Field Visit
Date 9 February 1923
Event ID 1087930
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1087930
The parish church was erected in 1800 (i) on the foundations of apparently a late 15th century church with transepts and central tower, a description of which is given in the Statistical Account, vol. x., pp. 88-9. The remains of the priest's door which has moulded jambs, and the lower courses of pre-Reformation walling are seen in the south wall of the present building. Similar walling is found in the west gable, and two pre-Reformation buttresses occur at the west end of the north wall. This pre-Reformation church belonged to Holyrood Abbey, having been originally granted to it c. 1150 by Thor son of Swain, upon which connection see Historical Note. The parish then included Prestonpans.
The ruined mortuary aisle of the Cadells of Cockenzie, which projects from the north wall, has a two-light window with circled heads which may date from the 16th century; the window is now built up.
SEPULCHRAL MONUMENTs.-The church-yard is unusually rich in sepulchral monuments. These are described in Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot. vols. xlv.-xlvi. (1) The most interesting memorial is probably that of Alexander Craufurd a former priest of Tranent, who died c. 1489. It is a recumbent slab now lying south of the church, is 3 inches thick, 4 feet 1 inch broad and has a present length of 7 feet 4 inches. A marginal inscription in Gothic lettering reads:
ALEXANDER : CRAUFORD : QUONDAM :
VICARIUS : DE : TRANENT : QUI: OBUT :
DIE : MENSIS : DECBR : AN: - - - -
An Alexander Craufurd was Clerk of the Chapel Royal towards the close of the 15th century (ibid. xlvi., p. I4I) . The panel bordered by the inscription contains a cross set on a graded base of four steps; the arms have ended in trefoils. From top to foot of base the cross measures 4 feet 10 inches. On the dexter side of the cross a late form of chalice, 1 foot 8 inches long, is incised, and on the sinister is a shield bearing within a bordure a fess ermine (Craufurd). On the chief in Lombardic lettering are the initials A and C flanking a star.
(2) A recumbent slab of the 16th century now lying in the lower portion of the graveyard bears a shield charged with a lion rampant apparently surmounting a baton (? for Ferguson). Flanking the shield are initials A F and I C.
(3) On the exterior of the north wall of the church is a moulded panel, within which,beneath a helmet and mantling, is a shieldcharged with a fess between three roundels (bezants). ‘John Fawside of that ilk’ is inscribed on a label below.
(4) The 18th century memorials are heavily and elaborately carved, the Scott and Seton table-stones being specially noteworthy.
HISTORICAL NOTE. The pre-Reformation church of ‘Travernent’ or Tranent belonged to Holyrood Abbey, having been granted to it c.1150 by Thor, son of Swain, who, as Thor of Travernent or Trevernent, is a witness to several charters by David 1. Thor's ancestors had already been benefactors to the church, apparently its founders, and Thor himself added two houses and two tofts. The grant was confirmed by Richard, the contemporary bishop of St. Andrews, Tranent being in that diocese, and was repeated by Malcolm IV(1153-65), subject to the rights of Walerannus the chaplain, whose tenure was to continue till his death. Travernent subsequently (temp. King William) became the property of the De Quinceys. The vicarage was rated for episcopal taxation at £12 (St. Cuthbert's Edinburgh at 20 merks) in addition to an assessment of the altar offerings. In 1250 Roger de Quincey, Earl of Winton, exempted the Abbey and its tenants in Preston and the grain of Preston due to the church of Tranent from multure to his mill at Tranent (ii).
In 1633 the church was annexed as a prebend to the new bishopric of Edinburgh (iii) but, on the dissolution of the bishopric, reverted to its purely parochial status.
RCAHMS 1924, visited 6 April 1920.
(i)New. Stat. Acct. ii., p. 300 ; (ii) Munimenta Sanctce Crucis, passim; (iii) Reg. Mag. Sig. s.a. No. 2225.
