A Corpus of Scottish Medieval
Parish Churches

Historical outline

Dedication: St Martin?

No references to the church appear to survive before the middle of the thirteenth century.  The first record of it appears to be the notice of its dedication, possibly to St Martin(1) - as the church of Logie-Cuthel - by Bishop David de Bernham of St Andrews on 25 August 1243.(2)  It is recorded as an independent parsonage in 1275 in the accounts of the papal tax-collector in Scotland, noted as having paid two merks of tax.(3)  The church remained independent at the Reformation, at which time it was also noted that the patronage lay with the archbishops of St Andrews.  The parsonage, held by Mr Alexander Forrest, was valued at £143 13s 4d, from which 50 merks were deducted as fee for the vicar and for the new minister.(4)

Notes

1. J M Mackinlay, Ancient Church Dedications in Scotland: Non-scriptural Dedications (Edinburgh, 1914), 313.

2. A O Anderson (ed), Early Sources of Scottish History, ii (Edinburgh, 1922), 524 [Pontifical Offices of St Andrews].

3. A I Dunlop (ed), ‘Bagimond’s Roll: Statement of the Tenths of the Kingdom of Scotland’, Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, vi (1939), 40.

4. J Kirk (ed), The Books of Assumption of the Thirds of Benefices (Oxford, 1995), 373-4.

Summary of relevant documentation

Medieval

Synopsis of Cowan’s Parishes: It was listed as an independent parsonage in Bagimond's Roll, and remained unappropriated at the Reformation. Patronage was with the bishops of St Andrews.(1)

According to Mackinley the church was dedicated to St Martin.(2)

1553 Alexander Forest rector of church and notary public.(3)

Post-medieval

Books of assumption of thirds of benefices and Accounts of the collectors of thirds of benefices: Alexander Forrest is parson of the Parish church; patronage and presentation with the archbishop of St Andrews. Value £143 13s 4d from which is taken a 50 mark pension for Patrick Liddell (had been in litigation over the church) and the fee for the vicar and minister.(4)

Account of Collectors of Thirds of Benefices (G. Donaldson): Third of parsonage and vicarage £47 17s 9 1/3d.(5)

1643 (12 Oct) Visitation of the church by the Presbytery of Brechin notes that the parishes are desolate and for that reason it explained the ruinous nature of the kirks. The sole heritor (the lord of F… obscured) not present and is to be consulted.(6)

1649 (28 Jan) Reference to a meeting of the heritors of Logie for deciding where to build the new kirk.(7)

1650 (11 Apr) Commission from the heritors of Logie and Pert to the presbytery of Brechin that their churches may be disunited. The presbytery send a commission to Logie as to whether they can provide a full stipend for a minister if the churches are disunited.(8)

1652 (9 Sept) Visitation of the church by the Presbytery of Brechin finds the fabric of the church to be ruinous; the presbytery desires the heritors to go about it with all diligence for sufficiently repairing thereof (which they promise to do).(9)

Statistical Account of Scotland (Rev Alexander Peter, 1791): ‘The old church of Logie, which is situated in a hollow or low ground by the side of the North Esk river’. The old church of Pert likewise situated on the banks of the North Esk, very near the old north water bridge, and 3 miles up river from Logie’.(10)

New Statistical Account of Scotland (Rev Thomas Hill, 1835): ‘The situation of the parish church is exactly centrical, being about 3 miles distant from the 2 extremities. It was built in 1775’. (location of two ‘old churches’ repeated but no indication of their condition).(11)

Architecture of Scottish Post-Reformation Churches (George Hay):1840; original furniture complete; remains of 1775 kirk of Pert with 1676 belfry. Has a touch of neo-classical severity and a fine pulpit.(12)

Notes

1. Cowan, The parishes of medieval Scotland, 137.

2. Mackinley, Non-Scriptural Dedications, p. 313.

3. Prot Bk of Dominus Thomas Johnsoun, 1528-1578, no. 368.

4. Kirk, The books of assumption of the thirds of benefices, 373-4.

5. Donaldson, Accounts of the collectors of thirds of benefices, 9.

6. NRS Presbytery of Brechin, Minutes, 1639-1661, CH2/40/1, fol. 58.

7. NRS Presbytery of Brechin, Minutes, 1639-1661, CH2/40/1, fol. 98.

8. NRS Presbytery of Brechin, Minutes, 1639-1661, CH2/40/1, fol. 159.

9. NRS Presbytery of Brechin, Minutes, 1639-1661, CH2/40/1, fols. 268-269.

10. Statistical Account of Scotland, (1791), ix, 33-34.

11. New Statistical Account of Scotland, (1835), xi, 268.

12. Hay, The Architecture of Scottish Post-Reformation Churches, pp. 116, 168, 188 & 246.

Bibliography

NRS Presbytery of Brechin, Minutes, 1639-1661, CH2/40/1.

