On a knoll within the grounds of Keith House, situated about five miles
east from Tynehead Station, and a similar distance south from Ormiston,
stand the ruins of an ancient church. It is surrounded by an old
churchyard, and has a number of monuments erected against the south
wall. According to an inscription on a tablet fixed to the wall, this
edifice was “erected as a private chapel in the reign of David I.
(1224-53) by Hervie de Keith, King’s Marischal; in the reign of
Alexander II. (1214-49) it became the church of the parish of Keith
Marischal; in 1618 this parish was joined to that of Keith Hunderbey,
now called Humby.”[187]
[Illustration: FIG. 1410.--Keith Church. Plan.]
The church (Fig. 1410) is now a ruin and is covered with a thick growth
of ivy. It measures, internally, 59 feet 8 inches in length by 14 feet
in width at the east end, and 15 feet in width at the west end. The east
end is apparently the oldest portion, the east wall and north wall, as
far as the break shown in the Plan, and a corresponding portion of the
south wall being faced with ashlar. The remainder of the structure,
westwards from the above, is built with rubble, and is apparently of
later date. The north wall is much broken down, but the other walls are
in fair preservation. The east end, as viewed from the interior (Fig.
1411) (where the growth of ivy allows the features to be tolerably
seen), is an unusual and rather striking design, consisting of two
narrow lancet windows, widely splayed internally, and a large
vesica-formed opening above them. These windows have a broad double
splay on the exterior of the jambs and arches.
One round-headed and cusped window survives in the south wall close to
the east end (Fig. 1412), and the Plan shows that there has been another
window adjoining, but it is now built up. The west end wall (Fig. 1413)
[Illustration: FIG. 1411.--Keith Church. Interior of East End.]
contains a single small pointed window, evidently of a late date. So far
as can now be ascertained from the building the east end or chancel is
comparatively ancient, probably of the beginning of the sixteenth
century, and the remainder has been rebuilt not long after the
Reformation.
A good seventeenth century monument is erected against the south wall
(see Fig. 1412).
[Illustration: FIG. 1412.--Keith Church. View from South-East.]
[Illustration: FIG. 1413.--Keith Church. West Wall.]