Banchory Ternan East Church

Banchory Ternan East Church
Banchory Ternan East Church
57°03′10″N 2°29′03″W / 57.05278°N 2.48417°W / 57.05278; -2.48417Coordinates: 57°03′10″N 2°29′03″W / 57.05278°N 2.48417°W / 57.05278; -2.48417
Denomination	Church of Scotland
Churchmanship	Christian, Presbyterian, Reformed
Website	http://www.banchoryeastchurch.com/
Administration
Parish	Banchory East
Presbytery	Kincardine and Deeside
Clergy
Minister(s)	Rev Dr Alan Murray

Banchory Ternan East Parish Church is a congregation of the Church of Scotland, a member of the Presbyterian Church. The church building is located in Station Road, Banchory, Kincardineshire, Scotland. The church today serves the east parish of the town of Banchory in Royal Deeside.

Over 1,500 years ago, Saint Ternan brought Christianity to Banchory with the erection of a monastery. As well as preaching the Christian gospel, he and his followers taught the local people farming, arts, and crafts. In AD 1143, the Abbot of Arbroath received a grant of land from William the Lion which extended as far as Banchory. A new settlement was created near the churchyard, and a church, school, and houses were built.

From that period there was a continuous Christian presence in Banchory with several churches being built in succession. One such church was opened in 1664/65; the bell from this church now hangs in the old Watchtower in the graveyard. That church was demolished and a new one built in 1775, but it proved to be too small for the growing congregation and was dismantled in 1824. The stones were used in the construction of the present church in 1825.

John Smith was the architect of Banchory Ternan East Church, and his 1825 plans showing the seating arrangements for the heritors and their tenants are held by the congregation. The style of the building is very typical of his work: the ogee profile of the coping stones on the front boundary wall is his personal "trade mark" being found on most of his buildings.

John Smith (1781–1852), known as "Tudor Johnie", was Aberdeen's first city architect. Most of his churches are in the Perpendicular Gothic style; Udny and Nigg are not unlike Banchory, while Aberdeen South in Belmont Street (now a theme pub), St Clement's in Footdee (closed), and Fourdon (=Auchenblae) Parish Church are more grandiose exercise of the same genre.

The most interesting features of Banchory Ternan are its tower and the windows of the main church building. Like most towers built by Smith, it comprises four storeys entrance porch, gallery, belfry and clock stage, all surmounted by a castellated parapet with corner pinnacles. In Banchory, Smith has placed the clock stage topmost — it usually appears between the gallery and belfry levels — the restricted height of the tower may have dictated this. Here too, the pinnacles are small, purely decorative unlike the larger, structural and often highly decorated examples quoted above.