Dyke Parish Church

The church was built as a rural parish church in 1781,{{cite book |last1=Hume |first1=John R. |title=Scotland's Best Churches |date=2005 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |location=Edinburgh |isbn=0748621792 |pages=65–66}} at a cost of £525,{{cite book |last1=McKean |first1=Charles |title=The District of Moray - An Illustrated Architectural Guide |date=1987 |publisher=Scottish Academic Press and RIAC Publishing |location=Edinburgh |isbn=1873190484 |page=56}} by James Smith of Aldearn and James Smith of Nairn,{{Historic Environment Scotland|num=LB2269|desc=Dyke Parish Church (Church of Scotland), church hall, (former mausoleum), burial ground and war memorial gate arch|access-date=9 May 2019}} on the site of a mediaeval church, first mentioned in a charter of the late twelfth century.{{cite book |last1=Walker and Woodworth |title=Pevsner Architectural Guides - The Buildings of Scotland - Aberdeenshire: North and Moray |date=2015 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven and London |isbn=9780300204285 |page=558}} Walker and Woodworth assert that the original church was dedicated to St Andrew, but other scholars have written that it was dedicated to St Ninian.{{Canmore |desc=Dyke Parish Church |num=15515 |fewer-links=yes |access-date=9 May 2019}}

During the construction of the church, a twelfth century hoard of around 100 coins was discovered,{{Canmore |desc=Dyke Church Coin Hoard |num=15513 |fewer-links=yes |access-date=11 May 2019}} as was an early mediaeval pictish cross slab, which is now installed in the grounds of Brodie Castle.{{Canmore |desc=Brodie, Rodney's Stone |num=15529 |fewer-links=yes |accessdate=11 May 2019}}

At the east end of the church is a transverse wing which was predates the rest of the building, and is thought to have been attached as an aisle to the older church. It was built around 1693 as a mausoleum for the Brodie family, and now serves as a church hall and vestry,{{cite web |title=Dyke Parish Church |url=https://scotlandschurchestrust.org.uk/church/dyke-parish-church/ |website=Scotland's Churches Trust |date=24 September 2017 |publisher=Scotland's Churches Trust |accessdate=9 May 2019}} connecting to the church via a narrow corridor through the east gable.{{cite web |title=Dyke Parish Church |url=https://online.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/smrpub/master/detail.aspx?Authority=MOR&refno=NH95NE0010 |website=Aberdeenshire Council |publisher=Aberdeenshire Council |accessdate=9 May 2019}}

A gothic porch was added between the former mausoleum and the main church building in 1853, and the south face was remodelled in a gothic style by Matthews and Lawrie in 1867. The building underwent renovation in 1952, in which a new ceiling was installed (covering the pulpit's sounding board), but the original 1781 layout remained unchanged.

A war memorial gate into the north west extension was built between 1920 and 1922 by Peter Macgregor Chalmers,{{cite web |title=Dyke Parish Church, churchyard, war memorial gate arch |url=http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/building_full.php?id=228920 |website=Dictionary of Scottish Architects |publisher=Dictionary of Scottish Architects |accessdate=11 May 2019}} a Glasgow architect who worked and wrote extensively on ecclesiastical buildings.{{cite web |title=Peter Macgregor Chalmers |url=http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/architect_full.php?id=200244 |website=Dictionary of Scottish Architects |publisher=Dictionary of Scottish Architects |accessdate=11 May 2019 |archive-date=10 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810224313/http://scottisharchitects.org.uk/architect_full.php?id=200244 |url-status=dead }} The church was designated a Category A listed building in January, 1971. In 2018, the church was awarded a grant for £10,000 by the Berry Burn Community Fund to improve accessibility to the church and hall.{{cite web |title=Dyke Parish Church |url=http://berryburncommunityfund.co.uk/case-study/dyke-parish-church/ |website=Berry Burn Community Fund |date=19 March 2018 |publisher=Berry Burn Community Fund |accessdate=9 May 2019}}

The church is a rectangular building, with a six-bay south front of pinned rubble, with rubble sides and rear, and with tooled and polished ashlar detailing. The round-headed windows are large, reaching almost to the top of the wall. At the apex of the west gable is a tall ashlar bellcote, with a wheel mechanism to ring the bell. The left gable has cast iron door grill, which is now blocked. The Gothic porch, between the church and the hall, is also now blocked; it has a pointed-arch doorway with columns and a hoodmold with now-weathered carvings of a bearded man and a woman, and a tall Celtic cross at the apex.{{cite web |title=Dyke and Moy Parish Church |url=http://www.scottishchurches.org.uk/sites/site/id/493/name/Dyke+and+Moy+Parish+Church+Dyke+and+Moy+Grampian |website=Places of Worship in Scotland |publisher=Scottish Church Heritage Research Ltd |accessdate=9 May 2019}} The south gable of the church hall has an ornate doorway of ashlar sandstone, with Ionic columns supporting a corniced lintel, and a large window with intersecting stone tracery.

The interior features a U-plan gallery, and an unusual triple-decker pulpit in the centre of the south wall, with stairs leading up to it from left and right.

The church is an active place of worship, operated by the Dyke and Edinkillie Parish Church of Scotland, with regular Sunday services at 10 am on Sundays, except on the first Sunday of each month when services are at 11 am, rotating between the parish's two buildings.{{cite web |title=Homepage |url=https://dykeandedinkillie.org.uk/ |website=Dyke and Edinkillie |publisher=The Church of Scotland |accessdate=9 May 2019}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://dykeandedinkillie.org.uk/ Church website]

Category:Church of Scotland churches in Scotland

Category:Churches in Moray

Category:Category A listed buildings in Moray

Category:18th-century Church of Scotland church buildings