Rhynie Old Kirkyard, Aberdeenshire
Visited August 2020
Rhynie Old Kirkyard, in the little village of Rhynie near the foot of Tap O'Noth hillfort in Aberdeenshire, is a lovely, quiet place with an old feel to it. Accessed down a narrow road, there is a shelter in the carpark containing 4 Pictish stones. Two of these were found in the foundations of the old church when it was demolished,, and the field next to it contains the Craw Stane, still in situ, and is where the Pictish stone depicting 'Rhynie Man' was found.
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| Pictish stone in car park of Rhynie cemetery |
The cemetery was the kirkyard of the old St Luag's Church, which fell into disrepair in the late 18th century and was demolished in the 19th century and replaced by a new church in the village . There's no trace now of the old church, although I'm told if you look closely some old stones from it are built into the kirkyard wall.
When you enter the kirkyard, you notice it's right on the edge of the village, with fields and woods on three sides. The gravestones in the area where you enter are from the 19th and 20th centuries (the kirkyard is still in use today) but head further back and things get older. Right at the back, against the west wall is the oldest in situ survivor a gothic looking memorial to local nobleman Alexander Gordon of Muirack, who died in October 1668. Strangely, it's located in the far corner from where the old church would have stood, possibly because he was a Catholic and the kirk was very much Presbyterian.
Beside Gordon's memorial is a Medieval stone sarcophagus, much older than this memorial and not part of it. It was found when the cemetery was cleared in the 19th century. At this time, many of the 18th century gravestones were moved to make way for new burials, and left against the west wall of the cemetery. They are much weathered and fairly illegible, although some memento mori including winged souls and skulls can still be seen.
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| Alexander Gordon's memorial |
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| Detail of Alexander Gordon's memorial |
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| Medieval stone sarcophagus |
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| 18th century memorials along the back wall |
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