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Dalkeith, East Kirk, Church Of St Nicholas
Burial Ground (Medieval), Collegiate Church (15th Century), War Memorial (20th Century)
Site Name Dalkeith, East Kirk, Church Of St Nicholas
Classification Burial Ground (Medieval), Collegiate Church (15th Century), War Memorial (20th Century)
Alternative Name(s) The Old Parish Church; Dalkeith Kirk; Old Kirk; The East Parish Church; Collegiate Church Of Dalkeith; War Memorial Window
Canmore ID 53417
Site Number NT36NW 11
NGR NT 33258 67442
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/53417
- Council Midlothian
- Parish Dalkeith
- Former Region Lothian
- Former District Midlothian
- Former County Midlothian
NT36NW 11.00 33258 67442
NT36NW 11.01 NT 33280 67442 Church
(NT 3327 6744) Collegiate Church (NR) (remains of)
OS 1:1250 map (1967)
The SDD state that Dalkeith parish church was built about 1350 and enlarged about 1416-20. Originally a chapel, dedicated to St Nicholas, it was made collegiate in 1406 and became the parish church in 1467. The E part of the chancel was partitioned off about 1590, its roof collapsing about 1770. The rest of the church, which is still in use, was repaired at various times, and thoroughly restored in 1851-4. The choir (scheduled) which has not been restored, is now very ruinous. Within it is a monument, apparently not in its original position, in the form of an oblong stone table on which recline two weather-worn effigies.
D MacGibbon and T Ross 1897; RCAHMS 1929, visited 1915; D E Easson 1957; SDD List 1964
Description correct.
Visited by OS (BS) 30 October 1975.
NT 3327 6744 A watching brief was undertaken at St Nicholas Church in March 2005 during the excavation of four post-holes, part of a programme of restorative works on and around the Morton Monument ( ), an ancient memorial structure situated in the ruinous 15th-century choir of the old Collegiate Church. The post-holes were intended to hold the supports for a protective canopy over the newly restored monument.
At the time of the excavations the main part of the monument was off-site undergoing restoration, leaving only a large foundation slab in situ. The new post-holes, all of which would measure 400mm square by 500mm deep, were positioned at the four corners of the foundation structure.
The material below the monument slab was excavated in 1963 prior to the laying of a new floor and foundation slab, which may account for the layer of concrete seen 350mm down in two of the trenches, suggesting that this material only lay between the foundation slab and the S wall. Additionally, the lack of human remains, other than a few small fragments, may indicate the scale of the clearance work here 40 years ago.
Archive to be deposited in NMRS.
Sponsor: Kenneth Ferguson & Partners.
D Stewart 2005.
NMRS REFERENCE:
Architect: David Bryce 1852 (restoration)
John Adam making elevation and section of fitting up Duke's Gallery 2 March 1757 and visits church to estimate on repairs 1752/3
William Burn & David Bryce 1847 - designs for addition
EXTERNAL REFERENCE:
National Library: Vol. 1 No. 10 and Vol. II Nos. 35, 36 and 38
"Water Colour Sketches" by Thomas Brown, Advocate
Reference "Adv. MSS 34.8.1-3"
EXTERNAL REFERENCE:
1763, April 22. Letter by John Adam (Architect), Edinburgh, to Archibald Campbell, W.S., certifying that the steeple of Dalkeith Church was in a very bad condition when he visited it in 1752 and 1753: and that after the 1753 visit he and other tradesment present recommended that it should be taken down.
SRO. GD224/390/2/17
Field Visit (12 March 1915)
West Parish Church, Dalkeith.
This church, formerly the Collegiate Church of St. Nicholas, stands within its churchyard on the north side of the High Street. The structure comprises a nave of three bays with lateral aisles, unaisled transepts, western tower, and choir. A porch projects on the south, as at Whitekirk, East Lothian, and a two storeyed projection from the north wall of the choir houses the sacristy.
The portions west of the partition, shown hatched on plan [MLD 27/1], have been reconstructed and repaired at various periods and are still in use as the West Parish Church, but they have been so modernised after the last reconstruction in 1851 that few traces of the original structure are visible. Internally the only features of interest are the piers, octagonal on plan, of the pier arcade. The bases, save at the west responds, are concealed. The capitals and arches are reconstructed in plaster, but the corbels which supported the wall-beams of the aisles are still in situ. The porch on the south is vaulted with a quadripartite vault, which appears to be original, but its other details have been restored.
