: symmetrical; 3-bay; ground floor doorway bay slightly advanced, 2-leaf boarded timber door surmounted by 3-light traceried window; louvred cross-opening set in gablehead; blind window to flanking bay to right; window to flanking bay to left.

S ELEVATION: symmetrical; 4-bay; regular fenestration to each bay.

Predominantly small-pane timber traceried windows. Grey slate roof with lead ridge. Coped stone skews. 2 coped stacks to lean-to vestry. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: porch leading to stairs to gallery at NW and NE corners; timber pulpit, communion table, chairs and reading desk to S wall; decorative timber panelled galleries to W, N and E on cast-iron octagonal columns; simply panelled pine pews; bell pull in window reveal to E; organ to SW corner. Barrell-vaulted Huntly Vault to basement to north reached from exterior.

HALL: 1902. Single storey plain gothic church hall to W of church. Tooled coursed pink granite with some ladder snecking, finely finished to margins. Chamfered pointed-arched openings; timber eaves course.

W Elevation: asymmetrical; 5-bay; 4-bay addition to bays to left, bipartite window to each bay, shouldered doorway to right return, boarded timber door with glazed panels; bipartite window to outer right.

S Elevation: symmetrical; 3 lancet windows in relieving arch.

E Elevation: asymmetrical; 5-bay; bipartite windows to 3 bays to left, single window to penultimate bay to right, glazed and boarded timber door to outer right.

N Elevation: symmetrical; 3 lancet windows in relieving arch.

Predominantly square-pane leaded windows. Purple grey slate roof with lead ridge and 2 cast-iron ventilators. Coped stone skews with decorative finials. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

Interior: simple interior with modern alterations.

GRAVE YARD, GATES, GATEPIERS AND BOUNDARY WALLS: grave yard surrounding church enclosed by rubble boundary wall with pointed coping. Gates to E and W with square grey granite gatepiers, coped with ogee caps and spherical finials, pedestrian gateway to E; geometric ironwork gates.

Statement of Special Interest

Ecclesiastical building in use as such. The early religious history in Aboyne is rather unclear, a Preceptory was erected "at Aboyne" in 1232 (Lawson p1) which was taken over by the Knights of St. John in 1314. Aboyne's place of worship seems to have originally been in Formaston, until 1762 when the first church was built in Aboyne. In 1763 so popular was the church that plans to build a west loft "for the accommodation of subtenants and the poor sort of people" (Lawson p11) were approved. However, by 1841 the old church wasn't structurally sound and in 1842 a new "handsome parish church" (Groome p30) was built on the site of the old, only retaining the Huntly Vault to the north, over which is the 1761 datestone and the Huntly coat of arms. A bell for the new church was made by melting down the bell from the ruin of Old Glen Tanar church (see separate listing); the bell and birdcage belcote from the old church were moved to the tower at Aboyne Castle home farm where they survive today. A pipe organ was installed in the new church in 1843. The organ was replaced in 1914, and was only moved to its present site in 1974 when modern heating was installed.

References

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