Accessing Scotland's Past Project
Event ID 561202
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Accessing Scotland's Past Project
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/561202
Historical sources suggest that there was a church at Naithansthirn, now Nenthorn, in the late twelfth century. In 1316, the church was granted to the monks of Kelso, who possessed it until the Reformation.
Alhough the graveyard is still shown on the current edition of the Ordnance Survey I:10000 map, little trace of the church building survives, though the ruined footings of a later burial vault are visible.
Nenthorn may have been one of the many ecclesiastical sites to suffer as a result of hostile relations between the Scots and the English in medieval and early modern times. Documents refer to the burning of 'Nenthorn Spittal' in 1542; since there was no medieval hospital at Nenthorn, it is possible that this mistakenly refers to the nearby hospital at Smailholm. However, it could indicate that the monastic settlement at Nenthorn also suffered at the hands of invading English soldiers.
Text prepared by RCAHMS as part of the Accessing Scotland's Past project
