Old St Peter's Church (also known as St Peter's on the Links) is 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, visu ...

Peterhead Peterhead (; , ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is the council area's largest settlement, with a population of 19,060 at the 2022 Census for Scotland, 2022 Census. It is the largest fishing port in the United Kingdom for total landi ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...

, Scotland. While the medieval main tower is still standing, only ruins remain of its other sections, some of which date to the 12th century.OLD ST. PETER'S CHURCH
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Historic Environment Scotland Historic Environment Scotland (HES) () 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 merger of government agency Historic Sc ...

The pyramid roof of the tower is believed to be 18th century.

History

Formerly Peterhead Parish Church of Peterugie, held by the

Bishop of Dunkeld The Bishop of Dunkeld is the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Dunkeld, one of the largest and more important of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics, whose first recorded bishop is an early 12th-century cleric named Cormac. However, the firs ...

, it transferred to

Deer Abbey Deer Abbey was a Cistercian monastery in Buchan, Scotland. It was founded by 1219 under the patronage William Comyn, jure uxoris Earl of Buchan, who is also buried there. History There was an earlier community of Scottish monks or priests, ...

in 1218. In 1543,

William Keith, 3rd Earl Marischal William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...

, became

commendator In canon law, commenda (or ''in commendam'') was a form of transferring an ecclesiastical benefice ''in trust'' to the ''custody'' of a patron. The phrase ''in commendam'' was originally applied to the provisional occupation of an ecclesiastical ...

. It was resigned to

the Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

in 1587, but the land was kept and a

burgh of barony A burgh of barony was a type of Scottish town (burgh). Burghs of barony were distinct from royal burghs, as the title was granted to a landowner who, as a tenant-in-chief, held his estates directly from the crown. (In some cases, they might also ...

was formed in 1593.

Earl Marischal The title of Earl Marischal was created in the Peerage of Scotland for William Keith, the Great Marischal of Scotland. History The office of Marischal of Scotland (or ''Marascallus Scotie'' or ''Marscallus Scotiae'') had been hereditary, held ...

's estates were confiscated in 1716, and the church was sold to

York Buildings Company The York Buildings Company was an English company in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Waterworks The full name of the company was The Governor and Company for Raising the Thames Water at York Buildings. The undertaking was established in ...

in 1720. It went bankrupt in 1786, and it was sold to the Trustees of Merchant Maiden Hospital and

Mary Erskine Mary Erskine (1629 – 2 June 1707) was a Scottish businesswoman and philanthropist, who donated money to set up the girls' school which is now known as The Mary Erskine School and also the Trades Maiden Hospital (now known as the Trades Maiden ...

in 1728. They appointed a

provost Provost may refer to: Officials Ecclesiastic * Provost (religion), a high-ranking church official * Prince-provost, a high-ranking church official Government * Provost (civil), an officer of local government, including the equivalent ...

( Baron Bailie, Thomas Arbuthnot of Meethill) and three bailies. The church was abandoned in 1771, when a new one was built near the site of the present

drill hall A drill hall is a place such as a building or a hangar where soldiers practise and perform military drills. Description In the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, the term was used for the whole headquarters building of a military reserve unit, ...

. The church was originally given

Category A listed Category, plural categories, may refer to: General uses *Classification, the general act of allocating things to classes/categories Philosophy * Category of being * ''Categories'' (Aristotle) * Category (Kant) * Categories (Peirce) * Category ( ...

status in 1971, but it was elevated to being a

in 2016.

Graveyard

The church's graveyard holds

Category B listed This is a list of Category A listed buildings in Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern ...

status.OLD ST. PETER'S GRAVEYARD
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It contains monuments mainly from the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries.Peterhead Old Churchyard
at FindAGrave.com A southern extension is comparatively modern.

Gallery

File:Old St Peter's Church, Peterhead 02.jpg, The eastern side of the tower File:St Peter's kirkyard, Peterhead - geograph.org.uk - 272361.jpg, The churchyard

References

{{reflist

External links

OLD ST. PETER'S CHURCH
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OLD ST. PETER'S GRAVEYARD
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Peter's Old, Peterhead Former churches in Scotland Scheduled monuments in Aberdeenshire Listed churches in Scotland

History

Graveyard

Gallery

See also

References

External links