Arbuthnott Aisle

The Arbuthnott Aisle is a two storey private burial aisle or chapel, which was built by Sir Robert Arbuthnott in around 1500 and is attached to the south of Arbuthnott Parish Church, which itself dates, in part, to the 13th century (see separate site). 

The Arbuthnott Aisle is attached to the nave and chancel of the church, to the south. It was built by the Arbuthnott family (Sir Robert Arbuthnott) as a private burial aisle or chapel. It is two stories in height and has a small stair tower in the north-west corner. The south face of the chapel is supported by four large buttresses at the angles, each with large carved stone pinnacles. There are niches in the buttress faces, where statues would originally have been mounted. A small round-arched doorway with hoodmould leads into the lower room of the aisle and there are round-arched windows at ground floor level and rectangular windows in the room above. The stairtower has small slit windows and belfry openings. The roof of the aisle is covered with sandstone slabs.

The Arbuthnott Aisle, used as a burial place for the family, originally housed the minister in the small first floor room. This is now empty but retains its tiled floor surface. The ground floor has a tombstone for a member of the Arbuthnott family and its original cobbled and stone slab floor survives. There is a water stoup near the west door and the east wall has a small aumbry or sacrament house.