St Combs, St Columba's Church

Heritage listing

Date Added 29/11/2004 Type Ecclesiastical: church Local Authority Aberdeenshire Parish Lonmay NGR NK 05649 63167 Coordinates 405649, 863167 — The monument consist of the fragmentary remains of the medieval parish church of St Combs (St Columba) which served the parish of Lonmay. The monument stands within a burial ground which almost lies within sand dunes overlooking St Combs Haven. An account of 1527 states that Henry Le Chen, bishop of Aberdeen, was responsible for founding this church as a prebend of the cathedral in 1314. The church was abandoned in 1608 when a new church was built 2 miles further inland at Kirkton of Lonmay. The remains of the church are extremely fragmentary, with the W gable being the most substantial upstanding element, surviving to a height on 3m, pierced by a small square-headed window. The N wall survives to several course in places, but as with the rest of the structure, much of the wall consists of turf covered footings. Despite this fragmentary condition, the general form and dimensions of church can be made out: it was a simple rectangular structure aligned ESE-WNW and measured 19m ESE-WNW by about 6m transversely. The area to be scheduled includes the church and an area around in which associated remains may be expected to be found. The area is rectangular in shape and has maximum dimensions of 28m ESE-WNW by 14m transversely as marked in red on the attached map. All modern burial lairs still in use are excluded from the scheduling.

From Historic Environment Scotland under OGL v3.