Strachan
Village (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Strachan
Classification Village (Period Unassigned)
Alternative Name(s) Strachen
Canmore ID 107579
Site Number NO69SE 21
NGR NO 674 923
NGR Description Centred NO 674 923
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/107579
- Council Aberdeenshire
- Parish Strachan
- Former Region Grampian
- Former District Kincardine And Deeside
- Former County Kincardineshire
NO69SE 21 centred 674 923
Strachen.
Measured Survey (26 October 2017)
NO 674 923 (NO69SE 21) A visit was made to the village of Strachan on 26 October 2017 with a view of updating/adding a number of sites to the NRHE.
NO 67379 92264 – Parish church (NO69SE 5) originally belonged to the Archdeacon of Brechin, dedicated to the Virgin Mary in 1242 and rebuilt in 1790. It is shown towards the N side of the churchyard on the 1st Edition OS map of 1868. It was aligned ENE/WSW with steps on the N side, and
probably had its main entrance to the W. It may have had a smaller entrance on its E side and possibly an outside stair on the N side. The current churchyard wall encompasses part of the church fabric, c16.6m in length, with the remains of a plaster wall on the S side and corner of the church. There was a trace of a doorway to NE corner of churchyard. The graveyard contains a mixture of headstones, obelisks, tablestones and pedestal monuments dating from the 1800s to the 1930s. Information from a local person indicated that last burial occurred in 1969.
NO 67457 92281 – Two buildings, one of which may be a former session house, are located to the E, outside the churchyard. Both buildings are shown on the 1st Edition OS map of 1868, the S building being later altered. Both buildings were occupied till after WW2, with the S building being
ruined by fire in the 1950s, whilst the other (former session house) was occupied by a shoemaker (information from farmer of Bowbutts Farm). There were traces of fireplaces in both buildings.
NO 67426 92319 – Parish church (NO69SE 5) of 1865–66. Noted by Scottish Church Heritage Research in 2011 as undergoing conversion into a house, the building work is still ongoing. Built into boundary wall to S is a well (NO 67438 92300), forming a square plinth over former basin inscribed
as follows: 1866 In Remembrance of William Burnett Ramsay of Banchory Lodge. “Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” “For the Lamb which is the midst of the throne shall free them,
and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” Both epitaph’s are damaged and worn by weathering.
NO 67400 92266 – The site of a former school shown on 1st Edition OS map of 1868 as consisting of three compartments located to the W of the churchyard. The traces of two windows and a door on the street frontage were noted during the 2017 visit. The school extends on its E side over the line of the W boundary of the churchyard. It consists of two compartments with two cast-iron columns to the front, and is overgrown with trees.
Archive: NRHE (intended)
Ken Cooper and Stuart Farrell
(Source: DES, Volume 18)