Tillicoultry Old Churchyard

Quick facts

Date

Burial ground from at least the medieval period; stones chiefly sixteenth to eighteenth century

Architect / designer

Individual masons largely unrecorded

Type

Small sloping churchyard with early carved grave monuments and incomplete walls

Designation

Listed building, Category B (LB42056)

OS grid reference

NS 92395 97583

Architecture and continuing use

The burial ground occupies sloping land and is partly enclosed by incomplete walls. Recumbent slabs and upright stones carry initials, dates, tools and memento-mori imagery. A 1723 headstone combines angels with a plough, while other carvings include spades, mallets, chisels and gloves. The separately scheduled medieval grave cover is excluded from this listed-building entry.

Its story

The site is associated with Tillicoultry’s pre-Reformation church, of which no visible structure survives. Surveyors recorded stones reaching back to the medieval period and inscriptions from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The later parish church moved to a different site, leaving this compact burial ground as the material record of the older ecclesiastical centre.

Why it is included

It makes ordinary tradespeople, burial practice and the lost medieval church visible within a sample otherwise dominated by nineteenth-century industry.

What to notice

• Tool emblems that indicate the occupations of the dead.
• The 1723 stone with angels, plough and mortality symbols.
• The churchyard’s relationship to the separately protected medieval grave cover.

Reading the surroundings

Use only an evident lawful entrance and established ground. Do not move vegetation, rub inscriptions, touch fragile stones or climb incomplete walls; wet slopes and broken monuments require care.

Timeline

1. 12th century onward The site accumulated medieval burial evidence around the former church.
2. 16th–17th centuries Carved slabs recorded local people and their occupations.
3. 1723 A richly emblematic headstone added angels, a plough and memento-mori imagery.
4. 2015 The statutory address was revised to distinguish the listed churchyard from the separately scheduled stone.

What we know — and what remains uncertain

The former church’s exact plan is not visible, and some stones were already broken when officially reviewed; condition and access may have changed.

Sources & further reading

• Historic Environment Scotland: Tillicoultry Old Churchyard, LB42056 — Current designation status, statutory identity, official mapped point, date, fabric and significance.
• Trove: Tillicoultry Old Parish Church and churchyard — National heritage inventory evidence for the medieval church site, early carved stones, mapped position and survey history.
• Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture: Tillicoultry old churchyard — Specialist scholarly description and dating discussion for the medieval grave covers and former church site.
• Clackmannanshire Council: Tillicoultry Conservation Area Character Appraisal — Local-authority evidence for Tillicoultry’s settlement development, mills, civic landmarks, street pattern and historic character.