The church lies to the north of the main village, set apart at the bottom of a small valley.
History
A church stood on this site prior to the Scottish Reformation. The pre-Reformation parishes of Keith Symons and Keith Hundeby were combined in 1618 to form the combined parishes of Keith and Humbie.[1]
At the time of the Scottish Disruption in 1843, the minister led the congregation out of the church to worship in the open, rather than accept the principle of Patronage (whereby a congregation could not choose its own minister, but was forced to accept the patronage of the local Laird).[2] The church went through successive church unions to belong in turn to the Free Church of Scotland, United Free Church before coming back into the Church of Scotland in 1929.[citation needed]
Architecture and design
East window, designed by Douglas Strachan
The present building dates to 1800.[3] The original church was typically T-shaped, and south-facing. Alterations were made in 1866 by David Bryce, and in 1932 a chancel was added.[4] At this time the church interior was re-orientated to match liturgical east with geographical east.
The church is surrounded by an ancient graveyard, still in use today, and described as resassuring a place to be buried as you could wish for...deep in the woods with the burn [river] besides.[5] Some of the still legible gravestones show dates from as early as the 17th century.
In the churchyard is a small building, known as the Broun Aisle, which was built by a local family as their personal burial space in 1864. The Broun family were originally buried inside the church itself, but as a plaque on the building states, this aisle was erected in lieu of the burial place within the church, which, in deference to the parishioners' feelings, has now closed.[6] The aisle itself is now closed, and is used for storage.
