Essil

Parish Church: OS Ref: NGR NJ 340635 H.E.S. No: NJ36SW 3 Dedication: St Peter the Apostle.

Associated Chapels: None known.

From (1208x15), when the cathedral of Moray was situated at Spynie, the church of St Peter at Essil (with that of Kinneddar) formed part of the prebend of the Treasurer of the cathedral. In early charters the church is often called Eskyl or Essile.

However, disputes in the 13th and 14th centuries between the cathedral Treasurer and the Priory of Urquhart show that the latter claimed some of the tiends of this parish.¹ The parsonage, however, remained assigned to the Treasurer up to the Reformation. The cure was served by a vicar perpetual.

Only two fragments of wall are said to remain of the old church building. They lie within the old graveyard. The burial ground which has been extended and still serves the locality of Speymouth and Kingston.

Picture of the churchyard at Essil.

Above: This grave-slab is set into what is said to be
a remnant of the ancient church walls.

Across the road from the graveyard was St Peter's Well {NGR: NJ 340635} and nearby was St Leonard's Well {NGR: NJ 336609} which was known from antiquity and is said to have had great curative powers. This church stood near an important crossing point of the River Spey almost opposite Bellie church on the opposite bank.

The Parish Church was moved to Speymouth in 1730 when the older church of Essil was left to go to ruin, although the church yard is still maintained and used occasionally. On 14 July 1731, the Commissioners of Teinds united the churches of Essil and Dipple to form the Parish of Speymouth.

Some lands shared by the medieval parishes of Essil and Urquhard.
Name	OS Grid Ref.	Comment
Meft	NJ 26_63_	Rathenec
Innes	NJ 279650
Slentack	NJ 296649
Binns	NJ 316646
Garmouth	NJ 338644
Ross does not give any information for this parish.

Charter evidence .

1214 (22 December). In a letter to the Dean and chapter of Moray, Pope Innocent III confirms that he has given his especial protection to a number of churches in the diocese and Essil (Eskyl) is named as one of them. [Moray Reg., 47]

1237 (May). The prior of Urquhard (William) and Robert, the then Treasurer of the cathedral, reached an agreement that all the teinds coming from within the boundaries of the lands of Meft, Innes, Slentack, Binns and Garmouth, would be divided into five parts whenever they were received; of the five portions, the church of Urquhart would have three parts and the church of Essil obtain the remaining two parts. It was also agreed that the prior and brethren would pay each year, forever, 24 marks Sterling to both the Rector of Essil and the Treasurer of the cathedral, half at Martinmas and the other half at Pentecost. [Moray Reg., 89] {It woud appear that the scribe was somewhat confused here - the Rector was the same person as the Treasurer! Perhaps 'rector' should have read 'vicar' since the church was served by a vicar perpetual.²}

1531 (18 January) Gilbert, bishop of Aberdeen, having been specially deputed by the Vatican, had inspected transumpts of certain documents presented to him. Amongst them was a transumpt of the document mentioned above [Moray Reg., 89] giving details of the settlement between the Prior of Urquhard and the then Treasurer of the cathedral. The transumpt viewed by the bishop was dated 6 February 1450. A Notarial Instrument recording all of this was prepared on 18 January 1531 [Moray Reg., 461].

Other Churches and Chapels in the parish .

None known.

Parish Clergy :

No clergy yet known for this parish.

References .

^1. Innes, Cosmo (1837) Registrum Episcopatus Morviensis, The Bannatyne Club, no.89, p.101. Return

^2. Cowan, Ian (1961) Appropriation of Parish Churches in Medieval Scotland. PhD Thesis presented to the University of Edinburgh, Vol. 2, p.167. Return

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Elgin Deanery

Essil