Archaeology Notes

Event ID 729542

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/729542

NX97NE 18.00 NX 97552 75692 St Michael's Church

NX97NE 18.01 NX 9751 7569 War Memorials

NX97NE 18.02 NX 97545 75699 Churchyard

See also:

NX97NE 165 St Michaels Chuchyard, Burns Mausoleum

(NX 9751 7569) St Michael's Church (NAT)

Site of Old St Michael's Church (NR)

OS 1:1056 map (1852)

The first mention of a church at Dumfries is in William the Lion's grant of 1179 x 1185 to Bishop Jocelin of Glasgow (G W S Barrow 1971). The pre-Reformation church, dedicated to St Michael, was cruciform in shape with no galleries and an alter facing east. It is alleged (J Paton 1904) that St Michael's underwent alterations after the slaying of John Comyn in the church of the Greyfriars. The introduction of Protestant worship brought more alterations, including the addition of a north wing and making the church square in shape.

Only the medieval nave and chancel were standing in the early 18th century; they were pulled down in 1744, and a new church built on the site by 1746; this church was renovated in 1869 and 1881.

SBS Dumfries 1977; G Hay 1957