Bellie Parish Church, The Square, Fochabers

About

Bellie Kirk is a Georgian church of neoclassical design in Fochabers, Scotland, built in 1798 for the 4th Duke of Gordon. It has been in continuous use as a place of worship within the Church of Scotland, and is designated as a Category A listed building.

History: The building was constructed between 1795 and 1798 for the 4th Duke of Gordon as the centrepiece for his planned village of Fochabers, to replace the existing parish church, now known as Bellie Old Church, which fell into disrepair after the congregation moved to Bellie Kirk. Little now remains of the old church itself, but the churchyard remained in use for some time and houses the 1826 Gordon Tomb. Bellie Kirk was designed by John Baxter, an Edinburgh architect who had studied in Rome, and its exterior has remained largely unaltered since it was completed in 1798, although some repairs and alterations were carried out in 1835 under the direction of Archibald Simpson, who also designed the nearby Gordon Chapel. This work saw the reversal of the internal layout, and the application of Greek detailing. The church's use as an active place of worship within the Church of Scotland has continued uninterrupted since it was...