St Marnoch's Church

Heritage listing

Date Added 23/03/2006 Type Ecclesiastical: church Local Authority Aberdeenshire Parish Leochel-Cushnie NGR NJ 55006 09625 Coordinates 355006, 809625 — The monument consists of the remains of the medieval parish church of Kirkton of Leochel. Although it has been argued that a church here could have been founded in the 7th century by St Marnoch (to whom the later church was dedicated), the first certain reference to a church was in 1165-70, when it was granted by Gilchrist earl of Mar to Monymusk (which at that time was probably still home to the successors of a community of Culdees, but which became an Augustinian priory shortly afterwards). The main body of the church, with dimensions of c. 17m E-W and 6m N-S is of the simple rectangular plan that was becoming normal for rural parish churches by the later 12th century, with the main focus of worship being an altar at the E end. Although only the rubble-built W gable wall survives to a significant height, the lower masonry of parts of the E wall is also evident. The W wall is now concealed by vegetation, but there appear to be the substantial remains of a bellcote at its apex; a bell of 1754, which presumably once hung in this bellcote, is now at Cushnie Church. In the lower part of the W wall is an elevated doorway with chamfered jambs, and with a rectangular window above it; these openings are likely to have been inserted after the Reformation to give access and light to a loft. Near the mid-point of the N wall is a laird's aisle of approximately square plan, which would presumably have looked across to a centrally placed pulpit against the S wall. On the E side steps lead down to a burial vault. It cannot be ruled out that an offshoot of the scale and in the location of this aisle was first built as a medieval chantry

From Historic Environment Scotland under OGL v3.