The Secrets of Old Kirkcolm Churchyard

Published by Andy at April 19, 2022

Tucked away in the woods behind the small community of Kirkcolm is what remains of the ‘old’ church and churchyard, a category B Listed site. But the church is no longer to be seen having been demolished in the early 19^th century to make way for the new church located on the rise of the hill at Church Road on the other side of the village. Only the churchyard, typically enclosed by an oval-shaped rubble boundary wall, is all that remains with a multitude of gravestones dating from the 18th century onwards, some possibly earlier, together with two burial enclosures to the west.

In February 2022, volunteers led by AOC Archaeology undertook two days of historic building recording to unearth the secrets of the gravestones, which revealed a huge range of dates, styles and symbology. Using a long-standing technique based on Harold Mytum’s well-renowned system for recording gravestones based on the CBA Handbook Recording and Analysing Gravestones (2000), every aspect of the memorials was recorded from condition, date, materials, symbology, text styles, decorative motifs and more.

As you can see, some of the gravestones had some fascinating imagery such as this stone (fig 1), located near the boundary wall to the east of the churchyard, steeped in masonic symbolism.

Fig 1 - Stone Imagery

As for the burial enclosures, the smaller enclosure to the north was dedicated to the memory of Rev John Rose (fig 2) who died in 1797 as well as his son who fell at the Battle of Bergen in 1799.

Fig 2 - Enclosure

The larger burial aisle (fig 3) is a little more curious, as only one large grave slab remains inside, and the inscription is now illegible, so it is in unclear who this was dedicated to. Now overgrown, the answers may only lie beneath.

Fig 3 - Curious Burial Aisle

The site is also closely linked to the Kilmorie Stone, featured in a previous news post. Now housed in the ‘new’ early 19^th century church in the village, the stone was originally used as a door lintel when the old church was renovated in the 18^th century. When that church was finally taken down in 1821, the stone was kept at nearby Corsewall house until the late 1980s when it was moved to its new home.

To find out more, check out the film taken during the churchyard recording:

Andy

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