Birnie Kirk is a 12th century parish church located near Elgin, in Moray,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. It was the first

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

of the Bishop of Moray and is one of the oldest in Scotland to have been in continuous use. The graveyard, symbol stone and archaeological remains under the church have been designated a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

Historic Environment Scotland Historic Environment Scotland (HES) ( gd, Àrainneachd Eachdraidheil Alba) is an executive non-departmental public body responsible for investigating, caring for and promoting Scotland's historic environment. HES was formed in 2015 from the mer ...

Description

Birnie Parish Kirk is a 12th century parish church located 4 km south of Elgin, in Moray, Scotland. Birnie is one of the oldest churches in continual use in Moray. It is constructed of finely cut freestone ashlar. The building is rectangular in design with a square, short chancel, which is separated from the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

by a rounded chancel arch. The nave was shortened in 1734 when the was wall was rebuilt, and the church was later restored in 1891. In the corner of the nave stands a plain, Romanesque style font. The church contains lancet windows in the north and south. The church is surrounded by an oval burial enclosure, which suggests an earlier medieval site. The wall on the north side of the enclosure was removed in the past in order to extend the cemetery. The Birnie Symbol Stone, a Class I Pictish symbol stone symbol stone stands against the west wall in the enclosure. It made of granite, is in height, 0.6m thick and narrows toward the top. A decoration of an eagle, a Z-rod and a rectangular device is incised into the north side of the stone. The cemetery also contains a

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

honouring local parishioners who died during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The memorial, designed to look like the gable end of a chapel, contains two inlaid plaques which lie below a Romanesque arch.

History

Before the construction of Birnie, the site was known to have been the original seat of the Bishops of Moray. Simon de Tosnay, the fourth bishop, was buried in the church in 1184. Birnie was a commune kirk of the Cathedral of Elgin. There are no remnants of the earlier church, but the oval churchyard suggests the shape of am early Christian enclosure. The graveyard was designated a

. in 1969. The church was listed in 1971 as a category A building. In 1997, the scheduled monument was updated to include the symbol stone located within the burial enclosure and the archaeological remains lying under the church.

References

{{Former cathedrals in Scotland Churches completed in 1140 12th-century church buildings in Scotland Church of Scotland churches in Scotland Category A listed buildings in Moray Listed churches in Scotland Churches in Moray Former cathedrals in Scotland Culdees Romanesque architecture in Scotland 1140s establishments in Scotland Medieval cathedrals in Scotland

Description

History

See also

References