Airth Old Parish Church is a ruined church in the grounds of Airth Castle at

Airth Airth () is a Royal Burgh, village, former trading port and civil parish in Falkirk, Scotland. It is north of Falkirk town and sits on the banks of the River Forth. Airth lies on the A905 road between Grangemouth and Stirling and is overlooked ...

, in the

Falkirk council area Falkirk ( ; ; ) is one of 32 unitary authority council areas of Scotland. It was formed on 1 April 1996 by way of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 from the exact boundaries of Falkirk District, one of three parts of the Central r ...

in Scotland. The building is now without a roof. It dates from various periods, including substantial parts from the Romanesque period. The quire

steeple In architecture, a steeple is a tall tower on a building, topped by a spire and often incorporating a belfry and other components. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a relig ...

and north

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

were added by

John Milne John Milne (30 December 1850 – 31 July 1913) was a British geologist and mining engineer who worked on a horizontal seismograph. Biography Milne was born in Liverpool, England, the only child of John Milne of Milnrow, and at first raised ...

, the royal master mason, in 1647. Access to the church is restricted for safety reasons. The graveyard includes a number of cast iron ' mortsafes', large coffin-shaped containers used to thwart the body snatchers in the early 19th century.Scott, Ian. "Airth's fascinating history written in stone", ''The Falkirk Herald'', 28 June 2014
/ref> The church is designated as 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 ...

Historic Environment Scotland Historic Environment Scotland (HES) () is an executive non-departmental public body responsible for investigating, caring for and promoting Scotland's historic environment. HES was formed in 2015 from the merger of government agency Historic Sc ...

References

External links

Transcript of a contract for building work at Airth Old Parish Church, July 1647.
{{Authority control Scheduled monuments in Falkirk Church ruins in Scotland