Udny Parish Church now in private ownership, was a congregation of the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

Udny Green Udny Green (Scottish Gaelic: Olldanaidh; Doric: Widnie Green) is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, immediately southwest of Pitmedden. It is part of the parish of Udny along with another small settlement, Udny Station. Udny Parish Church i ...

, Aberdeenshire in the north-east of Scotland, some 15 miles north of Aberdeen. Formerly known as Christ's Kirk, it was designed by the City of Aberdeen architect John Smith in 1821. Sited on the north edge of the village green, it is within the ancient Udny Parish and the

Formartine Formartine ( gd, Fearann Mhàrtainn meaning "Martin's land") is a committee area in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. This district extends north from the River Don to the River Ythan. It has a population of 36,478 (2001 Census). The committee area wa ...

committee area Many large local government councils in the United Kingdom have a system of area committees or area boards, which involve local people and organisations in decisions affecting council spending within their area. They cover a geographical area suc ...

. It is a Category B

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Architecture

Constructed from

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

in 1821 to the plans of the City of

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

architect, John Smith, this was the first of his ecclesiastical designs to utilise a Tudor-Gothic style. The southern elevation has a four-stage tower with an arched entrance with a

hood mould In architecture, a hood mould, hood, label mould (from Latin ''labia'', lip), drip mould or dripstone, is an external moulded projection from a wall over an opening to throw off rainwater, historically often in form of a ''pediment''. This mouldin ...

and a curved window above. The tower protrudes from the main rectangular body of the church, which forms symmetrical gables to either side and features elongated arched windows. A broad slated roof tops the main part of the structure and it has

pinnacle A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was mainly ...

s on the four outside corners. Similar spires are in each corner of the tower above a

crenellated A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

parapet. A clock face is set at the top of the south facing side of the tower. It bears a dated stone, 1895, but it is uncertain whether this date applies to the clock itself or if the final stage of the tower was added in that year. The inscribed bell was made by Thomas Mears II. The single-storey

harled Harling is a rough-cast wall finish consisting of lime and aggregate, known for its rough texture. Many castles and other buildings in Scotland and Ulster have walls finished with harling. It is also used on contemporary buildings, where it pr ...

session house and

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

are sited on the opposite side at the rear elevation of the church. Four plain-glass windows are installed on the west and east elevations. Access is also available on the east side through a side door. In 1890

Alexander Marshall Mackenzie Alexander Marshall MacKenzie (1 January 1848 – 4 May 1933) was a Scottish architect responsible for prestigious projects including the headquarters of the Isle of Man Banking Company in Douglas, and Australia House and the Waldorf Hotel in ...

undertook internal restoration work and the roof was replaced.

Harrison & Harrison Harrison & Harrison Ltd is a British company that makes and restores pipe organs, based in Durham and established in Rochdale in 1861. It is well known for its work on instruments such as King's College, Cambridge, Westminster Abbey, and the R ...

made the pipe organ, which is positioned to the rear of the

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

. It is of the manual action type.

Stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

panels were placed in the existing three

mullioned A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...

window on the north gable in 1927. As there is no burial ground attached to the church, burials take place at the nearby Old Church yard instead.

References

Citations Bibliography * * * * * * {{coord , 57.328224, -2.200702, region:GB_type:city, display=title Churches completed in 1821 Church of Scotland churches in Scotland Churches in Aberdeenshire Category B listed buildings in Aberdeenshire