Nevay Church is a ruined 16th century parish church located near the village of

Kirkinch Kirkinch, meaning 'kirk (church) on the island' in Scots language, Scots and Gaelic languages, Gaelic, is a small village in Angus, Scotland.United Kingdom Ordnance Survey Map, Landranger (2005) The 'island' is the knoll on which stand the remai ...

Angus, Scotland Angus (; ) is one of the 32 Local government in Scotland, local government council areas of Scotland, and a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Dundee City (council area), Dundee City and Per ...

. Originally dedicated to St Neveth, a church has been recorded at this site since the 14th century; however, a round-headed cross-slab found in the church, and now displayed in the Meffan Institute,

Forfar Forfar (; , ) is the county town of Angus, Scotland, and the administrative centre for Angus Council, with a new multi-million-pound office complex located on the outskirts of the town. As of 2021, the town had a population of 16,280. The town ...

, suggests an earlier origin. The building and surrounding cemetery are designated a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

. Nevay church was abandoned in 1835 when a newer church was built to serve both the

Eassie Eassie is a village located along the A94 road in Angus, Scotland. The church in Eassie is dedicated to Saint Fergus, a monk who worked at nearby Glamis. Eassie is noted for the presence of the Eassie Stone, a carved Pictish stone, which resi ...

and Nevay Parishes.

Description

The church is located near the village of Kirkinch, Angus, east of the Kirkinch Burn. It stands on a raised oval platform and is surrounded by a walled cemetery. Nevay Church is rectangular in design, measuring x . Inside the church, adjacent to the north and south walls are several stone artefacts including gravestones and masonry rubble. The church was constructed in coursed rubble of red and grey

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

. The gables remain at their original height, and the north and south walls range in height from to . A round-headed arched doorway and small arched window in the west gable may medieval in origin, possibly brought from another location. The south wall contains two doorways now blocked by gravestones. There is a surviving small window set between the two blocked doors.

History

The church of Nevay (dedicated to St Neveth) is on record in the 14th century, and the adjoining burial ground dates to the medieval era. The present structure was built in the late 16th century. The parish of Nevay joined with the parish of Eassie to become one parish in 1660. The lintel of one of the doorwways is engraved with the date 1695. A gravestone built into the church's walls is dated 1597. Around 1835, a new church named the Eassie and Nevay Parish Church was built near the village of Nevay. The old Nevay church was abandoned soon after. The remains of Nevay Church were designated a scheduled monument in 1971 and the surrounding cemetery was added in 2017. The monument consists of the remains of Nevay Church and its burial grounds, excluding the boundary walls.

References

{{Reflist Church ruins in Scotland Buildings and structures in Angus, Scotland History of Angus, Scotland Scheduled monuments in Angus