Fern Parish Church - Angus, Scotland - Country Churches on Waymarking.com

The parish of Fern lies on the northern edge of Strathmore some eight miles equidistant from the Angus towns of Forfar and Brechin. The parish church is situated on a hillock within the small hamlet consisting of a group of houses, manse, and farm. The original church on the site was medieval and was placed within the centre of the current graveyard. The replacement was built in 1806 and lies to the north-west. A baronial-style tower was added in 1883. The church is aligned east-west, with a nave and vestry to the north. It is built of coursed rubble with a slated roof.

The dominant feature is the two-stage tower attached to the south of the nave. The lower stage features a south facing pointed-arch doorway with diagonal stepped buttresses on the corners. There are belfry openings above on the second stage, above which is a corbelled parapet under a saddleback roof.

The nave features ogee-headed stained glass windows with small buttresses between. The west gable has a group of three pointed-arch windows beneath a relieving arch. In the gablehead is a small oval vent, with a cross finial on the apex. The east gable is similar but with a pair of ogee-headed windows and a larger pointed-arch window above. The north aisle is smaller in height than the nave due to the sloping ground and features shoulder arched windows with a trefoil vent in the gablehead.

The church has recently been put out of use, like its neighbouring parishes at Menmuir and Careston, and services are conducted at the church in the village of Edzell.