DEER CHURCH, Aberdeenshire.
Fig. 694.—Deer Church. Plan.
This church is situated in a beautiful bend of the river Ugie, in the churchyard of the village of Deer, and is rather more than a mile distant from the abbey. It is roofless, but the walls stand at about their original height, and consist of a nave and chancel ([Fig. 694]). The nave is of an unusual form, being wider than it is long; but it is probable that it was originally longer than it now is. The exterior width is 26 feet 10 inches, and the length 24 feet 3 inches. The chancel is 37 feet 7 inches long by 16 feet 9 inches wide externally. It is separated from the nave by a wall containing a round splayed arch, 7 feet 6 inches wide, and (owing to the present level of the ground) only 6 feet 6 inches high in the centre. The level of the floor was, doubtless, originally a foot or two lower. The present entrance doorway to the nave is modern, and is in the centre of the west end. There are the marks of an old doorway in the north wall, which show a plain arched construction inside, and in this a window has been inserted at a late period. Another square-headed window in the south wall completes the lighting of the nave. There has also been a square-headed doorway in the south wall. There are two piscinas in the nave—one adjoining the chancel arch on the north, and having its basin in the depth of the recess; the other ([Fig. 695]), in the south wall, had a projecting basin, which is now sliced off. The most interesting and perfect feature of the church is the locker or ambry in the north wall of the nave ([Fig. 696]). The top is of a drop-arched form. The arch and the jambs and sill are checked for a door in the usual manner. Above the door, and visible whether the door was shut or open, is a pointed arch with a kind of rude tracery enclosing a cross pattee cut out of grey granite. The locker is 13 inches wide.
Fig. 695. Deer Church.
Piscina in South Wall.
