Kirk of Lammermuir
In the village of Abbey St Bathans is a beautiful small church, Kirk of Lammermuir, which is situated on the bank of Whiteadder Water close to the footbridge for the Souther Upland Way that spans the river.
On my way back to the car I took some time to walk around the church yard and take some pictures of the Kirk and the gravestones.
HISTORY
The village of Abbey St Bathans has two main claims to fame. The first is its appearance at the top of any alphabetical list of Scottish settlements. The second, rather oddly given its name, is that it has never been home to an abbey. That is slightly misleading because in about 1200 a small Cistercian priory of 12 nuns was founded here by Ada, Countess of Dunbar.
The site was chosen because it was believed to have been that previously used for a tiny chapel established by St Bathan, a follower of St Columba, in the late 500s. The priory comprised a small church and an accompanying collection of domestic buildings. It was largely destroyed by English troops in 1543 and was probably no longer a going concern when the Reformation came along in 1560.
After 1560 the remains of the domestic buildings were reused in field walls and village buildings, while the priory church was repaired to become the parish church of Abbey St Bathans and Strafuntin.
History text courtesy of undiscoveredscotland.co.uk
Comments
Post a Comment