Saint Drostan's Church

Heritage listing

Date Added 06/02/1995 Last Date Amended 29/11/2004 Supplementary Information Updated 23/06/2015 Type Ecclesiastical: burial ground, cemetery, graveyard; church Local Authority Aberdeenshire Parish Aberdour (Aberdeenshire) NGR NJ 88433 64403 Coordinates 388433, 864403 — The monument consists of the remains of St Drostan's, the old parish kirk of Aberdour, which dates from the 16th century, and the surrounding burial ground. The building incorporates earlier fabric and is likely to be the last of a series of churches occupying the same site. The original chapel is thought to have been founded by St Drostan around AD 590. The monument was first scheduled in 1995. On that occasion only the ruined structure and an area of ground projecting 2m from around the walls of church was scheduled. The monument is being rescheduled to include the old burial ground where associated remains may survive and which has a collection of memorials dating from the 18th century and perhaps earlier. There is no historical account of Drostan, but additions to the 'Book of Deer' around 1131 state: 'Columcille and Drostan, Cosgrach's son, his disciple, came from Iona, by the inspiration of God, to Aberdour'. In later times the parish church was dedicated to St Drostan, who was also patron saint of the original monastery of Deer. According to the Aberdeen Brieviary his bones were laid in a stone tomb at Aberdour. In 1178 and 1318 there are notices of the church's erection into a prebend of St Machar's Cathedral. The present church is of a T-plan and measures 21.5m WSW-ENE by 6.5m transversely over walls 0.8m thick with a roofed SSE aisle, rebuilt in 1764, projecting 9.3m from the SSE wall. The remains of a blocked chamfered semi-circular arch with impost moulding can be seen between the nave and the

From Historic Environment Scotland under OGL v3.