Forbes, Old Parish Church

Heritage listing

Date Added 29/10/2003 Supplementary Information Updated 01/06/2018 Type Ecclesiastical: burial ground, cemetery, graveyard; church Local Authority Aberdeenshire Parish Tullynessle And Forbes NGR NJ 51925 16912 Coordinates 351925, 816912 — The monument comprises the remains of Forbes Church, also known as the old parish church of Forbes, and its walled burial ground. The monument is situated at the mouth of Glen of Brux where it begins to open out onto the Howe of Alford. It sits on the E bank of a sweeping bend of the River Don, amongst fertile haughs, which in turn are almost completely enclosed by hills. The parish of Forbes is believed to date from the 13th century with a dedicated to the nine maiden of St Donald, and appears to have taken its appellation from the Forbes family. It is first documented in 1325 when the church and its dependent chapel of Kearn were erected as a prebend of Aberdeen Cathedral by Bishop Henry le Chen. Both parsonage and vicarage were annexed, the patronage remaining with the lords of Forbes, while the cure was evidently a vicarage pensionary. The church went out of use in 1808 when the parish merged with Tullynessle; the church was reportedly in a bad state of repair before it was abandoned. In 1907 the shell of the church was stabilised. The church, is a simple rectangular building, measuring 11.8m E-W by 4.6m transversely within walls 0.8m thick. This simple plan suggests that the building may have its origins in the 13th century, although subsequently altered at different periods with changes to the door and windows, the addition of crow-stepped gables and an internal gallery. The building is roofless, but stands intact to its wall heads, which have been coped with large flat flags, probably during the 1907 repairs. The walls are rubbl

From Historic Environment Scotland under OGL v3.