Advie

There are now no visible remains left of the old church of Advie (Gael. Àbhaidh). A previous minister of Cromdale, the Rev. J. Grant, reported that the last traces of the church were removed about 1900 and he also confirmed that the dedication had been to St. Bridget.³

There is little doubt that the first church to be built at Advie would have been similar to the others built in Speyside. It would have been a simple turf-walled affair with timber cruxes to support a roof comprised of turf divots and heather. In this part of Scotland, where timber was not in short supply, a roof would have been supported on cruks. The walls were usually quite low and, in the main, constructed of turves. However, the foundations of an important building such as a church may have been made of stones sunk into a ditch so that they formed an elementary drainage chanel to divert water coming off the roof and walls. The ditch was built so as to allow water to drain away from the foundations and the floor of the building was often somewhat higer than the surrounding ground outside, so as to provide for an even drier surface inside. At a site such as Advie, building stone (boulders) could be easily obtained from river-beds, but the walls themselves were still predominantly of a turf construction. This 'crude' church structure would have required regular maintenance - as did the cottar houses and other buildings in a settlement or township. It was not until the early eighteenth century that an attempt was made to sweep away the old church of Advie and make a start on building a 'modern' church to serve the parish. Jervise found that this building measured some 52' in length and 20' in width, with walls about 3' thick. From very early times, a measure of ground around every parish church was reserved for burials but we should remember that the idea of dedicating churches or of 'sanctifying' their graveyards was something that the Church only came to use in the medieval period.

Advie was annexed to the parish of Cromdale in 1593, but was declared a Quod Sacra parish in 1888.

A lintel stone bearing the date 1706 is now built into the the north wall of the present church of Advie {NGR: NJ 127343} alongside a fragment of a Class 1 Pictish symbol stone. The date carved into this lintel-stone is considered by many to represent the year when the 'new' church was built. The carved stone, "is believed to have been found in the old burial ground, near to the river and a mile from the present church on whose vestry wall it is now preserved. Mr Grant believed that it was inserted into this position when the latest 'new' church was built in 1874. The stone measures H 0.91m, W 0.41m and displays part of a large crescent and V-rod over a circular disc (mirror case), along with a 'stubby indented rectangle.' The authorities have dated it to the seventh century.⁵

The discovery of the symbol stone points to a community of the Early Church being in existence at this location and the dedication suggests that the original church here was of great antiquity. The late Dr. Alasdair Ross suggested in his doctoral thesis that, the old parochial church site was located within the dabhach of Easter Advie.¹⁰

By 1562, the churches of Advie and Cromdale had been united for a considerable period of time (since c.1222) and the parsonages of each had been combined to form the Prebend of a 'simle canonry' of Elgin cathedral.

The bishops of Moray held lands in the parish of Advie from an early date and Advie - probably both dabhaichean - was recorded as being 'mensal lands' in the period 1224x1242. There is a very interesting and revealing feature nearby - Clach n'Espick {NGR: NJ 122332} (Scots Gaelic: Clach n'Easbuig = "Stone of the Bishop").²¹⁰

 

Charter Evidence .

1224-42 In the 'Magna Carta' of Bishop Andrew de Moravia, the sixth prebend listed in the constitution was that comprised of the churches of Cromdole [Cromdale] and Aduyn [Advie] along with all their just pertinents. It is said that this prebend had been part of Bishop Bricius's foundation.

 

 

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Other Churches and Chapels in the parish .

Tulchan {NGR: NJ 129356} Alasdair Ross commented that, "It is also interesting to note an old chapel site in the dabhach of Tulchan although no dedicatory evidence seems to have survived from there." Ross gave the OS Grid Ref. number {NGR: NJ 116355} for the chapel. Tulchan is also recorded as being part of the bishop's Regality of Spynie.¹⁰⁰
8 Feb 1237 King Alexander II gives to Andrew, bishop of Moray, and his successors, his king's lands of Tulchan in Strathspey {NGR NJ 129356} and Ruthven in Strathdearn {NGR NH 815331}, in Moray, in exchange for quitclaim of 48s. annually which the bishop used to receive from the king's lands of 'Fernanan' (in Dyke and Moy,), Tillidivie, Meikle Kintessack and 'Kep' (probably one of the Keppernachs in Ardclach,) which lands the king gave to the monks of Pluscarden in exchange for £24 in his fisheries on the River Findhorn, and in exchange for 10s. 8d. yearly from his revenue of two marks at Tulchan; saving life-tenure of the hermit Gyllecrist Gartanach at Ruthven. He grants also the right to hold a free court.²⁰⁰

Culdrein {NGR: NJ 118356} Tulchan and Glen Tulchan are on the opposite bank of the River Spey from Advie. There, the Burn of Tulchan was forded at Delyorn {NGR: NJ 117364} and it is said that there may have been a chapel here. Its location is supposed to have been near to Culdrein Farm {NGR: NJ 11765 35573} and there is known to have been a township slightly up-river at Knockanbuie {NGR: NJ 117351}.
Ross writes that, "It is also worth noting the place-name Auchnahannet (Achad na h-Annaide ="Field of the annaid"), in the dabhach of that name, {which points to an important pre-parochial site}." Here, he may be indicating either Knock of Auchnahannet {NGR: NJ 061338} or Auchnahannet itself {NGR: NJ 059334}, both of which are some 6km. south-west of Knockanbuie. Ross continues, "If this place-name does preserve the Old-Gaelic word andóit (later annaid), meaning the pre-parochial mother church of a local community, then Auchnahannet was probably originally a unit of arable land that belonged to an important pre-parochial site."²²⁰ Today, this location appears to be in the middle of nowhere, but older maps show the track of an old Roman Road no more than 1km. to the west of the site. The 'road' is shown on the OS Six-inch 1st Edition Map running from the crossing point on the River Spey known as Garbh-àth Mòr {NGR: NJ 077296} just downriver from Cromdale [Roman: Tuesis], and running cross-country to Forres [Roman: Varis] and onwards to its final destination of Burghead - the Roman Latian of Pteroton. Chalmers (1807) gives certain additional details in Volume 1 of his work Caledonia, including that the road was known by him as the Tenth Iter or tenth route of Antoninus.²³⁰