Abercorn Museum

Abercorn Kirk, from 11th century

As Norman parish kirks go in Scotland, Abercorn must have been a fairly substantial example - wide nave and choir, the latter tenanted by the splendid Hopetoun Loft. Most of what you see is by Peter MacGregor Chalmers, 1893. Two stained-glass windows by Douglas Strachan, 1921. Fine 12th-century south door, chevron stonework in tympanum, and west door, 1893, in ferociously crisp Norman with grimacing gargoyles. Aisles sprout from the torso so much as to conceal it: the Binns aisle, 1618; the Philpstoun burial enclosure, 1723; the Duddingston aisle, 1603; and the Hopetoun aisle, 1707. The Hopetoun Loft occupies the chancel and faces down the kirk displaying the magnificence of its panelling and fretwork screen by Alexander Eizatt, and the armorial achievement painted by Richard Waitt. The adjacent aisle is a two-storey, harled piece of swagger by Sir William Bruce, complete with pyramid roof, ashlar-panelled windows, and a wonderfully panelled retiring room above burial enclosure below. Atmospheric arboreal kirkyard. Outstanding collection of early carved stones in gatehouse.

Taken from "West Lothian: An Illustrated Architectural Guide", by Stuart Eydmann, Richard Jaques and Charles McKean, 2008. Published by the Rutland Press http://www.rias.org.uk

NT07NE 1.02 08114 79046

NMRS NOTES:

Abercorn museum contains some of the oldest cross-shafts from Abercorn Church graveyard.

(Undated) information in NMRS.