Repair work to wall going well
Work to repair the a cemetery wall flattened by a truck at St Ninians Old Parish Church looks to be approaching completion.
The category A-listed entrance to the cemetery at St Ninians Old Parish Church was reduced to rubble after a reversing Mercedes lorry ploughed into it in November last year.
The cemetery – located in Kirk Wynd – is believed to be between 1,000 and 1,500 years old, with the perimeter wall around 300-years-old.
The wall plus brickwork arch and a steel gate were destroyed, with rubble left in close proximity to several hundred year old headstones.
The land, owned by Stirling Council, is believed to be one of Scotland’s oldest burial grounds.
Because of the structure’s status and location within a conservation area, it had to be reinstated to exactly match the original. Repairs required Listed Building Consent.
St Ninians Old Parish Church was built in 1751 but the history of the congregation dates back to 1241 when Bishop David de Bernham of St Andrews dedicated the medieval Church of St Ninians.
In the aftermath of the 1745 Jacobite Rising, the retreating army of Bonnie Prince Charlie blew up the church of St Ninians where they had been storing munitions; only the tower survived and can be seen to this day.