Deskford Church

The Old Church of St John stands roofless in the Kirktown of Deskford, Moray, within a walled burial ground. The church dates from at least 1541, when it was rebuilt for the Ogilvy family, and it remained in use until 1872. The finely carved sacrament house added in 1551 is its most striking feature, praised by Charles McKean and Richard Fawcett. The church’s remains include thick walls that survive to full height, raised ground inside, and the detached vaulted ground floor of the former tower. The burial ground holds 17th- and 18th-century memorials, including that of Walter Ogilvy, a former minister who died in 1658. The church was owned by the canons of Aberdeen Cathedral and served the parish of Fordyce. After the new parish church opened in 1872, the old building was stripped of its roof and left to decay. In 1934 the ruins were scheduled as a monument, and in 1972 the burial ground and enclosing wall were listed at Category A. The sacrament house, about 2.5 metres high and 1 metre wide, bears vine-scroll carvings and Latin inscriptions naming the Ogilvys and the Gordons. Visitors enter through simple cast-iron gates set in squared ashlar piers. Inside the burial ground the coped rubble wall encloses weathered 17th- and 18th-century gravestones. The long, narrow church interior shows doorways and thick walls rising to full height, with the ground inside raised by about 0.6 to 0.9 metres. The detached tower base remains vaulted, its upper parts removed when the roof was taken off. The sacrament house stands near the east end, its carvings still sharp despite centuries of exposure.