 The steeple was used as a jail, and was lowered one story in 1797 to make room for a belfry.By the 18th century, the Earl of Seafield and the Earl of Fife were two of the largest landholders in Old Keith.The old town had built up "in a very irregular and inconvenient manner", and around 1750, the Earl of Seafield began construction of a new village with a regular plan, called New Keith, to the southeast of Old Keith, on a hill that had previously been used for executions.