Description
The monument consists of the remains of St Fergus's Church (the old parish church of Dyce) and its burial ground.
The old parish church of Dyce, dedicated to St Fergus, is a pre-Reformation building, dating from the 13th or 14th century. It is rectangular in plan, measuring 17m E-W by 6.7m N-S, with walls 0.8m thick standing to roof level. The walls are rubble built. There is a bell-cote, ascribed to the 15th century, on the W gable, remains of a moulded gothic doorway in the S wall, and the base of a sacrament house in the N wall. The other doors and windows date, in their present form, from after the Reformation.
The original burial ground, which surrounds the church on all sides within a boundary wall, is no longer in use. A more recent cemetery, still in use, is attached to the SW.
Two large symbol stones and four smaller cross-inscribed stones recovered from the site are in the care of the Scottish Ministers.
The area to be scheduled is approximately rectangular, its edge defined by the boundary wall of the burial ground. It includes the boundary wall, the burial ground and the church, in which associated remains are likely to survive. The area measures approximately 50m W-E by 45m N-S as indicated in red on the accompanying map extract.
Statement of National Importance
The monument is of national importance because of the information that it provides, and has the potential to provide by archaeological investigation, concerning the architecture, religion, art, language and burial customs of the inhabitants of the region from the 7th to the 19th centuries. Its importance is enhanced by its association with Pictish period symbol stones, some with ogham inscriptions, and with other cross-incised stones. It is highly likely that the present church lies on the site of an earlier monument.