Menmuir

Coordinates: 56°46′08″N 2°46′02″W / 56.768806°N 2.767259°W / 56.768806; -2.767259

Menmuir
Kirkton of Menmuir
Menmuir  Menmuir shown within Angus
Population	approx. 250
OS grid reference	NO532644
Council area	Angus
Lieutenancy area	Angus
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BRECHIN
Postcode district	DD9
Dialling code	01356
Police	Tayside
Fire	Tayside
Ambulance	Scottish
EU Parliament	Scotland
UK Parliament	Angus
Scottish Parliament	Angus
List of places: UK • Scotland •

Menmuir is a parish in Angus (formerly Forfarshire) in Scotland. Kirkton of Menmuir consists of only three houses (The old Schoolhouse, The Manse, The old Inn) but around 250 people live in the area and the community hall is well used.

History

Neolithic cup and ring marked stones have been found in the area. Bronze age archaeology has been found nearby, with a short cist burial found a mile to the south-east of the village, containing bones and a flint spearhead, and a bronze axehead found nearby.^[1] The Brown Caterthun and the White Caterthun, hillforts dating from the iron age, can also be seen nearby.

A number of Pictish symbol stones have been found in Menmuir, including a cross-slab and a sculpured stone found in the kirkyard around 1844 when an old wall was demolished,^[2] three fragments, found in the grounds of the village Manse in 1943,^[3] and another class III fragment reported in 1986.^[4] These point to Menmuir having been a centre of some ecclesiastical importance in the early Medieval period.

A royal palace is supposed to have existed in Menmuir in the reign of Alexander III, a little to the south-west of where the church now stands. However, no remains of it have been found.^[5]

Geography

Menmuir straddles the boundary of the fertile coastal land and the start of the Grampian Mountains. The unusual surname Menmuir seems to originate from this parish.

Famous residents

John Lindsay of Balcarres, Lord Menmuir was the laird of Menmuir.

Notes

1. ^ Jervise (1953); Jervise (1957); Coles (1971)
2. ^ Allen and Anderson (1903); Cron (1843)
3. ^ Stevenson (1958)
4. ^ Atkinson and Watson (1987)
5. ^ Jervise (1853) pp246-247

References

• Allen, J.R.; Anderson, J. (1903 (1993 facsimile)), The early Christian monuments of Scotland, Balgavies, Angus: Pinkfoot press 
• Atkinson, N.K. and Watson, W.G. (1987), "Menmuir Church (Menmuir Parish): Class III Sculptured Stone Fragment", Discovery and Excavation in Scotland: 58, http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-753-1/ahds/dissemination/pdf/1980/1987.pdf, retrieved 2009-12-04 ^{[dead link]}
• Coles, J.A. (1968). "Scottish Early Bronze Age Metalwork". Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 101: 1–110. http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/PSAS_2002/pdf/vol_101/101_001_110.pdf. Retrieved 2009-12-04. 
• Cron, W (1843), "Parish of Menmuir", New Statistical Account of Scotland: pp. 656–658, http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=He81AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA656, retrieved 2009-12-04 
• Jervise, A (1853), The history and traditions of the land of the Lindsays in Angus and Mearns, with notices of Alyth and Meigle, Edinburgh: Sutherland and Knox, http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=dZ0HAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA303&lpg=PA303, retrieved 2009-12-04 
• Jervise, A (1857). "Notices of the Localities of the Sculptured Stone Monuments at St Bigeans, Inchbrayoch, Pitmuies, and Menmuir, in Angus, and of Fordoun in the Mearns. Part IV.". Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 2: 458–466. http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/PSAS_2002/pdf/vol_002/2_458_466.pdf. Retrieved 2009-12-04. 
• Stevenson, R.B.K. (1958). "The Inchyra stone and some other unpublished early Christian monuments". Proceedings of the Society of Antiquities of Scotland 92: 33–55. http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/PSAS_2002/pdf/vol_092/92_033_055.pdf. Retrieved 2009-12-04. 

External links

• Menmuir Community Website
• Angus Glens Website