Essie.

 

Associated Chapels: none known.

OS Ref: NJ 467279   RCAHMS No: NJ42NE 7

The lands of Essie were given by the Bishop of Moray to David de Strathbogie (by 1226) and then passed to the Earl of Fife who became Earl of Atholl. In 1314x19, Campbell, Earl of Atholl, re-granted these lands to Earl of Huntly.

The church of St Peter at Essie was part of the prebend of the Treasurer of the Cathedral (along with that of Kineddar) from the very earliest times of the foundation of Bishop Bricius at Spynie (1208x15).

Having been united with the church of Rhynie in or about 1612, it remained in use until c.1740 and was eventually pulled down in 1759 for its materials. Nothing now remains of the fabric of the church but the graveyard still exists and seems to be in use.