The Church of St Palladius is place of worship belonging to the Scottish Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Brechin.
The church was built by Arthur Clyne in 1885 for Rev. J S Gammell, the then owner of Drumtochty Castle. Its background as an ‘estate chapel’ is the reason for its highly ornate and unusual design.
Exterior Description
The church is small and compact, but still has a south-west entrance porch, nave, transepts, stair-tower and chancel to the east. It was built using rusticated (or 'quarried') sandstone blocks with ashlar window and door surrounds and corner stones. The roofs are slated with decorative red ridge-tiles.
The south face forms the principal elevation of the church and faces the road and driveway into the church grounds. To the left (west) is a wide gabled entrance porch with a deeply-recessed pointed-arch doorway which has a decorative tre-foil panel with foliage carving in the fanlight above the double-leaf wooden doors. There is also a small Celtic cross finial on the apex.
The south transept has long, narrow pointed-arch windows on either side of a central buttress. Mounted on a plinth on top of this buttress is a large statue of St Palladius dressed in robes and holding a staff. A corbelled, slated canopy above offers the statue some protection from the elements.
Attached on the east side of the transept is a narrow, round 'pencil' stair-tower with slit windows and a very ornate arcaded gallery at the top with deeply-carved foliage capitals. Below the stone-slab spire is a row of quatrefoil openings. At the east end of the church is a large semi-circular apsidal chancel with narrow stained-glass lancet windows which also feature small decorative quatrefoil openings below them.
The west gable has a pair of tre-foil headed windows above which is found a beautiful stained-glass rose window.
The north elevation, largely hidden from view, has three pointed-arch windows which match those to the south. The north transept serves as the vestry and consequently has smaller windows.
Interior Description
Inside the church, the nave is plastered but water ingress has led to the plaster being stripped off the chancel and this area being left as bare stone. The nave has original wooden chair seating and a tall wooden wagon roof. The west gable has stained glass while the side windows are clear. The south transept, being very small, is used for storage and the north vestry is of an equally small size and has wooden panelling with a door to close it off from the body of the church.
The chancel is separated from the nave by a tall, slender chancel arch, which has also been stripped of plaster. The high altar is stepped up and there are communion rails to the front. The altar itself is ornate and made from a variety of materials, including marble pillars and base. There are also ornate panels with carved foliage, which is replicated on the capitals. The chancel has fine floor tiles, which surround the altar. To the side is a simple wooden reading desk, lectern and Bishop's chair. The stained glass in the chancel's lancets has been inserted at different times and mostly by local families in remembrance to loved ones.
The west end of the church has an unusually large stone square font with very decorative, deeply-carved foliage capitals and marble columns, which support the font basin. The font sides have round panels with carved decoration, including the dove of peace.
I hope you enjoy your discovery of this beautiful gem.