The graveyard and newer extension are situated a mile west of the village of Edzell on the site that was the old church until its demolition in 1818. Only the south aisle remains, and an information board immediately next to it, on what was the site of the rest of the church, gives historical information about the site. The text reads as follows:
'The Lindsay Aisle is all that remains of Edzell Old Church, demolished in 1818 and replaced by the present church in the village. A tiny drawing on the Panmure estate plan of 1776 shows a T-shaped church with the Lindsay Aisle on the south side.
Edzell is peaceful today, but in 1428 the Rector was excommunicated for keeping a concubine, and in 1706 the Session Clerk absconded with the session records. In 1714 there was a bitter dispute between the Presbytery, which appointed Robert Gray as minister, and David Lindsay of Edzell, who supported a previous minister, Robert Lindsay, a Jacobite Episcopalian. Robert Gray was repeatedly locked out of the church, and on the 8th October a crowd armed with knives and cudgels, and fortified (by David Lindsay) with ale, brandy and cash, set upon the congregation and chased the minister into the West Water.
Edzell Church is first mentioned in 1342, but the site is much older; a 9th-century cross was found in 1952, and is now in Edzell Castle.
The original burial ground was smaller, but it is still marked by paths and trees. The position of the church was confirmed by a resistivity survey in April 1999. The pre-1818 gravestones which stood outwith the church also give a hint to its size.
The Lindsay Aisle was probably built as a chantry chapel in the 16th century, by David Lindsay, 9th Earl of Crawford. There would have been a side altar against the east wall, where a priest said masses for the souls of departed Lindsays. Under the floor is a later burial vault; a lamp-hook decorated with four skulls looked down on the coffins, but the burials were removed many years ago.
The reconstruction shows the church at the end of the 18th century. Some conjectural detail has been borrowed from Eassie Church between Glamis and Meigle.
Resistivity Survey Deposits which drain better have a higher electrical resistance; by passing a current through the ground and measuring the resistance, we can detect buried features without digging. At Edzell this showed the rectangular plan of the church, and perhaps a sacristy in the north-east corner.'