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Anwoth, Old Kirk, Churchyard And Gordon Tomb

Burial Ground (17th Century), Church (17th Century), Covenanters Grave (17th Century)

Site Name Anwoth, Old Kirk, Churchyard And Gordon Tomb

Classification Burial Ground (17th Century), Church (17th Century), Covenanters Grave (17th Century)

Alternative Name(s) Anwoth Old Church, Gordon Tomb And Churchyard; Old Parish Church Of Anwoth; Anwoth, Old Kirk And Graveyard; Bell's Monument

Canmore ID 63661

Site Number NX55NE 5

NGR NX 58273 56209

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/63661

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
Canmore Disclaimer. © Copyright and database right 2024.

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Digital Images

Administrative Areas

  • Council Dumfries And Galloway
  • Parish Anwoth
  • Former Region Dumfries And Galloway
  • Former District Stewartry
  • Former County Kirkcudbrightshire

Activities

Field Visit (10 July 1970)

'Anwoth Old Kirk' (plaque on W gable) as described above.

Visited by OS (WDJ) 10 July 1970

Field Visit (21 February 1990)

The roofless shell of this old parish church is as previously described. The elaborate Gordon Tomb and the cross-slab stand within the church. The cross-slab measures 950mm in height, 400mm in breadth and 80mm in thickness; it is not dressed and its smoother face bears the incised outline of a cross. Although the Inventory for Kirkcudbright (RCAHMS 1914) describes the cross as extending the entire length of the stone, its shaft is now only visible for 470mm below the arms, which are 280mm across.

Visited by RCAHMS (SPH) 21 February 1990.

Desk Based Assessment

NX55NE 5 58273 56209

(NX 5827 5621) Church (NR) (Remains of)

OS 6" map (1957)

For (successor and present) Parish Church (NX 58225 55951), see NX55NE 103.

The roofless remains of the old parish church of Anwoth are oblong in plan, measuring c.70' by 18' 4" within 3' 6" thick walls, oriented W-E, with a doorway in both the W and E walls. Abutting on the S wall at the E end of the church is a comparatively modern tomb-house 13' 6" by 13'. The church was built c.1626; the date 1627 is inscribed above the door, but according to Saunders, this was recently done, being the date Samuel Rutherford became minister. It was dismantled in 1826 when the new church was built (at NX 5822 5574). Within the church is the early 17th century Gordon tomb, as illustrated, and also a cross-slab, dating to c.1100 a few yards W of the tomb, close to the N wall. It measures 2' 8" by 1' 4 1/2" and is 2 1/2" thick. It was found in the churchyard in 1892, when it was placed in its present position.

Anwoth church is first mentioned in the 12th century, when it was granted to Holyrood Abbey. In the churchyard is a monument erected to John Bell of Whiteside, a covenanter shot in 1685.

Information from OS.

RCAHMS 1914, visited 1911; F Saunders 1912; W G Collingwood 1925; A J M'culloch 1947

References

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