Cowan, I.B., 1967, The parishes of medieval Scotland, (Scottish Record Society), Edinburgh.

Donaldson, G., 1949, Accounts of the collectors of thirds of benefices, (Scottish History Society), Edinburgh.

Hay, G., 1957, The Architecture of Scottish Post-Reformation Churches, 1560-1843, Oxford.

Kirk, J., 1995, The books of assumption of the thirds of benefices, (British Academy) Oxford.

Mackinley, J.M, 1914, Ancient Church Dedications in Scotland. Non-Scriptural Dedications, Edinburgh.

New Statistical Account of Scotland, 1834-45, Edinburgh and London.

Protocol Book of Dominus Thomas Johnsoun, 1528-1578,  1920, eds. J. Beveridge & J. Russell (Scottish Record Society) Edinburgh.

Statistical Account of Scotland, 1791-9, ed. J. Sinclair, Edinburgh.

Architectural description

Logie-Pert, which was earlier known as Logie Montrose, remained unappropriated throughout the middle ages, the patronage being held by the bishops and archbishops of St Andrews.(1) In about 1610 or 1615 the parish was annexed to that of Pert,(2) and the two together came to be known as Logie-Pert. In 1649 the heritors met to decide where the new church should be built in a location that was suitable for both parts of the united parish.(3)

The church is attractively located on sloping ground in a roughly circular churchyard above the west bank of the River North Esk. By 1643 it was said to be ruinous,(4)  but despite the complaints about its state it appears that the church remained in use to some extent until as late as 1775.(5)

After a period of abandonment, in 1857 it was restored in a truncated state as a mausoleum for the Macpherson Grant family of Craigo. An arch-braced roof was constructed over it, which is now almost completely lost, and a new front was constructed at the truncated west end. The front has above the door the arms of Macpherson Grant and of Carnegie, the latter being the family that preceded the Macpherson Grants at Craigo.(6)

The building as it now stands is a rectangle of 6.05 metres from north to south and 10.95 metres from east to west. Despite the fact that the latter dimension is presumably less than that of the complete medieval church, it can never have been a large church. It is therefore all the more striking that it was an unusually finely finished and equipped building; it is not always clear, however, if some features are medieval, entirely of 1857, or are of medieval origin but have been re-cut in 1857.

The walls are of pink uncoursed rubble, and at the east end, where the ground levels are lower, they rise form a base course consisting of two levels of chamfers, an unusual degree of refinement for such a small rural church. The east gable is pierced by a triplet of narrow lancets with external rebates for glazing frames and no hood mouldings; these details point to a date in the earlier thirteenth century for the primary construction of the building.

The north wall, which shows signs of extensive rebuilding, is blank, though there is a blocked window opening towards the western end that may be a modification of an earlier opening.

There are a number of openings along the south wall, though most appear to have been either heavily renewed in 1857, or entirely of that date in their present form.

Towards the east end of the south wall is a rectangular three-light window with the pointed heads formed from intersecting round arches. A relatively large window in this location could have been a secondary insertion to provide additional light for the principal altar, though there must be some doubt as to the authenticity of the tracery. To the west of this window is a blocked round arched door with chamfered arrises, which also appears to be a secondary insertion, and which presumably served as a priest’s entrance.

A short distance to the west of this doorway is a partly renewed lancet, and in this position it is a possibility that it lit the area in front of the screen that separated chancel and nave, a possibility that must be considered further in examining the interior. The only other window to the nave area is a lancet framed by a rectangle, which appears to be of the same vintage as the window flanking the principal altar.

Within the church there is an unusually large number of liturgical furnishings for such a small church. Towards the east end of the south wall is a small arched piscina, the basin of which is broken away. On the opposite side of the church is an elaborated aumbry within a rectangular frame, which was presumably a Sacramant House. The ogee-headed locker is rebated for a door, with sockets for hinges, and the arch has a hood moulding capped by a fleur-de-lis finial and flanked by discs in relief. Below the locker is a rectangular framed recess of uncertain function.

There has been an altar at the east end of the nave on the evidence of a second piscina within a rectangular recess. This is a short way to the west of the single lancet referred to in discussing the exterior, and together they suggest that the chancel screen was at this point, and that there was at least one altar associated with it.

Notes

1. Ian B. Cowan, The Parishes of Medieval Scotland (Scottish Record Society), 1967, pp. 137-8. 

2. Statistical Account of Scotland, 1791-99, vol. 9, p. 33.

3. National Records of Scotland, Presbytery of Brechin, Minutes, 1639-61, CH2/40/1, fols 268-9.

4. National Records of Scotland, Presbytery of Brechin, Minutes, 1639-61, CH2/40/1, fol. 58.

5. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, Canmore online resource.

6. John Gifford, The Buildings of Scotland, Dundee and Angus, New Haven and London, 2012, p. 598.