The choir, on the other hand, has not been restored; it is roofless and in an exceedingly ruinous condition. Its ashlar is slowly crumbling and the moulded work steadily decaying
[see RCAHMS 1929, pp. 58-61 for a detailed architectural description]
HISTORICAL NOTE. There was only a chapel at Dalkeith in the late 14th century, in which from time to time an additional chaplainry was founded (1). The chapel was dedicated to St. Nicholas (2), bishop and confessor. In 1420 Sir James Douglas, first Lord Dalkeith, enlarged the building and constituted six perpetual chaplainries under one of the chaplains as provost, who was to be supported upon the lands of ‘Dychment and Holdene’ in the barony of West Calder, and to have his manse in the north part of the vill. In the east part of the cemetery of the chapel was the manse of the chaplain of ‘Qwilt and Fethane’, whose lands were in Tweeddale; at the north the manse of the chaplain of ‘Lochende and Kirkende’, who had revenues from these lands in Tweeddale; in the east the manse of the chaplain of ‘Horsbruke’, whose revenue came from lands in Peeblesshire; while there were also manses for the chaplains of Ingleston and Spittalheugh in Tweeddale. Each was to have pasture for one horse and a cow. Residence in the manses, either by the chaplains themselves or by substitutes acceptable to the founder and his heirs, was insisted upon, in order that daily service might be maintained, as in other collegiate churches, and that there might be a chaplain to say daily mass in the chapel of the castle. Service vestments were to be at least a surplice and an almuce lined with black lamb's wool. In 1477 James Douglas, first Earl of Morton and Lord of Dalkeith, increased the establishment of five" canonries " by three more, having as prebends the parish churches of Newlands and ‘Kilbuchs’, in the diocese of Glasgow, and that of Mordington in Berwickshire, of all of which he was patron, reserving to himself and successors the patronage of these canonries and of the parochial vicarages for which provision had to be reserved. Later Alexander Giffard, rector of Newlands, founded "in the nave or deambulatory of the collegiate church one chaplainry at the altar of the crucifix on the floor and another at the altar of St. John the Baptist in the south aisle," a foundation confirmed under the Great Seal in 1504. Presentation to these chaplainries was given to the granter's nephew, Alexander Cockburn, Lord of Newhall, and his heirs, but, should these fail to make an appointment within fifteen days from any vacancy, the right to fill the post would pass alternately to the provost and the Abbot of Newbattle. The absence of any chaplain from the vill for fifteen days without leave of the said Abbot and the provost would render his benefice vacant.
Up to 1467 Dalkeith was included in the parish of Lasswade, but in that year effect was given to representations that the parish church at Lasswade was too far distant for the parishioners of Dalkeith and neighbouring hamlets to make their way thither in bad weather, particularly when the Esk was in flood. Accordingly the parish revenues were divided in order to support a parochial vicar at the altar of St. Mary the Virgin in the collegiate church, thereby constituting Dalkeith a separate parish.
RCAHMS 1929, visited 12 March 1915.
(1) Reg. Mag. Sig., i, No. 668; Morton Charters and Papers, ii, 98, 124; (2) Bannatyne Miscellany, ii, pp. 110, 118; (3) Charters of Collegiate Churches in Midlothian.
Photographic Survey (1957)
Photographic survey by the Scottish Nationa Buildigs Record in 1957.
Photographic Survey (2 October 1959)
Photographic survey by the Ministry of Works in 1959.
Publication Account (1998)
The church of St Nicholas figure 19.A has a strong visual impact on the townscape figure 10. First built in the latter part of the fourteenth century (see p 20), it was created a collegiate church in 1405, and underwent considerable change during the next decade. The Reformation, rebuilding, political events of the seventeenth century and major reconstruction in the nineteenth century all had an effect on the church. Only a little remains of the original Gothic building to testify to its early grandeur. This includes the heavily buttressed choir, now badly damaged by weathering, and a few fragments of the nave. In the old choir can still be seen the Morton Monument figure 7, with the recumbent effigies of James, first earl of Morton, who died in 1498 and that of his wife, Joanna, daughter of James I. The choir was seen as a testimony to idolatry after the Reformation and was blocked off from the main body of the church, c 1590.
Rebuilding of the western portions then commenced, with the church being used as a stable by Cromwell 's troops in 1650. The interior was much altered with the addition of lofts to seat the incorporated crafts of the town, particularly in the later seventeenth and eighteenth centuries (see pp 32- 3). A reminder of these times is the 1665 banner of the Incorporation of Hammermen, still within the church. The Calderwood Monument is sited on the south-west wall, in memory of William Calderwood, minister of Dalkeith from 1659 to 1680. In the sacristy, the Buccleuch family burial vault, with its lead-studded coffins, may still be viewed. Of the early church only a few remnants survive, such as the south porch and the piers in the nave. This is a result of the fact that the parish church, from 1841 known as the East Church (after the construction of the overflow West Church in Old Edinburgh Road), underwent radical recasting and reorientation in 185 1- 5 by William Burn and David Bryce, including the addition of a west gallery in 1885 and the construction of a new steeple in 1888.
The choir, the only part to avoid restoration in the mid nineteenth century but now becoming increasingly ruinous, is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Extensions, alterations and restorations over the centuries mean that structural elements of earlier phases of the church, including the original chapel, may be preserved within the present building. Indeed, parts of the south porch and the piers in the nave survive from the original church. Other elements may also have been incorporated into the fabric itself, or may equally survive as foundations sealed below the present floor levels. The position of the church is interesting as is stands slightly skewed in relation to the present alignment of the High Street, and its graveyard almost seems to jut out into the street. Kirkyard boundaries often change, so the possibility that medieval burials might extend out into the street should be considered.
Information from ‘Historic Dalkeith: The Archaeological Implications of Development’ (1998).
Watching Brief (7 March 2005)
A watching brief was undertaken at St Nicholas Church in March 2005 during the excavation of four post-holes, part of a programme of restorative works on and around the Morton Monument, an ancient memorial structure situated in the ruinous 15th-century choir of the old Collegiate Church. The post-holes were intended to hold the supports for a protective canopy over the newly restored monument.
At the time of the excavations the main part of the monument was off-site undergoing restoration, leaving only a large foundation slab in situ. The new post-holes, all of which would measure 400mm square by 500mm deep, were positioned at the four corners of the foundation structure.
The material below the monument slab was excavated in 1963 prior to the laying of a new floor and foundation slab, which may account for the layer of concrete seen 350mm down in two of the trenches, suggesting that this material only lay between the foundation slab and the S wall. Additionally, the lack of human remains, other than a few small fragments, may indicate the scale of the clearance work here 40 years ago.
D Stewart 2005
Sponsor: Kenneth Ferguson & Partners.
Kirkdale Archaeology
