A compact seventeenth-century tower, roof scars and gravestones preserve several lives of Auchterarder’s parish church.
Quick facts
- Date
- Mid-seventeenth century and later
- Architect / designer
- Builders not recorded; 1889 Anderson tomb by R. and W. Anderson
- Type
- Detached church tower, graveyard and memorials
- Designation
- Listed building, Category B (LB21336)
- OS grid reference
- NN 94498 12908
Architecture and continuing use
The square rubble tower steps inward halfway up and is lit by plain Gothic openings on each face. A stair leads to a round-arched doorway, and a pyramidal roof caps the structure. Scars left by successive church roofs turn the tower wall into evidence for lost buildings around it.
Its story
The tower survives from a mid-seventeenth-century church and later rebuilding campaigns. The surrounding graveyard contains numerous eighteenth-century stones and the richly Gothic Anderson tomb, signed by R. and W. Anderson in 1889. The former church complex remained an important historic focus as the High Street developed.
What to notice
- Roof lines cut into the tower from lost church phases.
- The change in wall thickness halfway up.
- Eighteenth-century stones and the 1889 Anderson tomb.
Reading the surroundings
Treat the graveyard as an active commemorative space. Use current entrances, avoid unstable masonry and do not touch or climb monuments.
Timeline
- Mid-17th century The surviving square tower formed part of the parish church.
- 18th century Gravestones accumulated around the changing church complex.
- 1889 R. and W. Anderson signed the elaborate Gothic family tomb.
- 5 October 1971 The tower and graveyard entered the statutory list at Category B.
What we know — and what remains uncertain
The designation records several rebuildings without reconstructing a complete phase-by-phase plan.
Sources & further reading
- Historic Environment Scotland: Old Parish Church Tower and Graveyard, Auchterarder, LB21336 — Current designation status, official mapped location, date, fabric and significance.
- Perth and Kinross Council: Auchterarder Development Framework — Local-authority analysis of the town’s historic rig pattern, High Street character and landmark buildings.
- Trove: Auchterarder Parish Church — National heritage inventory and documentary references for the former parish-church site and surviving tower.
Location
OS grid reference NN 94498 12908 · Location confidence: High for the current HES designation point; public text separately qualifies access, component identity and current use. · Select the marker to open its satellite view in Google Maps. On desktop, drag Pegman (the yellow figure) onto a blue road. On mobile, turn on the Street View layer and tap a blue road. Other photo markers may be user-contributed.
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