Kinkell Church, Aberdeenshire
Visited August 2020
Kinkell Church is a ruined church and associated churchyard in north east Scotland, under the care of Historic Scotland. It's down a small country road, and quite easy to miss, especially as the signs run out before the last junction!
The church has quite a history for such a small building. It was built in the 1200's as a simple, plain church - there's very little evidence for windows, but a selection of carved stone fragments on pallets at one end hints at a bit of decoration, probably from the east window. It was linked with the Knights Hospitallers in the 14th century, up until 1420. In the early 16th century it was remodelled and a sacrament house was added in the wall at one end in 1524, and although somewhat weathered the decoration can be seen. There's also a panel beside it depicting the crucifixion, although this is a replica - the original was removed some years ago and is now lost. In 1771 Kinkell Parish was merged with another nearby, and the church was abandoned and some of its stone used to build a new church in Keithhall
Within the church is a reused grave slab from the 15th century, which depicts Gilbert de Greenlaw, in armour, who died at the Battle of Harlaw in 1411. It was reused for another burial in 1592, when it was cut down so the knight is missing his lower legs, and a Greek New Testament text (the earliest in Scotland) added.
There are more gravestones in the kirkyard surrounding the ruin. A couple are old, with memento mori, and may date back to when the church was in use. Others are more modern, Victorian and 20th century. In one corner is a group of memorials to the Tait family, who for over 150 years until 2009 owned the large Tait Paper Mill in nearby Inverurie, whose chimney can be seen from the kirkyard.
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| Gravestone of Gilbert de Greenlaw |
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| Tait memorial, with chimey of paper mill seen in top left corner |
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