Scone Old Church

This is Scone Old Church, an ancient kirk thought to be originally built in 1286 in the village of Old Scone.

It was when we were heading out on the Scone Circular Walk, that we noticed a pretty little kirk across the road. We decided to have a little look around and investigate further.

Scone Old Church was rebuilt in 1786 near Scone Palace, it is thought that the original kirk was built as far back as 1286. It was famously where the Scottish Kings were crowned, the last being Charles II on 1 January 1651.

When Scone Estate was extended, New Scone was created and in 1805 the church was moved to its current location, making it the first building in the new village. The whole village was then moved to New Scone and later became simply known as Scone.

The kirk contains elaborately carved timber pews, a pulpit and a communion table. One of the Pews is a rare Stormont Pew constructed from Oak and is thought to have been presented by Queen Anne of Denmark in 1615. It is columned and canopied timber which contains two coats of arms and is engraved David Lord Skone and Elizabeth Lady Skone, the first Lord of Scone and his wife.

In 2011, it was announced that Scone Old Church faced closure. The congregation numbers had dwindled and the church was lacking funds to keep the Old Kirk, Scone New Church, and St Martins open. Scone New Church being the favoured choice by the Church of Scotland to remain open.

However, during my research, it appears that the church is still being used for services, and the the parish services are shared between several locations.

Within the church grounds stands a memorial to David Douglas. David was the famous botanist who gave his name to the Douglas Fir. David was born at Scone in 1799.

At the age of 11, he was employed as an apprentice gardener at nearby Scone Palace. In 1817, Douglas worked in the gardens of Sir Robert Preston, at Valleyfield in Fife, the owner of an extensive botany library. After three years, Douglas took up a post in the Botanical Gardens of the University of Glasgow. It was there, that Sir William Hooker recognised Douglas's potential, and they both attended several botanical expeditions in the Highlands.

In 1823 Sir William Hooker recommended Douglas to the Royal Horticultural Society in London, who were looking for a plant collector to send to the US. Douglas left for the US, first to Philadelphia and then in 1825 to Fort Vancouver.

His trip resulted in the introduction of 240 new species to Britain, including the Douglas Fir, Sitka Spruce, Western White Pine and Monterey Pine, plus flowers such as the Lupin and the Penstemon.

Whilst plant hunting on Hawaii in 1834, Douglas died in mysterious circumstances. He appeared to have fallen into a trap intended to catch bullocks, but many believed he had been murdered by Edward Gurney, at whose hut he had last been seen alive.

Douglas was buried in Honolulu, but the memorial in Scone Old Churchyard, shows the importance of his achievements and the pride of his home village.

Scone Old Church is a Catagory B Listed Building with Historic Environment Scotland.