Abdie Churchyard surrounds AbdieOldChurch. (aka Abdie Auld Kirk or Our Lady of Abdie) The roofless ruins of the Church, which is a ListedMonument, stand on a small knoll, surrounded by the graveyard and boundary wall, to the west of Lindores Loch. It is a site of considerable antiquity, and, in fine weather is particularly scenic.

The site is thought to have been the location of a CelticChurch, tied, through nearby Abernethy, to Iona. Certainly there was already an established parish church when, c 1198, David Earl of Huntingdon, (later David I), gifted the Church to his newly founded Tironensian Abbey at Lindores. Shortly afterwards, and before 1202, Bishop Roger de Beaumont of St Andrews confirmed the abbey's possession of the church.

The present day ruins show a long, narrow, rectangular, medieval building which lies E-W. Built in the 13th C of red sandstone, the church and graveyard were consecrated on 5th September 1242 by David de Bernham, Bishop of St Andrews. There were significant additons to the church in the 17th C, particularly the north aisle, (‘Denmylne' or ‘Balfour' Aisle), and structural changes continued until the church was abandoned in 1827, to be replaced by the nearby church at Abdie. However, there is a plaque on the outer east wall inscribed ‘Repaired 1856 D.W.'

There is still some debate concerning the dedication of the Church. Some believe that the altar was dedicated to St Ninian and the church to St Magridin, (possibly aka St Adrian). The latter was a 9th C Bishop of Abernethy who was murdered by Danish Vikings on 9th May 875, and is particularly associated with the region of Strathearn, upstream on the River Tay. Other historians believe that the Church may have been dedicated to St Andrews and the Blessed Virgin Mary, as was Lindores Abbey. Historically, the Church has also been referred to as ‘Our Lady of Ebdie'.

The majority of the memorials are to the south and east of the Church, but a number of significant memorials are attached to the interior walls of the aisles. These include the heritor responsible for the north aisle, Sir Robert Balfour, who was subsequently killed in a duel with his neighbour Sir James Makgill of Lindores. Also commemorated is Rear Admiral Sir Frederick Lewis Maitland who, when in command of HMS ‘Bellerophon', off Rochefort, France, accepted the surrender of Napoleon Bonaparte, in flight after his defeat at Waterloo, on 15th July 1815.

A building built in to the exterior of the west boundary wall of the graveyard was a 19th C morthouse. It currently houses a number of engraved marker stones, including the carved 7th C ‘Lindores Pictish Stone'.

Abdie Churchyard is no longer an active cemetery. However, car parking space at the graveyard is very limited. An alternative is to park next to the current AbdieChurch, then walk approximately 400m east down the farm lane to the graveyard.