Kirk of St Ternan - Arbuthnott, Aberdeenshire.
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creg-ny-baa
N 56° 51.769 W 002° 19.652
30V E 541000 N 6302316
Church dating from the 13th century, tucked away in the countryside of the Mearns, three miles from the east coast of Scotland.
Waymark Code: WM13XT9
Location: Northern Scotland, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 03/09/2021
Views: 1
The parish of Arbuthmott lies in the Mearns, a large rural part of Scotland. The hamlet of Arbuthnott is situated just over three miles from the coastal town of Inverbervie, and to the south, in a wooded valley near the Bervie Water, can be found the Kirk of St Ternan, also known as Arbuthnott Parish Church.
St Ternan was born into a Pictish family from the Mearns in the first half of the 5th century, who after training in his native country, went to Ireland and took part in missionary work and became Abbot of a monastic settlement in Leinster. Thereafter he returned to the area.
The church was built in 1242 as part of the Collegiate Church of St.Mary at St.Andrews, with the chancel and part of the nave still surviving. The church is one of the few in Scotland that remain in worship since the reformation.
It is built in red sandstone with later parts in rubble. The chancel was built in Early English style and dedicated to David de Bernham, Bishop of St.Andrews on August 3rd 1242.
A stone-capped bell tower was added to the west end by Sir Robert Arbuthnott of that Ilk in 1500, as was the two storey burial aisle on the south side facing the roadway. A Norman archway in the south wall leads into the aisle.
The nave was gutted by fire in 1889, and was restored the following year by A.M. MacKenzie. Since then the church was merged by the neighbouring parishes of Bervie and Kinneff.
The church can be reached by a minor road that loops southwards from the B967 road at Arbuthnott. A graveyard surrounds the church on the western and southern sides.