Archaeology Notes

Event ID 703270

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/703270

NS56NW 22 50799 67547.

The first record of an existing church at Renfrew occurs in 1136, when it was given to Glasgow Cathedral. The original church was erected by Walter Fitz-Alan (who was created High Steward of Scotland by David I) on the Inch of Renfrew; it was dedicated to St. James, the patron saint of the Fitz-Alan family. The monks (see NS56NW 16) were lodged not on the Inch, but on the mainland where they built a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The present church (at NS 5079 6754) stands on the site of this chapel. After the monks left, the Renfrew church would assume the title of the Church of St. Mary and St. James, which it has at present. Several churches may have occupied the site; the size and layout of the church prior to the Reformation may be deduced from old charters. At a certain period the church seems to have changed in name from that of St. Mary and St. James to that of St. Kentigern and St. Nicholas. Probably this was the local name since this was the name given to the High Altar. The present church was built in 1861-2. A small bell, now in Renfrew Burgh Museum, was found when digging its foundations. With- in it are the 14th-15th century tomb of John Ross and his wife, and the tomb of John Motherwell, attributed to the 15th century (SDD Listed: B). (Comparison with Dunn's statements on NS56NW 16, and the proximity of this church to Renfrew Inch, would suggest that it stands on the site of the original parish church, as stated in OPS (1851) rather than that of St. Mary's Chapel.)

J A Dunn 1971; D MacGibbon and T Ross 1896-7; Orig Paroch Scot 1851;

HBD Nos. 1-2