Kirkton Church

Blackford, Perthshire

Kirkton Old Parish Church built on a hillside north of Blackford in Perthshire, taken in autumn October light.

This church building dates back to and was in regular use up until 1859 when it was replaced by a new building in the village.

The original parish church of St Fergus was at Strageath a few miles north of here but was too far away from the centres of population to be easily accessed so this replacement was built and opened in 1574 and later in 1617 the bell was moved here from the original church.

When being used as a parish school in 1768 some bored pupils took it on themselves to throw lit balls of peat around, for fun, and the church burned down. You know what boys are like.

The rebuilt church (the one you see today) was bigger and brighter but became too small for the increasing local population and so the new church was built in 1858 or so.

The lych gate on the east side is a rare sight in Scotland and the cemetery is still in use today, albeit outwith the original church grounds.

Access on foot is by a path running up the hill from the level crossing but there's a usable track from the north (top centre of the second photo, left off the B8081, left again after two hundred yards) that is presumably used for present-day funerals and that lets cars drive up almost to the church walls.

One of the photos shows the church, the edge of the village of Blackford, the A9 and the Highland Spring bottling plant all with the main Stirling to Perth railway line passing by below the church.