
The Corpus of ROMANESQUE SCULPTURE in Britain & Ireland

St Serf (medieval)
Parish church
In medieval records, Dunning appears most commonly as Donyng, Dunnyne, Dinnin, and Duning. The church there is dedicated to St Serf (Servanus), who legend states died at Dunning. Transformed in 1687 and substantially again about 1810, the nave appears as a large rectangle with an extension built off the north side. A 12th-century west tower and sections of the north wall, however, have been preserved. In the interior, a gallery runs around three sides of the nave, with a later pulpit (removed from another church) set up against the south wall. Nothing medieval, other than the tower, is visible on the interior walls of the present church. The east arch of the tower has a pointed arch, the top of which is hidden behing the nave gallery. According to Groome (1884), the tower arch had been 'bricked up and disfigured' and had, during 'recent repairs' been reopened and restored. Wilson (J. and W.) stated that this occurred in 1868 when other repairs on the church were undertaken. Medieval fragments, including a cushion capital, a section of carved chevron, and a slightly curved stone carved with four small arches, have been built into the south exterior of the nave. Excavations in 2013 showed that the original church was built at the same time as the tower, foundation stones on the north side coursing with those of the nave. The tower is divided on the exterior by three stringcourses, which divide the tower visually into three main levels plus a roof space. Each of the levels is a different height, the lowest much higher than the others. There are two simple lights on the west exterior, one at ground-floor level and the other at 1st-floor level, both of which splay inwards. The main upper level of the tower has twinned openings on each of the four sides. A number of additional openings appear on both the interior and exterior of the tower, some of which are likely to have been holes for scaffolding, while others are of a larger rectangular form. It has been suggested by some writers that the upper levels, on the exterior, are tapered. Whether this is correct, it is not obvious to the naked eye. Towards the west end of the north exterior of the nave is a 12th-century doorway, which has been blocked on the interior, and into the S exterior of the tower there is a later-inserted rectangular doorway. Scars on the E exterior of the tower provide evidence for an earlier, steeper nave roof. On the interior of the tower, in the SW corner, a spiral staircase leads to the upper levels.
In 2008, excavations uncovered part of a possible 8th-century vallum ditch. Later excavations, carried out between 2012 and 2014, found foundations of a building earlier than the tower, as well as evidence that when the tower was built, it's foundations disturbed previous graves.
Graveyard and site of former church
Only the old churchyard now survives, within which is a coped grave cover thought to date from the 12th century. Another medieval coped grave cover also exits within the same churchyard, but it is believed to date from a later period. A new parish church for Tillicoultry was built on a different site in 1773. Following this, the old church was taken down, though no specific record of this has been found and the exact site of the church is uncertain. The old churchyard is sited immediately SE of the former Tillicoultry House, built in the early 19th century and demolished about 1960. After 1644, ownership of the Tillicoultry estate changed hands several times. In 1814 it came into the hands of Wardlaw Ramsay family. Ultimately, the area was built up with new housing, leaving the old churchyard as an isolated patch of land.