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Publication Account

Date 1998

Event ID 1019136

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Publication Account

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1019136

The church of St Nicholas figure 19.A has a strong visual impact on the townscape figure 10. First built in the latter part of the fourteenth century (see p 20), it was created a collegiate church in 1405, and underwent considerable change during the next decade. The Reformation, rebuilding, political events of the seventeenth century and major reconstruction in the nineteenth century all had an effect on the church. Only a little remains of the original Gothic building to testify to its early grandeur. This includes the heavily buttressed choir, now badly damaged by weathering, and a few fragments of the nave. In the old choir can still be seen the Morton Monument figure 7, with the recumbent effigies of James, first earl of Morton, who died in 1498 and that of his wife, Joanna, daughter of James I. The choir was seen as a testimony to idolatry after the Reformation and was blocked off from the main body of the church, c 1590.

Rebuilding of the western portions then commenced, with the church being used as a stable by Cromwell 's troops in 1650. The interior was much altered with the addition of lofts to seat the incorporated crafts of the town, particularly in the later seventeenth and eighteenth centuries (see pp 32- 3). A reminder of these times is the 1665 banner of the Incorporation of Hammermen, still within the church. The Calderwood Monument is sited on the south-west wall, in memory of William Calderwood, minister of Dalkeith from 1659 to 1680. In the sacristy, the Buccleuch family burial vault, with its lead-studded coffins, may still be viewed. Of the early church only a few remnants survive, such as the south porch and the piers in the nave. This is a result of the fact that the parish church, from 1841 known as the East Church (after the construction of the overflow West Church in Old Edinburgh Road), underwent radical recasting and reorientation in 185 1- 5 by William Burn and David Bryce, including the addition of a west gallery in 1885 and the construction of a new steeple in 1888.

The choir, the only part to avoid restoration in the mid nineteenth century but now becoming increasingly ruinous, is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Extensions, alterations and restorations over the centuries mean that structural elements of earlier phases of the church, including the original chapel, may be preserved within the present building. Indeed, parts of the south porch and the piers in the nave survive from the original church. Other elements may also have been incorporated into the fabric itself, or may equally survive as foundations sealed below the present floor levels. The position of the church is interesting as is stands slightly skewed in relation to the present alignment of the High Street, and its graveyard almost seems to jut out into the street. Kirkyard boundaries often change, so the possibility that medieval burials might extend out into the street should be considered.

Information from ‘Historic Dalkeith: The Archaeological Implications of Development’ (1998).

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