I had found a reference to this on the Undiscovered Scotland website during research for a holiday in Aberdeenshire. It wasn’t far off our route, so we added it to the list. It is off an unclassified road between Tarland on the B9119 and the A96. Watch out for the turn to the church at the western end of Migvie village as it isn’t signed. The churchyard is surrounded by a wall and the Pictish stone is set in front of a low stone enclosure with an old grave slab with a skull and cross bones and three yew trees at the corners.
The stone is now very worn and a lot of the detail, especially on the reverse is very worn. On the front we could make out the interlaced knotwork of the cross shaft.
The church is 18thC and a small rectangular stone structure, built just behind the raised platform of a Pictish church. It is also worth going into as the inside is completely unexpected. The church is no longer used and was transformed by the local Laird in 2001 in memory of his parents and is more of an exhibition space than a church. The inside is painted white and there are modern stained glass windows. On the walls are Biblical texts and a painting of a cross. In the centre are four large stone ‘seats’. The inside is very dark and there is no light switch. Apparently you have to move into the centre of the church to trigger the lights.
The Pictish Stone is disappointing and not worth visiting, but the church is completely different. It is worth quick look if passing. There is plenty of parking along the access track to it.
“Information”:http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/tarland/migviekirk/
