St Vigeans is a small village and parish in

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 ...

, immediately to the north of

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the Subdivisions of Scotland, council area of Angus, Scotland, Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast, some east-northeast of ...

. Originally rural, it is now more or less a suburb of the town of Arbroath.

History

St Vigeans is derived from ''Vigeanus'', a Latinised form of the

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic (, Ogham, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ; ; or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic languages, Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive written texts. It was used from 600 to 900. The ...

name Féichín. Saint Feichin flourished in the 7th century. There is no record of his having visited what is now

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, but followers of his cult may have founded a monastery among the

Picts The Picts were a group of peoples in what is now Scotland north of the Firth of Forth, in the Scotland in the early Middle Ages, Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and details of their culture can be gleaned from early medieval texts and Pic ...

at St Vigeans as early as the 8th century. This is shown by the unusual dedication, and especially by the collection of more than thirty elaborately carved stones preserved in the St Vigeans Sculptured Stones Museum (converted from an old cottage) in the village ( Historic Scotland; key from

Arbroath Abbey Arbroath Abbey, in the Scottish town of Arbroath, was founded in 1178 by William I of Scotland, King William the Lion for a group of Tironensian Benedictine monks from Kelso Abbey. It was consecration, consecrated in 1197 with a dedication to th ...

visitor centre). The collection includes cross-slabs, some with Pictish symbols, cross fragments, recumbents, and architectural fragments. It is one of the largest and finest in

of its period, and includes stonework dating from the 8th-12th centuries. Most of the stones were recovered from the parish church, into whose walls they had been incorporated as building rubble during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, during 19th-century 'restoration' work. Further fragments remain in the church's walls. A monastic context for the St Vigeans' sculptures is suggested by some of the stones showing representations of clerics and patristic scenes. The so-called " Drosten Stone" features a much-analyzed Hiberno-Saxon inscription. The presence of a formerly important, but moribund or redundant, monastic establishment at St Vigeans may have led William I of Scots to found nearby the Tironensian monastery of

, the former monastery's lands being donated to the new foundation. St Vigeans Church served as parish church to the inhabitants of

up to the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

. Built of the local red sandstone, it was a large and impressive example of a Scottish medieval parish kirk. Its situation on top of a prominent, steep-sided mound (presumably of glacial origin, though doubtless 'improved' by landscaping) is striking. Dating in part from the 12th century, but largely 15th century in date, the church unfortunately underwent a drastic ' restoration' in the late 19th century which, while it uncovered many Pictish fragments, also replaced most of the original architectural features of the church. It retains its internal round-pillared arcades, but all the doors and windows were renewed, so their original appearance has been lost. The western tower was also heightened and 'improved' by adding a castellated top and cap-house. The 18th-century headstones in the kirkyard, some of which are notably well carved, are interesting examples of folk-art, characteristic of Angus. There was once a legend that the kirk was built with stones used by an enslaved Kelpie, and for several years the local congregation would not enter the kirk during certain services for fear the building would collapse due to the Kelpie's curse. The old village of St Vigeans consisted of a single street of red sandstone cottages flanking the foot of the church mound. These have been attractively restored and are well maintained. The Brothock Burn runs past the village and so through

(formerly Aberbrothock nd variants, and is crossed by a bridge of 17th-century origin. The village lacks a shop or post-office, but does have a large public hall.

Notable residents

* Joseph Anderson, antiquarian, museum keeper and author (1832-1916), grew up in St Vigeans * Isabella Carrie, secret suffragette, was born here in 1878.Hamilton, S. (2004-09-23). Carrie, Isabella Scrimgeour (1878–1981), suffragette and schoolteacher. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 29 Nov. 2017, from http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-60800. * David Chapel, cricketer

References

{{authority control Villages in Angus, Scotland Arbroath